1 The Birth of Science - MSRI

9.3 Economic Growth and Innovation in Agriculture 219
were fifty such works, and he names forty-nine of them. 22 Not a single
one has been preserved, nor do we have reliable quotes from them. It is
indisputable that they were the ultimate origin of all Roman knowledge
about the subject, but there is very little hope of reconstructing any significant
fraction of their content based on the writings of learned Romans.
Indeed, it seems that the chief source used by Varro and other Roman
writers on agriculture was Diophanes of Bithynia, who summarized the
translation made by Cassius Dionysius of the large handbook written by
the Carthaginian Mago, itself a compilation of various Hellenistic treatises
on agronomy. 23
Many plants indigenous to other lands were acclimated for the first time
in the Hellenistic kingdoms. Preexisting plants were improved thanks to
seeds imported from different countries. Progress in husbandry was likewise
impressive: animals from elsewhere were acclimated, breeds were
improved through crosses, and wild animals such as hares, dormice and
boars began being raised, 24 as did fish species. Innovations of this type had
of course been happening since Neolithic times, but on a wholly different
time scale. There are clues that in early Ptolemaic Egypt the acclimation
and hybridization of species were carried out under the supervision of
Mouseion scholars: for example, in a passage by Athenaeus about the zoo
founded by Philadelphus in the royal district, the subject is brought up in
connection with new bird breeds obtained there, 25 and the close link between
the study of botany and the development of cultivation techniques
is clear in the botanical works of Theophrastus.
We also know that viticulture was reformed following directions laid page 273
down by Theophrastus. 26 In this regard R. J. Forbes writes:
Theophrastus believes that plants derive their vital spirit (pneuma)
from the soil and draw it up through the pith, together with water.
From this theory he deduces the correct way of striking cuttings
from good vines, the conditions under which they should be planted,
the porosity and moisture of the soil, and the care of the cuttings.
Grafting he rejects, but he discusses the uses and methods of pruning.
Despite the defects in his knowledge of plant physiology, his
advice is generally good and often so much in accordance with modern
views that we may reflect how little the practical experience of
22 Varro, De re rustica, I, i, 8 ff.
23 [Rostovtzeff: SEHHW], vol. II, p. 1183.
24 Varro says that the first Romans who tried breeding these species learned about the practice
in the books by Mago and Cassius Dionysius (De re rustica, III, ii, 13–14). In the same context he
mentions the introduction of fish-farming.
25 Athenaeus mentions hybrids of pheasants with guinea fowl (Deipnosophistae, XIV, 654b–c).
26 Theophrastus, De causis plantarum, III, 11.1 – 16.4.
Revision: 1.4 Date: 2002/10/12 00:00:03