seasonal chances. It implicates a comprehensive education and knowledge sharing
about nature. For example, they preferred the Atlantic route for transportation from
Baetica, southern Spain, to a military base on the Rhine, even if the travel distance
was much longer than the direct connection. The Atlantic route was the only
continuous waterway whereas transportation via land required several instances of
transhipping. Thus, the transport along the coast was often much faster than on land.
In addition, ships hold greater loads than river barges. Therefore, transportation costs
were much cheaper (Schäfer 2016). This example shows that education about the
environment was also of economic interest in the past.
The task of a Roman scholar was to collect and preserve the discoveries of the
past and to make it understandable for the Roman audience. Therefore, there were
many specialised journals and books on e.g. agriculture, fruit growing and cattle
breeding. In contrast to Greek knowledge collections, these writings hardly
contained any own observations (Flad-Schnorrenberg 1978). One example of a
Roman scholar is Marcus Porcius Cato Censorius (234–149 BC), a politician, former
military and landowner of a farm near Rome. He wrote “De agricultura”, a handbook
for landowners and a guide to an efficient and profit-oriented farm management.
Content of this book are, for example, location of the farm, land use, viticulture,
cultivation of olives, field crop cultivation, cattle breeding, and administration
(Breidbach 2015; Sonnabend 2006).
A contemporary scientific writer of the Roman Empire was Caius Plinius
Secundus Maior (79–23 BC). He descended from a civil servant family and worked
as a politician and later on as a fleet commander. In the “Naturalis historiae libri
XXXVII”, a comprehensive natural history in 37 volumes, he created a sort of metaanalysis of knowledge of all authors known to him. This natural history covers topics
such as astronomy, geography, humans, animals, plants, drugs, and minerals. These
volumes were the main source of natural history instructions for one and a half
millennia. Plinius died during the eruption of Vesuvius while he wanted to make
observations on earthquakes and the eruption (Breidbach 2015; Mägdefrau 1992).
2.5 Middle Ages, Water, Epidemics and Medicine
During the Middle Ages, nature in Central Europe was regarded as something
inferior, possessed by evil spirits. God was located outside and had to control
diabolical attitudes of humans and nature.
Due to the population growth the need for food, wood and arable land increased
enormously and led to overexploitation and damage of forests and soils (Schubert
1996). In addition, due to the foundation and expansion of cities and the increasing
pressure to landscapes by intensification of agriculture productivity, citizens
changed the rural and urban environment immensely. The intensive use of landscapes expanded from lowlands and lower mountain belts to higher elevations in
mountain regions. As a result, huge amounts of soils were washed out and
52
C. Börtitz and C. Hobohm
about nature. For example, they preferred the Atlantic route for transportation from
Baetica, southern Spain, to a military base on the Rhine, even if the travel distance
was much longer than the direct connection. The Atlantic route was the only
continuous waterway whereas transportation via land required several instances of
transhipping. Thus, the transport along the coast was often much faster than on land.
In addition, ships hold greater loads than river barges. Therefore, transportation costs
were much cheaper (Schäfer 2016). This example shows that education about the
environment was also of economic interest in the past.
The task of a Roman scholar was to collect and preserve the discoveries of the
past and to make it understandable for the Roman audience. Therefore, there were
many specialised journals and books on e.g. agriculture, fruit growing and cattle
breeding. In contrast to Greek knowledge collections, these writings hardly
contained any own observations (Flad-Schnorrenberg 1978). One example of a
Roman scholar is Marcus Porcius Cato Censorius (234–149 BC), a politician, former
military and landowner of a farm near Rome. He wrote “De agricultura”, a handbook
for landowners and a guide to an efficient and profit-oriented farm management.
Content of this book are, for example, location of the farm, land use, viticulture,
cultivation of olives, field crop cultivation, cattle breeding, and administration
(Breidbach 2015; Sonnabend 2006).
A contemporary scientific writer of the Roman Empire was Caius Plinius
Secundus Maior (79–23 BC). He descended from a civil servant family and worked
as a politician and later on as a fleet commander. In the “Naturalis historiae libri
XXXVII”, a comprehensive natural history in 37 volumes, he created a sort of metaanalysis of knowledge of all authors known to him. This natural history covers topics
such as astronomy, geography, humans, animals, plants, drugs, and minerals. These
volumes were the main source of natural history instructions for one and a half
millennia. Plinius died during the eruption of Vesuvius while he wanted to make
observations on earthquakes and the eruption (Breidbach 2015; Mägdefrau 1992).
2.5 Middle Ages, Water, Epidemics and Medicine
During the Middle Ages, nature in Central Europe was regarded as something
inferior, possessed by evil spirits. God was located outside and had to control
diabolical attitudes of humans and nature.
Due to the population growth the need for food, wood and arable land increased
enormously and led to overexploitation and damage of forests and soils (Schubert
1996). In addition, due to the foundation and expansion of cities and the increasing
pressure to landscapes by intensification of agriculture productivity, citizens
changed the rural and urban environment immensely. The intensive use of landscapes expanded from lowlands and lower mountain belts to higher elevations in
mountain regions. As a result, huge amounts of soils were washed out and
52
C. Börtitz and C. Hobohm