Chapter 34

Dic, toga, facundi gratum mihi munus amici,Esse velis cujus fama, decusque gregis?Appula Ledæi tibi floruit herba Phalanthi,Quà saturat Calabris culta Galesus aquis?An Tartessiacus stabuli nutritor IberiBætis in Hesperia te quoque lavit aqua?An tua multifidum numeravit lana Timavum,Quem prius astrifero Cyllarus ore bibit?Te nec Amyclæo decuit livere veneno;Nec Miletus erat vellere digna tuo.Lilia tu vincis, nec adhuc dilapsa ligustra,Et Tiburtino monte quod albet ebur.Spartanus tibi cedet olor, Phaphiæque columbæ:Cedet Erythræis eruta gemma vadis.Sed licet hæc primis nivibus sint æmula dona,Non sunt Parthenio candidiora suo.Non ego prætulerim Babylonica picta superbèTexta, Semiramia quæ variantur acu.Non Athamantæo potius me mirer in auro,Æolium dones si mihi, Phryxe, decus.O quantos risus pariter spectata movebitTrita Palatina nostra lacerna toga!Say, grateful gift of mine ingenious friend,What happy flock shall to thy fleece pretend?For thee did herb of famed Phalantus blow,Where clear Galesus bids his waters flow?Did thy wool count the streamlets, more than seven,Of him, who slaked the warrior horse of heaven?Or did Tartessian Guadalquiver laveThy matchless woof in his Hesperian wave?Thou didst not need to taste Amyclæ’s bane,And wouldst have tried Milesian art in vain.With thee the lily and the privet paleCompared, and Tibur’s whitest ivory fail.The Spartan swan, the Paphian doves deploreTheir hue, and pearls on Erythrean shore.But, though the boon leave new-fall’n snows behind,It is not purer than the donor’s mind.I would prefer noBabylonian vest,Superbly broider’dat a queen’s behest;Nor better pleased should I my limbs behold,Phryxus, inwebsof thine Æolian gold.But O! what laughter will the contrast crown,My worn lacerna on th’ imperial gown!It may be observed, that in this ingenious epigram, as well as in two of the preceding, which relate to togas, Martial supposes the Tarentine wool to be white: for the Roman toga was of that color except in mourning, and one object of the last-cited epigram is to praise the whiteness of the particular toga, which it describes. The Tarentines therefore must have produced both dark-colored and white fleeces.The fifth passage of Martial (xii. 64.), which mentions the sheep of the Galesus, more directly refers to those of Spain, and will therefore be quoted under that head.Besides the epigrams, now cited, in which Martial commends the wool of Tarentum in particular, we find others, in which he celebrates that of Apulia in general. In Book xiv. Ep. 155. he gives an account of the principal countries, which yielded white wools, and informs us that those of the first quality were from Apulia.White Wools.The first Apulia’s; next is Parma’s boast;And the third fleece Altinum has engrost.Elphinston’s Translation.Also in the following lines Martial alludes to the large and numerous flocks of Apulia, and to the whiteness of their wool.Of white thou hast to clothe a tribe sufficient stock,The produce fair of more than one Apulian flock.L. ii.Ep.46.l.5, 6.On the other hand the wool from the vicinity of Canusium was no less esteemed for its dark colors, whether inclining to brown or to red. These saved the expense of dyeing. The testimony of Pliny to their value has been already produced. In the two following Epigrams (l.xiv. 127and129.) Martial alludes to the peculiar recommendations and uses, first of the brown, and secondly of the reddish variety.This Canusine lacerna, it is true,Looks muddy: but it will not change its hue[333].Rome in the brown delights, gay Gaul in red:This pleases boys, and whose is blood to shed.[333]It appears from this epigram that, when shaken, it had the color of the brown wool of Canusium, a kind of drab. The lacerna was a mantle, which the Romans wore out of doors over their white toga, with which it was well contrasted, whether it was purple, scarlet, or brown; but the last color, though less showy at first, must have had the advantage of durability. SeeAppendix A.On referring to the passages produced from Pliny, Columella, and Martial, it will be seen that the Romans ascribed a very high value to the white wool of Gallia Cisalpina, i. e. of North Italy, or the region about the Po. Parma was considered second only to Apulia for the whiteness of its wool. Besides the two epigrams of Martial already cited, he refers to Parma as a great place for sheep-breeding in the following passage, addressed to the wealthy Callistratus:And Gallic Parma shears thy num’rous flocks.L. v.ep.13.Columella speaks moreover (l. c.) of the superiority of the wool of Mutina, now Modena; and Martial (l.v.ep.105.) mentions the circumstance of afuller, orclothier, in that city having exhibited a show to the public, which is a presumptive evidence that he had a great business in manufacturing the produce of the surrounding country.Strabo in his account of the productions of Cisalpine Gaul divides the wool into three kinds; First, the soft kind, of which the finest varieties were grown about Mutina and the riverScutana, which is the modern Scultenna, a tributary of the Po, rising in the Apennines; Secondly, the coarse kind, grown in Liguria and the country of the Insubres, which was very much used for the common wearing apparel of the Italians; and Thirdly, the middle kind, grown about Patavium (now Padua) and employed for making valuablecarpetsand various descriptions ofblankets[334]. By comparing the statements of this author with those of Columella and Martial it will appear, that the whole region watered by the parallel rivers Parma, Gabellus, and Scultenna, and known by the name ofMacri Campi, or the Barren Plains, was esteemed for the production of the fine white wool.[334]Strabo, L. v. c. 1. § 12. p. 119. ed. Siebenkees.That the tending of both sheep and goats was a principal occupation of the people of Mantua we learn from Virgil, a native of that city, who places the scene of most of his pastorals in its vicinity. His First and Ninth Eclogues more particularly relate to the calamities, which the Mantuans were compelled to sustain, when Augustus seized on their lands to reward his veteran soldiers after the battle of Philippi. These eclogues mention flocks both of sheep and goats, and show that those who had the care of them cultivated music and poetry after the manner of the Sicilians. The commencement of the Seventh Eclogue is especially instructive, because it gives us reason to believe, that while many of the Arcadians left their country in consequence of that excess of population, to which mountainous regions are subject, in order to become foreign mercenaries, others, on the contrary, entered into foreign service as shepherds and goatherds, and in this condition not only made themselves useful by their experience, skill, and fidelity, but also introduced at the same time their native music together with