VI´LLICUS
VI´LLICUS,
VI´LICUS (
ἐπίτροπος in Greek writers, Plut.
Crass. 4), a slave who had the superintendence of the
villa rustica, and of all the business of
the farm, except the cattle, which were under the care of the
magister pecoris (Varro,
R. R. 1.2).
The duties of the vilicus were to obey his master implicitly and to govern
the other slaves with moderation, never to leave the villa except to go to
market, to have no intercourse with soothsayers, to take care of the cattle
and the implements of husbandry, and to manage all the operations of the
farm (Cato,
R. R/ 5, 142). His duties are described at great
length by Columella (11.1 and 1.8), and those of his wife (
vilica) by the same writer (12.1) and by Cato
(100.143).
The vilicus is properly distinct from the
actor
(
οἰκονόμος) who had charge of finance,
payments, &c. The vilicus is, however, sometimes called
actor praedii. (Marquardt,
Privatleben, 139.)
[
P.S] [
G.E.M]
