28o VARRO ON FARMING [bk. 



peacocks. This building should be made of a 

 size proportionate to the number of peacocks kept 

 in it, and should have separate sleeping places 

 having a smooth coating of plaster to prevent any 



5 serpent or other animal from getting in. It should 

 also have a space in front of it, where the chickens 

 may go out to be fed on sunny days. These birds 

 require both places to be clean; and so their keeper 

 must go round with a shovel and remove the 

 droppings, which he will keep carefully, as they 

 are useful for tillage and as litter for the chickens. 



6 It is said that these birds first appeared on the table 

 at a dinner-party given by Q. Hortensius to cele- 

 brate his election as augur, an extravagance which 

 was at that time commended only by the luxurious, 1 

 not by men of virtue and prudence. His example 

 was speedily followed by many, and the price paid 

 for them went up in consequence, so that their eggs 

 sell now for 5 denarii ^ (3^. 3^?.) apiece, while the 

 birds themselves fetch without difficulty 50 denarii 

 (;£i i2s.) a head, and a flock of one hundred easily 

 makes 40,000 sesterces (;^32o), and Abuccius indeed 

 used to say that by requiring three chickens to 

 each hen, 60,000 sesterces (£^86) might be made. 



^ Denariis quints. Macrobius (ii, 9), writing about the be- 

 ginning of the fifth century a.d., quotes this passage, adding: 

 Ecce res non admiranda solum sed eiiam pudenda ut ova pav- 

 onum quinis denariis veneant; quae hodie non dicam vilius sed 

 ovinino non veneunt. 



The sum of 60,000 sesterces is made up thus : 100 hens pro- 

 duce 300 chickens, which fetch each 50 denarii or 200 sesterces ; 

 300 X 200=60,000. 