that refinement of manners and feelings which it promoted. The poet thus describes two such individuals, who had been employed in tending flocks upon the banks of the Mincius (l.12, 13), and who were either born in Arcadia, or were at least of Arcadian origin.Two blooming swains had join’d their flocks in one,Thyrsis his sheep, and tuneful CorydonHis goats, which bore their treasur’d milk along;Arcadians both, both skill’d in amœbean song.At a considerable distance to the North-East of Mantua lay Altinum, which is mentioned by Columella[335], Tertullian, and Martial, as one of the principal places for the produce ofwhitewool. Martial says, that it ranked in this respect next to Parma[336], and we must understand him as referring to the same region in Book viii. Epig. 28, where he asks, “Did thy wool count the many streams of the Timavus, which Cyllarus previously drank with his starry mouth?” The Timavus was indeed a considerable way still further towards the North-East, and must have been very insignificant in connection with the sheep-breeding of the Altinates. The poet introduces it here only on account of its picturesque and mythological interest, just as we have seen that the Galesus, a small, though clear and very beautiful stream, is repeatedly named in order to designate the pastoral region about Tarentum. It may also be observed, that in this epigram, where Martial alludes to three of the principal places for the growth of white wool, he indicates each of them by its river, the three rivers being the Galesus, the Bætis, and the Timavus; and he probably did so on account of the supposed effect of the waters of these rivers in improving the wool.[335]L. vii. cap. 2.[336]L. xiv. Ep. 155.We can make no question, after what we have seen of the universal practice of both ancient and modern times, that the sheep, which in the winter were pastured in the plains and lower grounds about Altinum, were taken to pass the summer in the vallies of the Carinthian Alps about the sources of the Brenta, the Piave, and the Tagliamento. We may also trace the wool, after it was manufactured, in its progress towards Rome, where was the chief demand for garments of this description. For Strabo says, that Patavium (Padua), which was situated at no great distance from Altinum on the way to Rome, was a great and flourishing mart for all kinds of merchandize intended to be sent thither, and especially for every kind of cloth[337]. It appears, therefore, that the wool-growersand clothiers of the country to the North-East of Padua, the modern Trevisano, employed that city as an entrepôt where they disposed of their goods to the Roman dealers. At the same time we learn, that this place served as a market forcarpetsandblanketsmade of a stronger and more substantial material, which, according to the same authority[338], was produced in its more immediate vicinity.[337]L. v. cap. 1. § 6, 7. Strabo alludes to the pastoral occupations of the territory about Altinum and the Timavus.[338]Strabo.In the North-Western portion of Cisalpine Gaul the wool was generally coarse, and according to Strabo (l. c.) the garments made of it were used by the Italians for the ordinary clothing of their domestic establishments. Nevertheless, black wool of superior value was grown at Polentia, now Polenza, on the Stura, which is a tributary of the Po[339]. The following two Epigrams of Martial (l.xiv. 157 and 158.) allude to the use of the dark wool of Polentia for mourning and for the dress of inferior domestic servants.Polentine Wools.1. Not wools alone, that wear the face of woe;Her goblets once did proud Polentia show.2. Our sable hue to croplings may belong,That tend the table, not of primal throng.Elphinston’s Translation.[339]Pliny, L. viii. Columella, vii. 2. To these testimonies may be added Silius Italicus de Bello Punico, l. viii. 597.The country people about Modena and in other parts of the Northern Apennines still wearundyedwoollen cloth of a gray color. Muratori quotes from the statutes of the city of Modena, A. D. 1327, a law toprevent the makers of such cloth from mixing with their gray wool the hair of oxen, asses, or other animals[340].[340]Dissertazioni sopra le Antichità Italiane, Diss. 30. tomo ii. 48, 49, 4to edition. This author in his 21st Dissertation endeavors to assign reasons for the decline of the modern Italians in the growth and manufacture of wool.Before quitting Italy we may properly inquire, whence and how came the practice of sheep-breeding into Great Britain. It has already been observed that the very improved state of the art at Tarentum may be in part ascribed to the intercourseof its inhabitants with the Milesians. The reader will have noticed the fact that the worship of Pan was introduced into Italy from Arcadia by Evander, from which circumstance it may be reasonably inferred, that improvements in the management of sheep were also introduced at the same time. According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Evander with his companions was said by the Romans to have migrated to Latiumabout sixty years before the Trojan war[341]. The same historian alleges that this colony taught in Italy the use of letters, of instrumental music and other arts, established laws, and brought some degree of refinement instead of the former savage mode of life. The story of the birth of Romulus and Remus supposes sheep-breeding to have been practiced at the period of that event, and in a state of society similar to that which we have found prevailing further eastward; for it is stated, that Faustulus, who discovered them, kept the king’s flocks. He was “magister regii pecoris[342].”[341]Hist. Rom. l. i. p. 20, 21. ed. R. Stephani, Par. 1546. folio.As it has been a frequent error with nations to push back their annals into a higher antiquity than was consistent with fact, this may have been the case in the present instance. For it is to be observed, that according to Herodotus the worship of Pan did not arise in Arcadia until after the time when according to this latter statement it was introduced from Arcadia into Latium.[342]Livii l. i. c. 4.According to Pausanias (l.viii.c.3. § 2.) the first Greek colony, which went into Italy, was from Arcadia, being conducted thither by Œnotrus, an Arcadian prince[343]. This was several centuries before the expedition under Evander, and the part of Italy thus colonized was the southern extremity, afterwards occupied by the Bruttii[344]. If with Niebuhr we regard this tradition only in the light of a genealogical table, designed to indicate the affinities of tribes and nations, still the simple fact of the colonization of South Italy by Arcadians certainly authorizes the conjecture, that Arcadia was one of the stepping-stones, by which the art of sheep-breeding was transported from Asia into Europe.