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(R.R. I, I, 2, and I, 2 passim) except that under the third head Varro
included, with bees, all the other kinds of stock which were usually
kept at a Roman steading. Varro asserts that his was the first
scientific classification of the subject ever made. Virgil (G. I,
5-13) begins too with the invocation of the Sun and the Moon and
certain rural deities, as did Varro (R.R. I, I, 4). The passages
should be compared for, as M. Gaston Boissier has pointed out, the
difference in the point of view of the two men is here illustrated
by the fact that Varro appeals to purely Roman deities, while Virgil
invokes the literary gods of Greece. Following the Georgics through,
one who has studied Varro will note other passages for which a
suggestion may be found in Varro, usually in facts, but some times
in thought and even in words, viz: Before beginning his agricultural
operations a farmer should study the character of the country (G. I,
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