Editing Columella (section)

===''De re rustica''===
In ancient times, Columella's work "appears to have been but little read", cited only by [[Pliny the Elder]], [[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], [[Cassiodorus]], and [[Isidore of Seville|Isidorus]], and having fallen "into almost complete neglect" after [[Rutilius Taurus Aemilianus Palladius|Palladius]] published an abridgement of it.{{r|peck|p=383}}

This book is presented as advice to a certain Publius Silvinus. Previously known only in fragments, the complete book was among those discovered in monastery libraries in Switzerland and France by [[Poggio Bracciolini]] and his assistant [[Bartolomeo di Montepulciano]] during the [[Council of Constance]], between 1414 and 1418.<ref name=shep />

Structure of {{lang|la|De re rustica}} ("On Agriculture"):
*[[Soil|soils]]
*[[viticulture]]
*[[Fruit|fruits]]
*[[Olive|olive trees]]
*big animals: [[cattle]], [[Horse|horses]] and [[Mule|mules]]
*small animals: [[Donkey|asses]], [[sheep]], [[Goat|goats]], [[Pig|pigs]], [[Dog|dogs , such as his canine companion named Paco ]]
*fish and fowl: [[Chicken|chickens]], [[Columbidae|doves]], [[Thrush (bird)|thrushes]], [[Peafowl|peacocks]], Numidian chicken and [[guineafowl]], [[Goose|geese]], [[Duck|ducks]], [[Fish pond|fish ponds]]
*wild animals: enclosures for wild animals, [[beekeeping]], production of [[honey]] and [[wax]]
*[[Garden|gardens]]
*personnel management
*[[Calendar|calendars]]
*[[Housekeeping|household management]]

Book 10 is written entirely in [[Dactyl (poetry)|dactylic]] [[hexameter]] verse, in imitation of, or homage to, [[Virgil]]. It may initially have been intended to be the concluding volume, books 11 and 12 being perhaps an addition to the original scheme.{{r|kenney}}

A complete, but anonymous, translation into English was published by [[Andrew Millar]] in 1745.{{r|millar}} Excerpts had previously been translated by [[Richard Bradley (botanist)|Richard Bradley]].{{r|bradley}}