Heinemann London > MCMLIV. In Gaul, half of a jugerum was called an arepennis, the origin of the later French unit of area, the arpent.
|
|
Translated by John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, > Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855. Pliny (Book IV, Chapter 15) also used jugerum as a measure of length.
|
|
The jugerum or juger (, ', ', or ') was a Roman unit of area, equivalent to a rectangle 240 Roman feet in length and 120 feet in width (about 71×35½m), i.e. 28,800 square Roman feet ()Colum. R. R. v.i § 6; Quintil. i.18.
|
|
The Romans used the schoenus as an alternative name for the half-jugerum formed by a square with sides of 120 Roman feet. In Somerset, the rope could also double as a measure of area equivalent to 20 feet by 1 foot. Walls in Somerset were formerly sold "per rope" of 20 sq ft.
|
|
The translator (Bostock) speculated that the jugerum length measurement was equivalent to the Greek plethron, about 30 meters or 100 feet. The uncial division as was applied to the , its smallest part being the of 100 sq ft or 9.2 m². Thus, the contained 288 (Varro, R. R. l.c.). The was the common measure of land among the Romans.
|
|
Barley, wheat, and millet were all produced along with wine and olive oil, in abundance for export to other regions. Evidence of wine imported nationally from Pompeii in its most prosperous years can be found from recovered artefacts such as wine bottles in Rome. For this reason, vineyards were of utmost importance to Pompeii's economy. Agricultural policymaker Columella suggested that each vineyard in Rome produced a quota of three cullei of wine per jugerum, otherwise the vineyard would be uprooted.
|
|
Spurius Ligustinus was a Sabine man whose father left him a jugerum of land and the small cottage in which Spurius was born, grew up, and continued to live throughout his life. As soon as he came of age, he married one of his cousins. Although she had no dowry and they began their life together moderately poor, they soon built themselves up into being reasonably wealthy. He also had eight children, six sons and two daughters, who would gain social rank.
|
|
In 1174 a document of Saint Engelbert, at the time provost of the monastery of Saint Severin in Cologne, mentions that thirty-eight years previously Knight Ortliv had given back five jugerum of land that he had received from the monastery as a fief near the Jews cemetery, and the land had been let to the Jews against a yearly payment of four denarii and Ortliv couldn't have any claim on it.Wilhelm Rosellen, p. 518 (Der Judenbüchel), Verweis auf Ficken: Engelbert der Heilige p. 281 In 1266 Archbishop Engelbert II von Falkenburg ensured the lawful management and undisturbed usage of their cemetery on Bonner Strasse.
|
|
In 1131 Count Udelhard of Saugern granted his land at Frienisberg to the Cistercian Lützel Abbey. In 1138, the Lützel Abbey sent settlers to Frienisberg to found a new abbey. The new abbey remained small and struggled until the first half of the 13th century, when a number of donations allowed it to expand. In 1233 it owned land in Frienisberg, Allenwil, Ried, Tedlingen, Niederwiler, Werd, Gäserz bei Ins and Montils bei Nugerol. At its peak, about 300 farmers worked 5,000 Juchart (a measurement of acreage related to the Roman Jugerum, 1 Juchart was for a total of ) in 45 villages west of Bern.
|
|
The small farmers, who lacked enough land to feed their families and relied on the commons to make up the difference, were forced to find additional income from cottage industries such as weaving, knitting, spinning and yarn selling. In 1798, a total of 400 Juchart () (a measurement of acreage related to the Roman Jugerum, 1 Juchart was ) of forest and 200 Juchart () of pastures became private. By 1855, the local farmers had transitioned to dairy and cattle farming and dairy cooperatives opened in each village. While agriculture still plays a major role in the municipality, well-developed transport links in the village of Bützberg allowed industry and commerce to grow in that village.
|
|
J. Robinson (ed) "The Oxford Companion to Wine" Third Edition pg 190 Oxford University Press 2006 Columella describes the boiling of grape must in a lead vessel to concentrate sugars and at the same time allow the lead to impart sweetness and desirable texture to the wine,H. Johnson Vintage: The Story of Wine pg 290 Simon and Schuster 1989 a practice that may have contributed to lead poisoning. He presented precise details on how a well-run vineyard should operate, from the optimum breakfast for slaves to the yield of grapes from each jugerum of land and the pruning practices to ensure those yields. Many modern elements of vine training and trellising are evident in Columella's description of best practices.
|
|