240 i Flora Unveiled
Each of the plants and animals is rich with symbolic significance. However, the general
impression one has of the entire floral frieze is that it represents the fertility and profusion
of wild nature, which underpins the agricultural abundance and prosperity necessary to
the peace and security of the Roman empire. The goddess of the Tellus panel, who seems to
combine the traits of many different nature goddesses, provides the focal point for all the
nature symbolism. In a sense, the entire monument can be viewed as an updated symbolic
version of the “sacred marriage” ceremony between the ruler, Emperor Augustus, and the
symbolically unified goddess of Nature.
The Roman Writers on AgricultureFour principal Roman writers on agriculture— Cato the Elder (234– 49 bce), Varro (117–
27 bce), Virgil (70– 19 bce), and Columella (4– 70 ce)— represented a continuous tradi-
tion spanning the three centuries after the death of Theophrastus in 288 bce. In addition
to their thorough grasp of agricultural practices, a feature common to them all was their
avoidance of any discussion of the basic mechanisms of plant growth and reproduction,
so central in the writings of Theophrastus. In their view, Theophrastus spent too much
time pursuing useless theoretical questions instead of focusing on the practical concerns of
maximizing crop productivity. According to Varro, the works of Theophrastus, although
containing valuable information, were more suitable for philosophers than for practical
agriculturalists.^19
Notwithstanding their jaundiced view of Greek philosophy, Varro, Virgil, and Columella
were well- acquainted with Theophrastus’s writings on agriculture. They assimilated his dis-
cussions of arboriculture and soil classification as well as the principles of manure appli-
cation and plant pathology. Most importantly, they absorbed the important insight that
each plant species or variety is adapted to a particular set of environmental conditions. The
practical significance of this insight was that farmers took pains to learn the requirements
of specific crops in relation to soil, climate, water, and habitat and used the information
to maximize their yields. This ecological insight, together with a systematic analysis of
different methods of plant propagation, was the lasting legacy of Theophrastean botany
to agriculture.^20 Virgil discussed it in his poem Georgics. The principle was further elabo-
rated in the work of Columella, which retained its authority throughout the Middle Ages.
Columella’s treatise was the longest and most detailed account of Roman agriculture ever
written. Among the new cultivation techniques he described was a “hotbed” heated from
below by a layer of fermenting manure and shielded by panes of glass, which provided both
sunlight for plant growth and supplementary heating during the winter.
Columella frequently enlivened his treatise with poetic images and quotations, which
often reveal his gender biases. In particular, Columella regularly employed female meta-
phors for the earth and its fruits. In the following passage, he compares a bountiful grape
harvest to Nature’s breasts:
[I] f he should enter a field at the proper time, [the vintner] would marvel most plea-
surably at the benevolence of nature, ... whereby the fostering earth each year, as if
delighting in never- ending parturition, extends to mortals her breasts distended with
new wine.^21