[343]As further evidence for this tradition see Pherecydis Fragmenta, a Sturtz, p. 190. Virg. Æn. i. 532, and iii. 165. Compare Heyne, Excursus vi. ad Æn. l. iii.[344]Heyne, Excursus xxi. ad Æn. l. i. Niebuhr, Röm. Geschichte, i. p. 57.The reader will have perceived from the observations already made on the worship of Faunus in Italy, that the Roman Faunus was the same with the Arcadian Pan. It seems no sufficient objection to this hypothesis, that a few Roman authors have supposed Faunus to be either the son of Mars[345], or of Picus and the grandson of Saturn, thus connecting him with their native mythology, or that his oracle was held by them in high repute[346]. It is here sufficient to remark, that we find him extensively recognized in Italy as a pastoral divinity.Stretch’d on the springing grass, the shepherd swainHis reedy pipe with rural music fills;The god, who guards his flock, approves the strain,The god, who loves Arcadia’s gloomy hills.Horat. Carm.iv. 12. 9-12.—Francis’s Translation.The above stanza occurs in a description of the beauties of spring, and the poet no doubt alludes to the pastoral habits of his Sabine neighbors.[345]Appian apud Photium.[346]Virgil, Æn. vii. 48, 81-105, and Heyne, Excursus v. ad loc.From ancient monuments as well as from the language of the poets we find, that the worship of other divinities was associated with that of Faunus in reference to the success of all agricultural pursuits including that of sheep-breeding. Boissard, in the Fourth Part of his Antiquitates Romanæ, has published somewhat rude engravings of the bas-reliefs upon two altars, one of them (No. 130) dedicated toHope, the other (No. 134) toSilvanus. The altar to Hope was erected, as the inscription expresses, in a garden at Rome by M. Aur. Pacorus, keeper of the temple of Venus. He says, that he had been admonished to this deed of piety bya dream; and, if the representation in the bas-relief was the image thus presented to his mind, his dream was certainly a very pleasant one. Hope, wearing on her head a wreath of flowers, places her right hand upon a pillar and holds in her left poppy-heads and ears of corn. Beside her is a bee-hive on the ground, and on it there is also fixed a bunch of poppy-heads and ears of corn. Above these emblems of the fruitfulness of the field and of the garden is the figure of a bale of wool.The altar to Silvanus exhibits that divinity crowned with the cones and foliage of the pine. A pine grows moreover beside his terminal statue, bearing the large cones, which were used for food at entertainments and carried in bacchanalian processions. Faunus, or Pan, sits at the foot of the pine, the syrinx and the double pipe being placed at his feet. In his right hand he holds an olive branch, while a young winged genius advances towards him as if to receive it, and another genius of the same kind appears to be caressing him and whispering into his ear. On the other side of the terminal statue of Silvanus we see the caduceus of Mercury and the bale of wool, manifest indications of success in the wool trade. In this sculpture the bale is surrounded with cords, which are twisted round one another where they cross. In the former instance the compression of the wool appears to be effected by the use of thongs instead of cords[347]. There is also introduced the figure of a shepherd of the same country. This statue was found in the vicinity of Rome and is now preserved in the Vatican[348]. The extremities are in part restorations. A cameo in the Florentine Museum[349]represents the shepherd Faustulus sitting upon a rock, and contemplating the she-wolf, which is suckling Romulus and Remus. It is of the Augustan age, and no doubt exhibits the costume and general appearance of a Roman shepherd of that period. He wears atunica cucullata, i. e. a tunic of coarse woollen cloth with a cowl, which was designed to be drawn occasionally over the head and to protect it from the injuries of the weather. This garment has also sleeves, which Columella mentions (tunica manicata) as an additional comfort. On his feet the shepherd wears high shoes, or boots, which, as we may suppose, were made of leather.[347]The bas-relief on the first altar is copied from Boissard by Montfaucon, Ant. Expliquée, tome i. p. 332. and that on the second, tome ii. p. 275. The latter is also represented by the Rev. Henry Moses, Collection of Antique Vases, &c. Plate 52.[348]Museo Pio-Clementino, tomo iii. tav. 34 and p. 44.[349]Museum Florentinum. Gemmæ Antiquæ a Gorio illustratæ, tav. ii. No. 10.The appearance of the shepherds, who are represented in these ancient works of art, is, doubtless, adapted to produce theimpression, that their condition, even if it were that of slaves, was nevertheless one of comfort and respectability. Neither their garb, nor their attitude, suggests the idea of anything base or miserable. On the contrary, the countenance of each indicates trust-worthiness, steadiness, and care. That many of the agricultural laborers of ancient Italy had this character may be inferred also from written testimonies.In reference to this subject, and with a view to illustrate at the same time the habits and employments of the ancient farmer among theSabineorApulianmountains, we will here quote some parts of Horace’s Second Epode, in which he describes the pleasures of a country life.Like the first mortals blest is he,From debts, and usury, and bus’ness free,With his own team who ploughs the soil,Which grateful once confess’d his father’s toil.The sounds of war nor break his sleep,Nor the rough storm, that harrows up the deep;He shuns the courtier’s haughty doors,And the loud science of the bar abjures.Either to poplars tall he joinsThe marriageable offspring of his vines;Or lops the useless boughs away,Inserting happier as the old decay:Or in a lonely vale surveysHis lowing herds, safe-wand’ring as they graze;Or stores in jars his liquid goldPrest from the hive, or shears his tender fold.And, if a chaste and prudent wifePerform her part in the sweet cares of life,Of sun-burnt charms, but honest fame,Such as the Sabine or Apulian dame;If, when fatigued he homeward turns,The sacred fire, built up with faggots, burns;Or if in hurdles she incloseThe joyful flock, whence ample produce flows;Though unbought dainties she prepare,And this year’s wines attend the homely fare;No fish would I from foreign shoreDesire, nor relish Lucrine oysters more.Olives, fresh gather’d from the tree;Mallows, the frame from heaviness to free[350];A kid snatch’d from the wolf, a lambTo Terminus with due devotion slain;Such is the meal, his labor o’er;No bird from distant climes I’d relish more.Meanwhile how pleasant to beholdHis sheep well fed, and hasting to their fold;To see his wearied oxen bowTheir languid necks, and drag th’invertedplough;And then his num’rous slaves to viewRound his domestic gods their mirth pursue.

