LUCIUS JUNIUS MODERATUS COLUMELLA 



tionis, ex qua Quinctius Cincinnatus, obsessi consulis 

 et exercitus liberator, ab aratro vocatus ad dictaturam 

 venerit ac rursus fascibus depositis, quos festinantius 

 victor reddiderat quam sumpserat imperator, ad 

 eosdem iuvencos et quattuor iugerum avitum 



14 herediolum redierit, itemque C. Fabricius et Curius 

 Dentatus, alter Pyrrho finibus Italiae pulso, domitis 

 alter Sabinis, accepta, quae viritim dividebantur, 

 captivl agri septem iugera non minus industrie 

 coluerit, quam fortiter armis quaesierat ; et ne 

 singulos intempestive nunc persequar, cum tot alios 

 Romani generis intuear memorabiles duces hoc 

 semper duplici studio floruisse vel defendendi vel 

 colendi patrios quaesitosve fines, intellego luxuriae 

 et deliciis nostris pristinum moreni virilemque vitam 



15 displicuisse. Omnes enim, sicut M. Varro iam 

 temporibus avorum conquestus est, patres familiae 

 falce et aratro relictis intra murum correpsimus et 

 in circis potius ac theatris quam in segetibus ac 

 vinetis ^ manus movemus ; attonitique miramur 

 gestus efFeminatorum, quod a natura sexum viris 



^ sic codices rerentiores et fere omnes ex Varrone, B.R. II. 

 Praef. 3 : vineis SA, Lundslrom. 



" According to tradition, Cincinnatus was called from the 

 plough to the dictatorship in 458 B.C., to save the Roman 

 army besieged by the Aequians on Mt. Algidus. He delivered 

 the consul Minucius and his army, resigned the dictatorship, 

 and returned to his little farm after holding the office only 

 sixteen days. Cf. Livy, III. 26-29. 



' One iugerum — about three-fifths of an acre. 



<^ Consul in 282 and 278 B.C., his noble conduct toward 

 Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, led to the evacuation of Italy by 

 that king. 



