The Plants of Virgil's Georgics

Virgil's Georgics first became known to me through an English translation of the great Roman poet's celebration of agriculture and country life. Readings of other English versions, with the inevitable discrepancies in words and meanings, awakened a curiosity to know what Virgil had actually written. A subsequent study of the Latin text and several commentaries revealed, among other things, numerous references to vegetation in terms not clear to most readers. Although a number of commentaries on the plants have been written, too often the reader is furnished only with names, which, unless he has more than average botanical knowledge, are not linked in the mind's eye with the living organisms. The need became apparent to me for illustrations to bring these names to life. -- Introduction.