Dic, toga, facundi gratum mihi munus amici,

Esse velis cujus fama, decusque gregis?

Appula Ledæi tibi floruit herba Phalanthi,

Quà saturat Calabris culta Galesus aquis?

An Tartessiacus stabuli nutritor Iberi

Bætis in Hesperia te quoque lavit aqua?

An tua multifidum numeravit lana Timavum,

Quem prius astrifero Cyllarus ore bibit?

Te nec Amyclæo decuit livere veneno;

Nec Miletus erat vellere digna tuo.

Lilia tu vincis, nec adhuc dilapsa ligustra,

Et Tiburtino monte quod albet ebur.

Spartanus tibi cedet olor, Phaphiæque columbæ:Cedet Erythræis eruta gemma vadis.Sed licet hæc primis nivibus sint æmula dona,Non sunt Parthenio candidiora suo.Non ego prætulerim Babylonica picta superbèTexta, Semiramia quæ variantur acu.Non Athamantæo potius me mirer in auro,Æolium dones si mihi, Phryxe, decus.O quantos risus pariter spectata movebitTrita Palatina nostra lacerna toga!

Spartanus tibi cedet olor, Phaphiæque columbæ:

Cedet Erythræis eruta gemma vadis.

Sed licet hæc primis nivibus sint æmula dona,

Non sunt Parthenio candidiora suo.

Non ego prætulerim Babylonica picta superbè

Texta, Semiramia quæ variantur acu.

Non Athamantæo potius me mirer in auro,

Æolium dones si mihi, Phryxe, decus.

O quantos risus pariter spectata movebit

Trita Palatina nostra lacerna toga!

Say, grateful gift of mine ingenious friend,What happy flock shall to thy fleece pretend?For thee did herb of famed Phalantus blow,Where clear Galesus bids his waters flow?Did thy wool count the streamlets, more than seven,Of him, who slaked the warrior horse of heaven?Or did Tartessian Guadalquiver laveThy matchless woof in his Hesperian wave?Thou didst not need to taste Amyclæ’s bane,And wouldst have tried Milesian art in vain.With thee the lily and the privet paleCompared, and Tibur’s whitest ivory fail.The Spartan swan, the Paphian doves deploreTheir hue, and pearls on Erythrean shore.But, though the boon leave new-fall’n snows behind,It is not purer than the donor’s mind.I would prefer noBabylonian vest,Superbly broider’dat a queen’s behest;Nor better pleased should I my limbs behold,Phryxus, inwebsof thine Æolian gold.But O! what laughter will the contrast crown,My worn lacerna on th’ imperial gown!

Say, grateful gift of mine ingenious friend,

What happy flock shall to thy fleece pretend?

For thee did herb of famed Phalantus blow,

Where clear Galesus bids his waters flow?

Did thy wool count the streamlets, more than seven,

Of him, who slaked the warrior horse of heaven?

Or did Tartessian Guadalquiver lave

Thy matchless woof in his Hesperian wave?

Thou didst not need to taste Amyclæ’s bane,

And wouldst have tried Milesian art in vain.

With thee the lily and the privet pale

Compared, and Tibur’s whitest ivory fail.

The Spartan swan, the Paphian doves deplore

Their hue, and pearls on Erythrean shore.

But, though the boon leave new-fall’n snows behind,

It is not purer than the donor’s mind.

I would prefer noBabylonian vest,

Superbly broider’dat a queen’s behest;

Nor better pleased should I my limbs behold,

Phryxus, inwebsof thine Æolian gold.

But O! what laughter will the contrast crown,

My worn lacerna on th’ imperial gown!

It may be observed, that in this ingenious epigram, as well as in two of the preceding, which relate to togas, Martial supposes the Tarentine wool to be white: for the Roman toga was of that color except in mourning, and one object of the last-cited epigram is to praise the whiteness of the particular toga, which it describes. The Tarentines therefore must have produced both dark-colored and white fleeces.

