Plato's Pigs and Other Ruminations

The Greeks and Romans have been charged with destroying the ecosystems within which they lived. In this book however M. D. Usher argues rather that we can find in their lives and thought the origin of modern ideas about systems and sustainability important topics for humans today and in the future. With chapters running the gamut of Greek and Roman experience from the Presocratics and Plato to Roman agronomy and the Benedictine Rule Plato''s Pigs brings together unlikely bedfellows both ancient and modern to reveal surprising connections. Lively prose and liberal use of anecdotal detail including an afterword about the author''s own experiments with sustainable living on his sheep farm in Vermont add a strong authorial voice. In short this is a unique first-of-its-kind book that is sure to be of interest to anyone working in Classics environmental studies philosophy ecology or the history of ideas.