Gargilius Martialis: The Agricultural Fragments

In the third century CE, the North African polymath, soldier, and provincial official Q. Gargilius Martialis (died 260) wrote a treatise on the cultivation and medical use of fruits, vegetables, and herbs. The agricultural part of this work survives in a fragmentary state in a single manuscript. Despite this impediment, the agricultural writings are noteworthy for the clear marks both of their meticulous research and of the application of independent judgement and experience. Gargilius furthermore presents his advice in a stylized and literary form that strives for elegance through the use of prose rhythm, rhetorical variatio, and figurative language. The fragments will be valuable for those interested in ancient agriculture, in Greco-Roman authorship on the technai or artes, and in the history and sociolinguistics of Latin. This volume offers a new edition and the first English translation of Gargilius' agricultural fragments as well as an introduction and full-scale commentary.

• Provides a new edition of the Latin text and the first English translation of Gargilius Martialis' agricultural fragments
• The introduction explains the position of Gargilius' writings in the tradition of agricultural writing at Rome and deals with linguistic, literary, historical, technical/scientific, and philosophical issues
• The commentary fully explains the content, structure and language of the Latin text and presents much material of broader interest to classical scholars