An encyclopedist of the dark ages: Isidore of SevilleBrehaut, Ernest
History
An encyclopedist of the dark ages: Isidore of Seville
Brehaut, Ernest
Isidore, of Seville, Saint, -636; Thesis (Ph. D.)
10. _Modius_ (peck) is so named because after its own mode it is
perfect. It is a measure of forty-four pounds, that is, of twenty-two
_sextarii_. The cause of this number is derived from this, that in
the beginning God made twenty-two works. For on the first day he
made seven, that is, matter in the rough, angels, light, the upper
heavens, earth, water, and air. On the second day, the firmament
alone. On the third day, four things: the seas, seeds, sowing, and
plantings. On the fourth day, three things: the sun and moon and
stars. On the fifth day, three: fishes, and creeping things of the
water, and flying creatures. On the sixth day, four: wild beasts,
flocks, creeping things of the earth, and man. And in all twenty-two
kinds were made in the six days. And there are twenty-two generations
from Adam to Jacob, from whose seed sprang all the people of Israel,
and twenty-two books of the Old Testament as far as Esther, and
twenty-two letters of the alphabet out of which the doctrine of
the divine law is composed. According to these precedents a modius
of twenty-two _sextarii_ was established by Moses according to the
measure of the holy law, and although different nations in their
ignorance add weight to this measure or detract from it, still among
the Hebrews it is kept unchanged by divine ordinance.
Chapter 27. Abbreviations for weights.
1. The marks for weight are unknown to most and thence they cause
readers to err. So let us add their shapes and characters as they
were set down by the ancients.[361]
[361] Twenty-one of these are named.
BOOK XVII
ON AGRICULTURE
ANALYSIS
I. Writers on rural affairs (ch. 1).
II. The cultivation of the fields (ch. 2).
III. Grains (ch. 3).
VI. Leguminous plants (ch. 4).
V. Vines (ch. 5).
VI. Trees (chs. 6–7).
1. Species of trees (ch. 7).
VII. Aromatic shrubs (ch. 8).
VIII. Aromatic and common herbs (ch. 9).
IX. Vegetables (chs. 10, 11).
BOOK XVIII
ON WAR AND AMUSEMENTS
ANALYSIS
I. War[362] (chs. 1–14).
1. Kinds of war (ch. 1).
2. Triumphs (ch. 2).
3. Standards (ch. 3).
4. Trumpets (ch 4).
5. Armor (chs. 5–14).
a. Swords (ch. 6).
b. Spears (ch. 7).
c. Arrows (ch. 8).
d. Quivers (ch. 9).
e. Slings (ch. 10).
f. The battering ram (ch. 11).
g. Shields (ch. 12).
h. Coats of mail (ch. 13).
i. Helmets (ch. 14).
II. The law-court (_de foro_) (ch. 15).
III. Spectacles[363] (chs. 16–59).
1. Gymnastic contests (chs. 17–26).
2. The circus (chs. 27–41).
3. The theatre (chs. 42–51).
4. The amphitheatre (chs. 52–58).
5. Condemnation of spectacles (ch. 59).
IV. Gambling (chs. 60–68).
V. Ball-playing (ch. 69).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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