{{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot)
Vilicus ( el, ἐπίτροπος) was a servant who had the superintendence of the
villa rustica
Villa rustica () was the term used by the ancient Romans to denote a farmhouse or villa set in the countryside and with an agricultural section, which applies to the vast majority of Roman villas. In some cases they were at the centre of a large ...
, and of all the business of the farm, except the cattle, which were under the care of the
magister pecoris. The duties of the vilicus were to follow the estate owner's instructions, and to govern the slaves with moderation, never to leave the villa except to go to market, to have no intercourse with
soothsayers, to take care of the cattle and the implements of husbandry, and to manage all the operations of the farm villa. His duties and those of his wife (the vilica) are described by
Columella
Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (; Arabic: , 4 – ) was a prominent writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire.
His ' in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture, together with the wo ...
(''Res rustica'', I.8, XI.1, and XII.1), and by Cato (''De Agri Cultura'', cxlii–cxliii, focusing on the vilica).
The word was also used to describe a person to whom the management of any business was entrusted (see the passage quoted in
Forcellini's Lexicon).
Ancient Roman titles