Laudator Temporis Acti

Cicero, On Duties 1.42.151 (tr. Walter Miller):

But of all the occupations by which gain is secured, none is better than agriculture, none more profitable, none more delightful, none more becoming to a freeman.

omnium autem rerum, ex quibus aliquid acquiritur, nihil est agri cultura melius, nihil uberius, nihil dulcius, nihil homine libero dignius.

Andrew R. Dyck ad loc.:

This is the traditional Roman attitude, reflected in Cato's response recorded at 2.89 (cf. ad loc.), as well as at Colum. 1 praef. 10 (after considering the claims of warfare, overseas commerce, moneylending, etc.: quae si et ipsa et eorum similia bonis fugienda sunt, superest, ut dixi, unum genus liberale et ingenuum rei familiaris augendae, quod ex agricolatione contingit). But some Greek authors held similar views; cf. X. Oec. 5.17: καλῶς δὲ κἀκεῖνος εἶπεν ὃς ἔφη τὴν γεωργίαν τῶν ἄλλων τεχνῶν μητέρα καὶ τροφὸν εἶναι; Muson. 57.6: ἔστι καὶ ἕτερος πόρος οὐδὲν τούτου κακίων, τάχα δὲ καὶ ἀμείνων νομισθεὶς ἂν οὐκ ἀλόγως ἀνδρί γ' εὐρώστῳ τὸ σῶμα , ὁ ἀπὸ γῆς . . . This attitude led inter alia to the creation of the latifundia (on which cf. Shatzman, 36-37). Contrast Seneca's condemnation of excessive land-purchases at Ep. 89.20; cf. Griffin, 1976, 298. In calling agriculture and hunting servilia officia (Cat. 4.1) Sallust no doubt meant to be provocative; cf. Stockton, 7, n. 6; A. Cossarini, "II prestigio dell' agricoltura in Sallustio e Cicerone," Atti dell' Istitutο Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, Classe di scienze morali, lettere ed arti, 138 (1979-80), 355-64.