De agri cultura, the earliest surviving Latin prose treatise, was written by Marcus Porcius Cato, Censorius, as a practical manual on farming. Rooted in the values of the Roman Republic, it outlines agricultural methods, estate management, and household economy with Cato's characteristic moral severity and pragmatism. The work also recipes for farm products, offering a rare glimpse into everyday foodways alongside its agricultural instruction. Renaissance scholars later copied and preserved the text in codices now found at Florence's Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, ensuring its transmission into the modern era. - AsNotedIn
| Y/M/D | Association | Description | Place | Locale | Food | Event | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -160/00/00 | Marcus Porcius Cato, Censorius | Author | "De agri cultura", a Latin treatise on Roman agriculture by Cato the Elder, includes one of the earliest recorded recipes for globi. | Globi | |||
| 1400/00/00 | An early 15C codex of Cato the Elder's "De agri cultura" is copied, 1380-1420, and later preserved in Florence at the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana. Catalogue: Pluteo 51.1 is one of the earliest surviving witnesses to Cato's agricultural treatise. | Laurentian Medici Library | Florence | ||||
| 1460/00/00 | A humanist copy of Cato the Elder's "De agri cultura" is produced. It is now in the collection at Florence's Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana as Pluteo 51.2. | Laurentian Medici Library | Florence |
| Particulars for De agri cultura (treatise): | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Art Type | Book | a written or printed work consisting of pages glued or sewn together along one side and bound in covers. | |
| Narrative Arts | Codex | an ancient manuscript text in book form typically not made with sheets of paper, but vellum, papyrus or other materials | |
| Logic | Dissertation | a long essay on a particular subject, especially one written as a requirement for the Doctor of Philosophy degree | |
| Narrative Arts | Factual | concerned with what is actually true rather than interpretations of or reactions to it | |
| Cultural Affiliation | Roman Republic | Mediterranean civilization rule from Rome, 509 BC to 27 BC | |
| Art Type | Treatise | systematic exposition or argument in writing including a methodical discussion of the facts and principles | |
| Information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Original Language: | Latin | ||
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