Romische Agrarhandbucher Zwischen Fachwissenschaft, Literatur Und Ideologie

Agriculture was a subject of the highest social relevance to Rome. Thus it is no surprise that Cato's, Varro's, Columella's and Palladius' handbooks on farming, written at key moments in Roman history and reacting as they do to economic and socio-cultural upheaval, have survived. Silke Diederich shows thatRome's elite handbooks on farming became more than just a means of disseminating knowledge of the 'œscience of power'� and a form of sophisticated literature; they also became a medium for the preservation of identity andensuring intellectual continuity.