An non etiam item in mari terraque ab his regionibus notae, in mari, quod nominaverunt a capris Aegaeum pelagus, ad Syriam montem Taurum, in Sabinis Cantherium montem, Bosporum unum Thracium, alterum Cimmerium? Nonne in terris multa, ut oppidum in Graecia Hippion Argos? Denique non Italia a vitulis, ut scribit Piso? Romanorum vero populum a pastoribus esse ortum quis non dicit? quis Faustulum nescit pastorem fuisse nutricium, qui Romulum et Remum educavit? Non ipsos quoque fuisse pastores obtinebit, quod Parilibus potissimum condidere urbem? Non idem, quod multa etiam nunc ex vetere instituto bubus et ovibus dicitur, et quod aes antiquissimum quod est flatum pecore est notatum, et quod, urbs cum condita est, tauro et vacca qua essent muri et portae definitum, et quod, populus Romanus cum lustratur suovitaurilibus, circumaguntur verres aries taurus, et quod nomina multa habemus ab utroque pecore, a maiore et a minore'a minore Porcius, Ovinius, Caprilius; sic a maiore Equitius, Taurius, Asinius'et idem cognomina adsignificare quod dicuntur, ut Anni Caprae, Statili Tauri, Pomponi Vituli, sic a pecudibus alia multa? Relicum est de scientia pastorali, de qua est dicendum, quod Scrofa noster, cui haec aetas defert rerum rusticarum omnium palmam, quo melius potest, dicet.
Or are not tracts on land and sea also known by the names of animals? For instance, they named a sea Aegean from the word for goats, a mountain on the border of Syria, Taurus, a mountain in the Sabine country, Cantherius, and two straits Bosphorus (ox-ford)'the Thracian and the Cimmerian. Did they not give such names to many places on land, as, for instance, the city in Greece called Hippion (horserearing) Argos? And, finally, is not Italy named from vituli (bullocks), as Piso states? Further, does not everyone agree that the Roman people is sprung from shepherds? Is there anyone who does not know that Faustulus, the foster-father who reared Romulus and Remus, was a shepherd? Will not the fact that they chose exactly the Parilia as the time to found a city demonstrate that they were themselves shepherds? Is not the same thing proved by the following facts: that up to this day a fine is assessed after the ancient fashion in oxen and sheep; that the oldest copper coins are marked with cattle; that when the city was founded the position of walls and gates was marked out by a bull and a cow; that when the Roman people is purified by the suovetaurilia, a boar, a ram, and a bull are driven around; that many of our family names are derived from both classes, the larger and the smaller, such as Porcius, Ovinius, Caprilius from the smaller, and Equitius, Taurius, Asinius from the larger; and that the so-called cognomina [surnames] prove the same thing, as, for instance, the Annii Caprae, the Statilii Tauri, the Pomponii Vituli, and many others, derived from the names of domestic animals? It remains to speak of the science of animal husbandry, and our friend, Scrofa, to whom this generation presents the palm in all agricultural matters, and who is therefore better fitted, will discuss it.
final_alignments\Varro_Agriculture_Book2.json