The oldest surviving work of Latin prose — a practical handbook on estate management that doubles as a social document of extraordinary value. Cato instructs the Roman landowner on everything from olive cultivation and wine-making to the management of slaves (with a ruthlessness that shocked even his contemporaries), the proper prayers for purifying a field, and a recipe for placenta cake. Its terse, commanding style — the literary equivalent of a Roman centurion — set the tone for Latin technical writing for centuries.