using ancient text as a guide
for stardew valley
One of the most fascinating parts of the classics in my opinion is the connections between the ancient world and modern society. These connections can be found in many forms, such as grammar constructions, word derivation, cultural practices, abbreviations, et cetera. Even more interesting than existing connections, though, is creating new connections. I realized that while tons of discoveries have been made about ancient cultural practices and grammatical forms that have somehow crept into modern life, I have yet to see a connection between the classical world and something that’s about as modern as you can get: video games. I decided to do just that with one of my favorite games of all time: Stardew Valley.
Stardew Valley is an open-ended farming game in which players occupy an overgrown plot of land and are tasked with bringing the old farm to life through planting and growing crops, fishing, mining for ores, and socializing with the nearby townsfolk. I have no shame in saying that I’ve poured hundreds of hours into this game over Quarantine. The relaxing atmosphere and open-ended gameplay provided a lot of tranquility that had been missing from my life for months when lockdown started. As I was creating a new save file to start from scratch once again, something hit me. The oldest surviving work of Latin prose, De Agri Cultura by Cato the Elder, is an incredibly archaic work containing pages and pages of advice on how to run a successful farm in ancient Rome. I immediately wondered how many of those ancient tips would translate to not only a modern farm, but a virtual one.
So I decided to test it out. It’s not shocking that video games are rarely exact reflections of reality. Though some aspects of Stardew Valley are somewhat accurate as regards the practice of agriculture, it’s been a hot minute since I’ve seen a local farmer fending off slimy cave crawlers with a galaxy sword. It’s also important to note the massive time difference between the composition of De Agri Cultura in 160 BCE and the creation of Stardew Valley in 2016. Some topics discussed in Cato’s handbook, such as slavery, are of course absent from the game. It’s understandable why my expectations aren’t high.
Surprisingly, as I open the game for the first time, I can’t help but think that Cato would approve. One of his initial prescriptions is that “if possible, the farm should lie at the foot of a mountain and face south...and near it there should be a flourishing town.” The farm given to the player fits this description perfectly, as the player’s farmland faces south and lies at the foot of a large mountain. Directly east of the farm is Pelican Town, a flourishing community of lovely townsfolk. Well, they’re all lovely except Lewis, the wealthy mayor of the town. In the spirit of Cato, whom the historian Livy called a “ferocious mastiff set upon the nobility,” I couldn’t bring myself to talk to this pretentious upper-crust patrician. I’m sure it’s what Cato would have done. Since this was one of the first lines in De agri cultura, I went into this experience with a sort of naïve optimism. Maybe Cato’s tips really do translate to Stardew Valley!
[Spoiler alert] Not really. Cato pours a lot of pages into discussing groves of olive trees and
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