Odes of Horace, Book 5/Ode 9
IX
YEARS agone, though not so many, I was prompted to complain
Of the City's deep encroachment on our arable domain,
Watching with a grave misgiving fields that once were rich in wheat
Overrun with royal mansions, busy mart or crowded street.
All around the mason's trowel or the carver's chisel rang,
Palaces and baths and temples swiftly into being sprang;
Dealers in imported marbles quite colossal fortunes made,
And the builder and contractor drove a truly roaring trade.
But the rigorous enforcement of new sumptuary laws
To this craze for bricks and mortar gave a salutary pause;
Private enterprise in building long has been severely checked,
And the doom of unemployment dogs the hapless architect.
Luxury is at a discount; even villa roofs are thatched;
Senators appear in togas palpably and freely patched;
Frugal fare is all the fashion; Iccius and his greedy wife,
Once disciples of Lucullus, now affect the simple life.
Even Telephus the dandy, whose complexion was his pride,
Now adopts the "bearded Cato" as his model and his guide.
He has rented an allotment, where he hoes and sows and digs,
Shuns the company of ladies, and is busy raising pigs.
Nobler signs of public spirit I delightedly remark
In the fact that good Maecenas recently ploughed up his park,
And in patriotic answer to the Emperor's appeals
Turned his artificial waters into hatcheries for eels.
Flora bows to bustling Ceres; unobserved the violet blows;
And the satisfying parsnip triumphs o'er the blushing rose;
Fragrant and exotic blossoms now no longer scent the air,
For the humblest vegetables have usurped the gay parterre.
Once, O Varus, I besought you "first and foremost plant the vine";
Now my former predilection I reluctantly resign.
Rather cultivate your orchard; apples, raw or baked or stewed,
Are not merely rare refreshing fruit, but highly wholesome food.
Far too long relying largely on imported foodstuffs, Rome
Learns at last to stock her larder and her granaries from home,
Learns to push the propaganda of the multiplying sow,
Learns to ease her Navy's vigil by the speeding of the plough.