The fifth passage of Martial (xii. 64.), which mentions the sheep of the Galesus, more directly refers to those of Spain, and will therefore be quoted under that head.

Besides the epigrams, now cited, in which Martial commends the wool of Tarentum in particular, we find others, in which he celebrates that of Apulia in general. In Book xiv. Ep. 155. he gives an account of the principal countries, which yielded white wools, and informs us that those of the first quality were from Apulia.

White Wools.

The first Apulia’s; next is Parma’s boast;And the third fleece Altinum has engrost.Elphinston’s Translation.

The first Apulia’s; next is Parma’s boast;

And the third fleece Altinum has engrost.

Elphinston’s Translation.

Also in the following lines Martial alludes to the large and numerous flocks of Apulia, and to the whiteness of their wool.

Of white thou hast to clothe a tribe sufficient stock,The produce fair of more than one Apulian flock.L. ii.Ep.46.l.5, 6.

Of white thou hast to clothe a tribe sufficient stock,

The produce fair of more than one Apulian flock.

L. ii.Ep.46.l.5, 6.

On the other hand the wool from the vicinity of Canusium was no less esteemed for its dark colors, whether inclining to brown or to red. These saved the expense of dyeing. The testimony of Pliny to their value has been already produced. In the two following Epigrams (l.xiv. 127and129.) Martial alludes to the peculiar recommendations and uses, first of the brown, and secondly of the reddish variety.

This Canusine lacerna, it is true,Looks muddy: but it will not change its hue[333].Rome in the brown delights, gay Gaul in red:This pleases boys, and whose is blood to shed.

This Canusine lacerna, it is true,

Looks muddy: but it will not change its hue[333].

Rome in the brown delights, gay Gaul in red:

This pleases boys, and whose is blood to shed.

[333]It appears from this epigram that, when shaken, it had the color of the brown wool of Canusium, a kind of drab. The lacerna was a mantle, which the Romans wore out of doors over their white toga, with which it was well contrasted, whether it was purple, scarlet, or brown; but the last color, though less showy at first, must have had the advantage of durability. SeeAppendix A.

On referring to the passages produced from Pliny, Columella, and Martial, it will be seen that the Romans ascribed a very high value to the white wool of Gallia Cisalpina, i. e. of North Italy, or the region about the Po. Parma was considered second only to Apulia for the whiteness of its wool. Besides the two epigrams of Martial already cited, he refers to Parma as a great place for sheep-breeding in the following passage, addressed to the wealthy Callistratus:

And Gallic Parma shears thy num’rous flocks.L. v.ep.13.

And Gallic Parma shears thy num’rous flocks.

L. v.ep.13.

Columella speaks moreover (l. c.) of the superiority of the wool of Mutina, now Modena; and Martial (l.v.ep.105.) mentions the circumstance of afuller, orclothier, in that city having exhibited a show to the public, which is a presumptive evidence that he had a great business in manufacturing the produce of the surrounding country.

Strabo in his account of the productions of Cisalpine Gaul divides the wool into three kinds; First, the soft kind, of which the finest varieties were grown about Mutina and the riverScutana, which is the modern Scultenna, a tributary of the Po, rising in the Apennines; Secondly, the coarse kind, grown in Liguria and the country of the Insubres, which was very much used for the common wearing apparel of the Italians; and Thirdly, the middle kind, grown about Patavium (now Padua) and employed for making valuablecarpetsand various descriptions ofblankets[334]. By comparing the statements of this author with those of Columella and Martial it will appear, that the whole region watered by the parallel rivers Parma, Gabellus, and Scultenna, and known by the name ofMacri Campi, or the Barren Plains, was esteemed for the production of the fine white wool.

[334]Strabo, L. v. c. 1. § 12. p. 119. ed. Siebenkees.

That the tending of both sheep and goats was a principal occupation of the people of Mantua we learn from Virgil, a native of that city, who places the scene of most of his pastorals in its vicinity. His First and Ninth Eclogues more particularly relate to the calamities, which the Mantuans were compelled to sustain, when Augustus seized on their lands to reward his veteran soldiers after the battle of Philippi. These eclogues mention flocks both of sheep and goats, and show that those who had the care of them cultivated music and poetry after the manner of the Sicilians. The commencement of the Seventh Eclogue is especially instructive, because it gives us reason to believe, that while many of the Arcadians left their country in consequence of that excess of population, to which mountainous regions are subject, in order to become foreign mercenaries, others, on the contrary, entered into foreign service as shepherds and goatherds, and in this condition not only made themselves useful by their experience, skill, and fidelity, but also introduced at the same time their native music together with that refinement of manners and feelings which it promoted. The poet thus describes two such individuals, who had been employed in tending flocks upon the banks of the Mincius (l.12, 13), and who were either born in Arcadia, or were at least of Arcadian origin.

Two blooming swains had join’d their flocks in one,Thyrsis his sheep, and tuneful CorydonHis goats, which bore their treasur’d milk along;Arcadians both, both skill’d in amœbean song.

Two blooming swains had join’d their flocks in one,

Thyrsis his sheep, and tuneful Corydon

His goats, which bore their treasur’d milk along;

Arcadians both, both skill’d in amœbean song.

