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The construction and the development of the plough in Greece and Italy in ancient times is not a subject of general interest either to scholars or to archaeologists. It is, however, one which presents itself from time to time to students of Hesiod and of Virgil, and, since the obvious works of reference give but meagre aid to the enquirer, I have attempted to supply here a fuller account than is to be found elsewhere both of the literary and of the monumental evidence, in the hope that a more detailed discussion may not be without its uses. I propose in the first part of this paper to discuss and give a rough classification of the types of ancient plough which are represented on the monuments. In the second and third parts of the paper I shall attempt to sift the considerable number of ancient authorities who deal with the subject and to supply some comments suggested by the monumental evidence. The authorities, even when not directly concerned with Hesiod and Virgil, fall conveniently into line with the ancient commentators on those poets, and I shall deal first with Hesiod and then, more briefly, with Virgil.