The ''Geoponica'' or ''Geoponika'' ( el, Γεωπονικά) is a twenty-book collection of agricultural lore, compiled during the 10th century in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

for the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. The

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

word ''Geoponica'' signifies "agricultural pursuits" in its widest sense. It is the only surviving Byzantine agricultural work. During the

Macedonian Renaissance Macedonian Renaissance ( el, Μακεδονική Αναγέννηση) is a historiographical term used for the blossoming of Byzantine culture in the 9th–11th centuries, under the eponymous Macedonian dynasty (867–1056), following the uphea ...

, the emperor Constantine VII assembled several compendia - compilations and excerpts of ancient writings - of which Geoponika was one. Around 50 manuscripts, dating from between the 10th and 16th centuries, have survived. ''Geoponika'' incorporated the work of

Cassianus Bassus Cassianus Bassus, called Scholasticus (lawyer) was one of the , the group of writers on agricultural subjects. He lived at the end of the 6th or the beginning of the 7th century. He compiled from earlier writers a collection of agricultural litera ...

, which was compiled from an earlier work by

Vindonius Anatolius Vindonius Anatolius of Beirut or Vindonius Anatolius Berytius, also known as Vindanius, Vindanionius, was a Greek author of the 4th century, and may be identical with the praetorian prefect of Illyricum mentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus. He was th ...

Sources

The 10th century collection is sometimes (wrongly) ascribed to the 7th century author

, whose collection, also titled ''Geoponica'', was integrated into the extant work. Bassus drew heavily on the work of another agricultural compiler,

(4th century). The ultimate sources of the ''Geoponica'' include

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

, various lost Hellenistic and Roman-period Greek agriculture and veterinary authors, the Carthaginian agronomist Mago, and even works passing under the name of the Persian prophet

Zoroaster Zoroaster,; fa, زرتشت, Zartosht, label= Modern Persian; ku, زەردەشت, Zerdeşt also known as Zarathustra,, . Also known as Zarathushtra Spitama, or Ashu Zarathushtra is regarded as the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism. He is ...

. (The names of the principal sources for each section are attached to the text, although the age and correctness of these attributions remains in doubt.) The Greek manuscript tradition is extremely complex and not fully understood.

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

, Pahlavi,

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

and

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

translations attest to its worldwide popularity and complicate the manuscript tradition still further.

The ''Geoponica'' embraces all manner of "agricultural" information, including celestial and terrestrial ''omina'',

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...

, oleoculture,

apiculture Beekeeping (or apiculture) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most-commonly-kept species but other honey-producing bees such as ''Melipona'' stingless bees are also kept. ...

veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

, the construction of fish ponds and much more. Taken from Charles Anthon's ''Manual of Greek Literature'' (1853). :1. Of the atmosphere, and of the rising and setting of the stars :2. Of general matters appertaining to agriculture, and of the different kinds of corn :3. Of the various agricultural duties suitable to each month :4–5. Of the cultivation of the vine :6–8. Of the making of wine :9. Of the cultivation of the olive and the making of oil :10–12. Of horticulture :13. Of the animals and insects injurious to plants :14. Of pigeons and other birds :15. Of natural sympathies and antipathies, and of the management of bees :16. Of horses, donkeys and camels :17. Of the breeding of cattle :18. Of the breeding of sheep :19. Of dogs, hares, deer, pigs, and of salting meat :20. Of fishes

References

Bibliography

* Dalby, Andrew, translator. 2011. ''Geoponika: Farm Work''. Totnes: Prospect Books. * Henricus Beckh, editor. 1895; reprint 1994. ''Geoponica sive Cassiani Bassi scholastici de re rustica eclogae''. Leipzig:

Teubner The Bibliotheca Teubneriana, or ''Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana'', also known as Teubner editions of Greek and Latin texts, comprise one of the most thorough modern collection published of ancient (and some medieval) ...

.
Full text available online (Ancient Greek)

External links

PDF: "Kêpopoiïa: Garden-Making and Garden Culture in the Greek Geoponica," in ''Byzantine Garden Culture'', ed. A. Littlewood et al. (Washington, 2002), 159-175Discussion of the ''Geoponica'' by John N. Lupia, III, from the LT-ANTIQ listserve, with bibliography

Translation by Thomas Owen (1805-06)
{{Authority control Agriculture books Agronomy Viticulture Agriculture in Turkey History of veterinary medicine Byzantine literature 10th century in the Byzantine Empire 10th-century books

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Contents

See also

References

Bibliography

External links