At a considerable distance to the North-East of Mantua lay Altinum, which is mentioned by Columella[335], Tertullian, and Martial, as one of the principal places for the produce ofwhitewool. Martial says, that it ranked in this respect next to Parma[336], and we must understand him as referring to the same region in Book viii. Epig. 28, where he asks, “Did thy wool count the many streams of the Timavus, which Cyllarus previously drank with his starry mouth?” The Timavus was indeed a considerable way still further towards the North-East, and must have been very insignificant in connection with the sheep-breeding of the Altinates. The poet introduces it here only on account of its picturesque and mythological interest, just as we have seen that the Galesus, a small, though clear and very beautiful stream, is repeatedly named in order to designate the pastoral region about Tarentum. It may also be observed, that in this epigram, where Martial alludes to three of the principal places for the growth of white wool, he indicates each of them by its river, the three rivers being the Galesus, the Bætis, and the Timavus; and he probably did so on account of the supposed effect of the waters of these rivers in improving the wool.

[335]L. vii. cap. 2.[336]L. xiv. Ep. 155.

[335]L. vii. cap. 2.

[336]L. xiv. Ep. 155.

We can make no question, after what we have seen of the universal practice of both ancient and modern times, that the sheep, which in the winter were pastured in the plains and lower grounds about Altinum, were taken to pass the summer in the vallies of the Carinthian Alps about the sources of the Brenta, the Piave, and the Tagliamento. We may also trace the wool, after it was manufactured, in its progress towards Rome, where was the chief demand for garments of this description. For Strabo says, that Patavium (Padua), which was situated at no great distance from Altinum on the way to Rome, was a great and flourishing mart for all kinds of merchandize intended to be sent thither, and especially for every kind of cloth[337]. It appears, therefore, that the wool-growersand clothiers of the country to the North-East of Padua, the modern Trevisano, employed that city as an entrepôt where they disposed of their goods to the Roman dealers. At the same time we learn, that this place served as a market forcarpetsandblanketsmade of a stronger and more substantial material, which, according to the same authority[338], was produced in its more immediate vicinity.

[337]L. v. cap. 1. § 6, 7. Strabo alludes to the pastoral occupations of the territory about Altinum and the Timavus.[338]Strabo.

[337]L. v. cap. 1. § 6, 7. Strabo alludes to the pastoral occupations of the territory about Altinum and the Timavus.

[338]Strabo.

In the North-Western portion of Cisalpine Gaul the wool was generally coarse, and according to Strabo (l. c.) the garments made of it were used by the Italians for the ordinary clothing of their domestic establishments. Nevertheless, black wool of superior value was grown at Polentia, now Polenza, on the Stura, which is a tributary of the Po[339]. The following two Epigrams of Martial (l.xiv. 157 and 158.) allude to the use of the dark wool of Polentia for mourning and for the dress of inferior domestic servants.

Polentine Wools.1. Not wools alone, that wear the face of woe;Her goblets once did proud Polentia show.2. Our sable hue to croplings may belong,That tend the table, not of primal throng.Elphinston’s Translation.

Polentine Wools.

1. Not wools alone, that wear the face of woe;Her goblets once did proud Polentia show.2. Our sable hue to croplings may belong,That tend the table, not of primal throng.Elphinston’s Translation.

1. Not wools alone, that wear the face of woe;Her goblets once did proud Polentia show.

1. Not wools alone, that wear the face of woe;

Her goblets once did proud Polentia show.

2. Our sable hue to croplings may belong,That tend the table, not of primal throng.Elphinston’s Translation.

2. Our sable hue to croplings may belong,

That tend the table, not of primal throng.

Elphinston’s Translation.

[339]Pliny, L. viii. Columella, vii. 2. To these testimonies may be added Silius Italicus de Bello Punico, l. viii. 597.

The country people about Modena and in other parts of the Northern Apennines still wearundyedwoollen cloth of a gray color. Muratori quotes from the statutes of the city of Modena, A. D. 1327, a law toprevent the makers of such cloth from mixing with their gray wool the hair of oxen, asses, or other animals[340].

[340]Dissertazioni sopra le Antichità Italiane, Diss. 30. tomo ii. 48, 49, 4to edition. This author in his 21st Dissertation endeavors to assign reasons for the decline of the modern Italians in the growth and manufacture of wool.

Before quitting Italy we may properly inquire, whence and how came the practice of sheep-breeding into Great Britain. It has already been observed that the very improved state of the art at Tarentum may be in part ascribed to the intercourseof its inhabitants with the Milesians. The reader will have noticed the fact that the worship of Pan was introduced into Italy from Arcadia by Evander, from which circumstance it may be reasonably inferred, that improvements in the management of sheep were also introduced at the same time. According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Evander with his companions was said by the Romans to have migrated to Latiumabout sixty years before the Trojan war[341]. The same historian alleges that this colony taught in Italy the use of letters, of instrumental music and other arts, established laws, and brought some degree of refinement instead of the former savage mode of life. The story of the birth of Romulus and Remus supposes sheep-breeding to have been practiced at the period of that event, and in a state of society similar to that which we have found prevailing further eastward; for it is stated, that Faustulus, who discovered them, kept the king’s flocks. He was “magister regii pecoris[342].”

[341]Hist. Rom. l. i. p. 20, 21. ed. R. Stephani, Par. 1546. folio.As it has been a frequent error with nations to push back their annals into a higher antiquity than was consistent with fact, this may have been the case in the present instance. For it is to be observed, that according to Herodotus the worship of Pan did not arise in Arcadia until after the time when according to this latter statement it was introduced from Arcadia into Latium.[342]Livii l. i. c. 4.

[341]Hist. Rom. l. i. p. 20, 21. ed. R. Stephani, Par. 1546. folio.

As it has been a frequent error with nations to push back their annals into a higher antiquity than was consistent with fact, this may have been the case in the present instance. For it is to be observed, that according to Herodotus the worship of Pan did not arise in Arcadia until after the time when according to this latter statement it was introduced from Arcadia into Latium.

