Life
Very little is known of Lucius Iunius Moderatus Columella. He was born in Gades (modern Cádiz, Spain), and was a contemporary of Seneca the Younger. He seems to have either been raised by or was particularly fond of his uncle, whom he simply names Marcus. If he is not simply a literary creation, his uncle, Columella alleges, was a farmer who had imparted his knowledge of agriculture and husbandry to his nephew.
Works
Only two of Columella’s works have survived: the De Arboribus and the De Re Rustica in ten books. The former work focuses solely on trees (hence the name), while the latter is a much-expanded version that discusses many more agrarian concerns, such as viticulture, horticulture, husbandry, estate management, etc.
The last book (Book X) picks up where Vergil left off in his Georgics. Therein Vergil deliberately left out extended discussion of gardens, and stated that he would leave the task to someone in the future. Columella’s work, up until now written in prose, switches to hexametric verse, the meter in which Vergil wrote his Georgics. Thus, the book is intended to “complete” the Georgics in a sense.
Columella Online
Latin: PHI Latin Texts
English: Lacus Curtius (through Book IV)
Further Reading
- E. S. Forster 1950. “Columella and His Latin Treatise on Agriculture.” Greece and Rome 19: 123–128.
