LAYOUT AND DESIGN
Ista domus cunctas nutrit seruat q· capellas
This house feeds and shelters all the goats
The House for Goats and Goatherds (fig. 489) lies near the
House for Cows and Cowherds. Its layout is that of
the standard house of the Plan. In the hexameter explaining
its function, the word domus appears in the sole context
of the Plan where it means the entire building. The
living room bears no inscription. It is reached through a
vestibule that divides the eastern aisle into two separate
chambers used as "bedrooms of the herdsmen" (cubilia
pastorum). The lean-to's and the western aisle of the house
are designated as "stable" (stabula). The building is 57½
feet long and 45 feet wide. The living room measures 37½
feet by 25 feet.
Columella recommends that not more than 100 head of
goats be kept in one enclosure. He advises the goatherd to
sweep out the stable every day and not allow any ordure or
moisture to remain or any mud to form. The she-goats
should be covered in the autumn, sometime before December,
so that the kids may be born when spring is
approaching and the shrubs are budding.[640]
He devotes a
whole chapter to the making of goat cheese.[641]