[342]Livii l. i. c. 4.

According to Pausanias (l.viii.c.3. § 2.) the first Greek colony, which went into Italy, was from Arcadia, being conducted thither by Œnotrus, an Arcadian prince[343]. This was several centuries before the expedition under Evander, and the part of Italy thus colonized was the southern extremity, afterwards occupied by the Bruttii[344]. If with Niebuhr we regard this tradition only in the light of a genealogical table, designed to indicate the affinities of tribes and nations, still the simple fact of the colonization of South Italy by Arcadians certainly authorizes the conjecture, that Arcadia was one of the stepping-stones, by which the art of sheep-breeding was transported from Asia into Europe.

[343]As further evidence for this tradition see Pherecydis Fragmenta, a Sturtz, p. 190. Virg. Æn. i. 532, and iii. 165. Compare Heyne, Excursus vi. ad Æn. l. iii.[344]Heyne, Excursus xxi. ad Æn. l. i. Niebuhr, Röm. Geschichte, i. p. 57.

[343]As further evidence for this tradition see Pherecydis Fragmenta, a Sturtz, p. 190. Virg. Æn. i. 532, and iii. 165. Compare Heyne, Excursus vi. ad Æn. l. iii.

[344]Heyne, Excursus xxi. ad Æn. l. i. Niebuhr, Röm. Geschichte, i. p. 57.

The reader will have perceived from the observations already made on the worship of Faunus in Italy, that the Roman Faunus was the same with the Arcadian Pan. It seems no sufficient objection to this hypothesis, that a few Roman authors have supposed Faunus to be either the son of Mars[345], or of Picus and the grandson of Saturn, thus connecting him with their native mythology, or that his oracle was held by them in high repute[346]. It is here sufficient to remark, that we find him extensively recognized in Italy as a pastoral divinity.

Stretch’d on the springing grass, the shepherd swainHis reedy pipe with rural music fills;The god, who guards his flock, approves the strain,The god, who loves Arcadia’s gloomy hills.Horat. Carm.iv. 12. 9-12.—Francis’s Translation.

Stretch’d on the springing grass, the shepherd swain

His reedy pipe with rural music fills;

The god, who guards his flock, approves the strain,

The god, who loves Arcadia’s gloomy hills.

Horat. Carm.iv. 12. 9-12.—Francis’s Translation.

The above stanza occurs in a description of the beauties of spring, and the poet no doubt alludes to the pastoral habits of his Sabine neighbors.

[345]Appian apud Photium.[346]Virgil, Æn. vii. 48, 81-105, and Heyne, Excursus v. ad loc.

[345]Appian apud Photium.

[346]Virgil, Æn. vii. 48, 81-105, and Heyne, Excursus v. ad loc.

From ancient monuments as well as from the language of the poets we find, that the worship of other divinities was associated with that of Faunus in reference to the success of all agricultural pursuits including that of sheep-breeding. Boissard, in the Fourth Part of his Antiquitates Romanæ, has published somewhat rude engravings of the bas-reliefs upon two altars, one of them (No. 130) dedicated toHope, the other (No. 134) toSilvanus. The altar to Hope was erected, as the inscription expresses, in a garden at Rome by M. Aur. Pacorus, keeper of the temple of Venus. He says, that he had been admonished to this deed of piety bya dream; and, if the representation in the bas-relief was the image thus presented to his mind, his dream was certainly a very pleasant one. Hope, wearing on her head a wreath of flowers, places her right hand upon a pillar and holds in her left poppy-heads and ears of corn. Beside her is a bee-hive on the ground, and on it there is also fixed a bunch of poppy-heads and ears of corn. Above these emblems of the fruitfulness of the field and of the garden is the figure of a bale of wool.

The altar to Silvanus exhibits that divinity crowned with the cones and foliage of the pine. A pine grows moreover beside his terminal statue, bearing the large cones, which were used for food at entertainments and carried in bacchanalian processions. Faunus, or Pan, sits at the foot of the pine, the syrinx and the double pipe being placed at his feet. In his right hand he holds an olive branch, while a young winged genius advances towards him as if to receive it, and another genius of the same kind appears to be caressing him and whispering into his ear. On the other side of the terminal statue of Silvanus we see the caduceus of Mercury and the bale of wool, manifest indications of success in the wool trade. In this sculpture the bale is surrounded with cords, which are twisted round one another where they cross. In the former instance the compression of the wool appears to be effected by the use of thongs instead of cords[347]. There is also introduced the figure of a shepherd of the same country. This statue was found in the vicinity of Rome and is now preserved in the Vatican[348]. The extremities are in part restorations. A cameo in the Florentine Museum[349]represents the shepherd Faustulus sitting upon a rock, and contemplating the she-wolf, which is suckling Romulus and Remus. It is of the Augustan age, and no doubt exhibits the costume and general appearance of a Roman shepherd of that period. He wears atunica cucullata, i. e. a tunic of coarse woollen cloth with a cowl, which was designed to be drawn occasionally over the head and to protect it from the injuries of the weather. This garment has also sleeves, which Columella mentions (tunica manicata) as an additional comfort. On his feet the shepherd wears high shoes, or boots, which, as we may suppose, were made of leather.

[347]The bas-relief on the first altar is copied from Boissard by Montfaucon, Ant. Expliquée, tome i. p. 332. and that on the second, tome ii. p. 275. The latter is also represented by the Rev. Henry Moses, Collection of Antique Vases, &c. Plate 52.[348]Museo Pio-Clementino, tomo iii. tav. 34 and p. 44.[349]Museum Florentinum. Gemmæ Antiquæ a Gorio illustratæ, tav. ii. No. 10.

