BOOK VI, PREFACE 3-5 



derive their names from the fact that they aid our 

 labour either by carrying burdens or by ploughing." 



Therefore, as the ancient Romans taught, I myself 

 am also of the opinion that we should thoroughly 

 understand the management of cattle as well as the 

 cultivation of the fields. For in the history of farm- 4 

 ing the system of grazing is certainly very ancient 

 and at the same time very profitable, and it is on this 

 account also that the names for money (pecunia) and 

 private property (peculium) seem to have been derived 

 from the word for cattle (pecus), because this was the 

 only possession which the men of old time had, and, 

 even at the present day, amongst some peoples, this 

 is the only kind of wealth in general use, and even 

 among our farmers there is nothing which yields a 

 richer increase. This was the opinion of Marcus Cato 

 amongothers, who, when someone seeking advice asked 

 him what department of agriculture he should practise 

 in order to get rich quickly, replied that he would get 

 rich if he were a competent grazier. When the same 

 person went on to ask him what is the second best 

 thing to do in order to obtain a sufl!iciently rich return, 

 Cato insisted that he could achieve this by being a 

 moderately good grazier. I feel some hesitation in 5 

 relating about so wise a man the reply, which some 

 authors attribute to him, when the same person 

 enquired what was the third most lucrative practice 

 in agriculture, namely, for a man to be even a bad 

 grazier; since certainly the losses which attend a 

 lazy and ignorant grazier are greater than the profits 

 which attend one who is prudent and careful. As 

 for Cato's second answer, there is no doubt that the 



derivation is correct, but iumentum is derived from iugum, a 

 yoke. 



121 



