- Geoponica
The Geoponica is a twenty-book collection of agricultural lore, compiled during the
10th century inConstantinople for the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. The Greek word "Geoponica" signifies "agricultural pursuits" in its widest sense.The 10th century collection is sometimes (wrongly) ascribed to the
7th century authorCassianus Bassus , whose collection, also titled "Geoponica", was integrated into the extant work. Bassus drew heavily on the work on another agricultural compiler,Vindonius Anatolius (4th century ). The ultimate sources of the "Geoponica" include Pliny, various lost Hellenistic and Roman-period Greek agriculture and veterinary authors, the Carthaginian agronomist Mago, and even works passing under the name of the Persian prophetZoroaster . (The names of the principal sources for each section are attached to the text, although the age and correctness of these attributions remains in doubt.) The Greek manuscript tradition is extremely complex and not fully understood. Syriac, Pahlavi, Arabic and Armenian translations attest to its worldwide popularity and complicate the manuscript tradition still further.Contents
The "Geoponica" embraces all manner of "agricultural" information, including celestial and terrestrial "omina",
viticulture , oleoculture, apiculture,veterinary medicine , the construction offishponds and much more.Taken from Charles Anthon's "Manual of Greek Literature" (1853).
:1. Of the atmosphere, and of the rising and setting of the stars:2. Of general matters appertaining to agriculture, and of the different kinds of corn:3. Of the various agricultural duties suitable to each month:4–5. Of the cultivation of the vine:6–8. Of the making of wine:9. Of the cultivation of the olive and the making of oil:10–12. Of horticulture:13. Of the animals and insects injurious to plants:14. Of pigeons and other birds:15. Of natural sympathies and antipathies, and of the management of bees:16. Of horses, donkeys and camels:17. Of the breeding of cattle:18. Of the breeding of sheep:19. Of dogs, hares, deer, pigs, and of salting meat:20. Of fishes
Bibliography
*
Teubner edition of the Greek text (ed. Heinrich Beckh): ISBN 3-598-71387-8External links
* [http://www.doaks.org/ByzGarden/ByzGarch8.pdf PDF: "Kêpopoiïa: Garden-Making and Garden Culture in the Greek Geoponica," in Byzantine Garden Culture, ed. A. Littlewood et al. (Washington, 2002), 159-175.]
* [http://omega.cohums.ohio-state.edu/mailing_lists/LT-ANTIQ/2003/04/0052.php Discussion of the "Geoponica" by John N. Lupia, III, from the LT-ANTIQ listserve, with bibliography]
* [http://www.ancientlibrary.com/geoponica/ Translation by Thomas Owen (1805-06)]
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