[348]Museo Pio-Clementino, tomo iii. tav. 34 and p. 44.

[349]Museum Florentinum. Gemmæ Antiquæ a Gorio illustratæ, tav. ii. No. 10.

The appearance of the shepherds, who are represented in these ancient works of art, is, doubtless, adapted to produce theimpression, that their condition, even if it were that of slaves, was nevertheless one of comfort and respectability. Neither their garb, nor their attitude, suggests the idea of anything base or miserable. On the contrary, the countenance of each indicates trust-worthiness, steadiness, and care. That many of the agricultural laborers of ancient Italy had this character may be inferred also from written testimonies.

In reference to this subject, and with a view to illustrate at the same time the habits and employments of the ancient farmer among theSabineorApulianmountains, we will here quote some parts of Horace’s Second Epode, in which he describes the pleasures of a country life.

Like the first mortals blest is he,From debts, and usury, and bus’ness free,With his own team who ploughs the soil,Which grateful once confess’d his father’s toil.The sounds of war nor break his sleep,Nor the rough storm, that harrows up the deep;He shuns the courtier’s haughty doors,And the loud science of the bar abjures.Either to poplars tall he joinsThe marriageable offspring of his vines;Or lops the useless boughs away,Inserting happier as the old decay:Or in a lonely vale surveysHis lowing herds, safe-wand’ring as they graze;Or stores in jars his liquid goldPrest from the hive, or shears his tender fold.And, if a chaste and prudent wifePerform her part in the sweet cares of life,Of sun-burnt charms, but honest fame,Such as the Sabine or Apulian dame;If, when fatigued he homeward turns,The sacred fire, built up with faggots, burns;Or if in hurdles she incloseThe joyful flock, whence ample produce flows;Though unbought dainties she prepare,And this year’s wines attend the homely fare;No fish would I from foreign shoreDesire, nor relish Lucrine oysters more.Olives, fresh gather’d from the tree;Mallows, the frame from heaviness to free[350];A kid snatch’d from the wolf, a lambTo Terminus with due devotion slain;Such is the meal, his labor o’er;No bird from distant climes I’d relish more.Meanwhile how pleasant to beholdHis sheep well fed, and hasting to their fold;To see his wearied oxen bowTheir languid necks, and drag th’invertedplough;And then his num’rous slaves to viewRound his domestic gods their mirth pursue.

Like the first mortals blest is he,From debts, and usury, and bus’ness free,With his own team who ploughs the soil,Which grateful once confess’d his father’s toil.

Like the first mortals blest is he,

From debts, and usury, and bus’ness free,

With his own team who ploughs the soil,

Which grateful once confess’d his father’s toil.

The sounds of war nor break his sleep,Nor the rough storm, that harrows up the deep;He shuns the courtier’s haughty doors,And the loud science of the bar abjures.

The sounds of war nor break his sleep,

Nor the rough storm, that harrows up the deep;

He shuns the courtier’s haughty doors,

And the loud science of the bar abjures.

Either to poplars tall he joinsThe marriageable offspring of his vines;Or lops the useless boughs away,Inserting happier as the old decay:

Either to poplars tall he joins

The marriageable offspring of his vines;

Or lops the useless boughs away,

Inserting happier as the old decay:

Or in a lonely vale surveysHis lowing herds, safe-wand’ring as they graze;Or stores in jars his liquid goldPrest from the hive, or shears his tender fold.

Or in a lonely vale surveys

His lowing herds, safe-wand’ring as they graze;

Or stores in jars his liquid gold

Prest from the hive, or shears his tender fold.

And, if a chaste and prudent wifePerform her part in the sweet cares of life,Of sun-burnt charms, but honest fame,Such as the Sabine or Apulian dame;

And, if a chaste and prudent wife

Perform her part in the sweet cares of life,

Of sun-burnt charms, but honest fame,

Such as the Sabine or Apulian dame;

If, when fatigued he homeward turns,The sacred fire, built up with faggots, burns;Or if in hurdles she incloseThe joyful flock, whence ample produce flows;

If, when fatigued he homeward turns,

The sacred fire, built up with faggots, burns;

Or if in hurdles she inclose

The joyful flock, whence ample produce flows;

Though unbought dainties she prepare,And this year’s wines attend the homely fare;No fish would I from foreign shoreDesire, nor relish Lucrine oysters more.

Though unbought dainties she prepare,

And this year’s wines attend the homely fare;

No fish would I from foreign shore

Desire, nor relish Lucrine oysters more.

Olives, fresh gather’d from the tree;Mallows, the frame from heaviness to free[350];A kid snatch’d from the wolf, a lambTo Terminus with due devotion slain;

Olives, fresh gather’d from the tree;

Mallows, the frame from heaviness to free[350];

A kid snatch’d from the wolf, a lamb

To Terminus with due devotion slain;

Such is the meal, his labor o’er;No bird from distant climes I’d relish more.Meanwhile how pleasant to beholdHis sheep well fed, and hasting to their fold;

Such is the meal, his labor o’er;

No bird from distant climes I’d relish more.

Meanwhile how pleasant to behold

His sheep well fed, and hasting to their fold;

To see his wearied oxen bowTheir languid necks, and drag th’invertedplough;And then his num’rous slaves to viewRound his domestic gods their mirth pursue.

To see his wearied oxen bow

Their languid necks, and drag th’invertedplough;

And then his num’rous slaves to view

Round his domestic gods their mirth pursue.

Back to Index Next