Agriculture in ancient Rome
Roman agriculture describes the farming practices of ancient Rome, during a period of over 1000 years. From humble beginnings, the Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) and the Roman Empire (27 BC–476 AD) expanded to rule much of Europe, northern Africa, and the Middle East and thus comprised many agricultural environments of which the Mediterranean climate of dry, hot summers and cool, rainy winter was the most common. Within the Mediterranean area, a triad of crops were most important: grains, olives, and grapes.
The great majority of the people ruled by Rome were engaged in agriculture. From the beginning of small, largely self-sufficient landowners, rural society became dominated by latifundium, large estates owned by the wealthy and utilizing mostly slave labor. The growth in the urban population, especially of the city of Rome, required the development of commercial markets and long-distance trade in agricultural products, especially grain, to supply the people in the cities with food.
Background
The main texts of the Greco-Roman agricultural tradition are mostly from the Roman
The "delightful" life
Agriculture in ancient Rome was not only a necessity but was idealized as a way of life.
In his treatise
Land ownership was a dominant factor in distinguishing the aristocracy from the common person, and the more land a Roman owned, the more important he would be in the city. Soldiers were often rewarded with land from the commander they served. Though farms depended on slave labor, free men and citizens were hired at farms to oversee the slaves and ensure that the farms ran smoothly.[4]
Crops
Grains
Staple crops in early Rome were
In De re rustica Columella wrote that emmer was more resistant to moisture than wheat. According to Columella four types of emmer were cultivated, including one variety that he calls Clusian (named for the town Clusium).[11] Cato wrote that if sowing grain in humid or dewy soils was unavoidable, they should be sown alongside turnips, panic grass, millet and rape.[12]
Despite listing
Legumes
Of
He writes the following about lupinus:[15]
...it requires the least labor, costs least, and of all crops that are sown is most beneficial to the land. For it affords an excellent fertilizer for worn out vineyards and ploughlands; it flourishes even in exhausted soil; and it endures age when laid away in the granary. When softened by boiling it is good fodder for cattle during the winter; in the case of humans, too, it serves to warn off famine if years of crop failures come upon them.
Olives
The Romans grew olive trees in poor, rocky soils, and often in areas with sparse precipitation. The tree is sensitive to freezing temperatures and intolerant of the colder weather of northern Europe and high, cooler elevations. The olive was grown mostly near the Mediterranean Sea. The consumption of olive oil provided about 12 percent of the calories and about 80 percent of necessary fats in the diet of the average Roman.[16]
Grapes
Viticulture was probably brought to southern Italy and Sicily by Greek colonists, but the Phoenicians of Carthage in northern Africa gave the Romans much of their knowledge of growing grapes and making wine. By 160 BC, the cultivation of grapes on large estates using slave labor was common in Italy and wine was becoming a universal drink in the Roman empire. To protect their wine industry, the Romans attempted to prohibit the cultivation of grapes outside Italy,[17] but by the 1st century AD, provinces such as Spain and Gaul (modern-day France) were exporting wine to Italy.[18]
Fodder
Columella mentions
Other crops
The Romans also grew
Storage
Press rooms, he advised, should be warm receiving light from the south to prevent the oil from freezing, which makes oil spoil faster.[25]
Land
Columella describes land as being classified into three types of terrain which he calls champaign (sloping
Farming practices
In the 5th century BC, farms in Rome were small and family owned. The Greeks of this period, however, had started using crop rotation and had large estates. Rome's contact with Carthage, Greece, and the Hellenistic East in the 3rd and 2nd centuries improved Rome's agricultural methods. Roman agriculture reached its height in productivity and efficiency during the late Republic and early Empire.[28]
Farm sizes in Rome can be divided into three categories. Small farms were from 18–108 iugera. (One
In the late Republican era, the number of latifundia increased. Wealthy Romans bought land from peasant farmers who could no longer make a living. Starting in 200 BC, the Punic Wars called peasant farmers away to fight for longer periods of time.[30] This is now disputed; some scholars now believe that large-scale agriculture did not dominate Italian agriculture until the 1st century BC.[31][32]
Cows provided milk while oxen and mules did the heavy work on the farm. Sheep and goats were cheese producers and were prized for their hides. Horses were not widely used in farming but were raised by the rich for racing or war. Sugar production centered on beekeeping, and some Romans raised snails as luxury food.[29]
The Romans had four systems of farm management: direct work by owner and his family; tenant farming or sharecropping in which the owner and a tenant divide up a farm's produce; forced labour by slaves owned by aristocrats and supervised by slave managers; and other arrangements in which a farm was leased to a tenant.[29]
Trade
There was much commerce between the provinces of the empire, and all regions of the empire were largely economically interdependent. Some provinces specialized in the production of grains including wheat, emmer, spelt, barley, and millet; others in wine and others in olive oil, depending on the soil type. Columella writes in his De re rustica, "Soil that is heavy, chalky, and wet is not unsuited to the growing for winter wheat and spelt. Barley tolerates no place except one that is loose and dry."[34]
Greek geographer Strabo considered the Po Valley (northern Italy) to be the most important economically because "all cereals do well, but the yield from millet is exceptional, because the soil is so well watered." The province of Etruria had heavy soil good for wheat. Volcanic soil in Campania made it well-suited for wine production. In addition to knowledge of different soil categories, the Romans also took interest in what type of manure was best for the soil. The best was poultry manure, and cow manure one of the worst. Sheep and goat manure were also good. Donkey manure was best for immediate use, while horse manure wasn't good for grain crops, but according to Marcus Terentius Varro, it was very good for meadows because "it promotes a heavy growth of grass plants like grass."[29]
Economics
In the grain-growing area of north Africa, centered on the ancient city of
Such figures detail only the subsistence level. It is clear that large scale surplus production was undertaken in some provinces, such as to supply the cities, especially Rome, with grain, a process known as the
For yields of wheat, the number varies depending on the ancient source. Varro mentions 10:1 seed-yield ratio for wheat as normal for wealthy landowners.[38] In some areas of Etruria, yield may have been as high as 15:1. Cicero indicates In Verrem a yield of 8:1 as normal, and 10:1 in exceptionally good harvest. Paul Erdkamp mentions in his book The Grain Market in the Roman Empire, that Columella was probably biased when he mentions a much lower yield of 4:1. According to Erdkamp, Columella wanted to make the point that "grain offers little profit compared to wine. His argument induces him to exaggerate the profitability of vineyards and at the same time to diminish the yields that were obtained in grain cultivation. At best Columella provides a trustworthy figure for poor soils; at worst, his estimate is not reliable at all."[page needed]
Average wheat yields per year in the 3rd decade of the century, sowing 135 kg/ha of seed, were around 1,200 kg/ha in Italy and Sicily, 1,710 kg/ha in Egypt, 269 kg/ha in Cyrenaica, Tunisia at 400 kg/ha, and Algeria at 540 kg/ha, Greece at 620 kg/ha.[39] This makes the Mediterranean very difficult to average overall.
An agricultural unit was known as a latus fundus mentioned by Varro as a great estate,[40] which can be interpreted as a latifundia or at 500 iugera or around 125 hectares because this is the land limit imposed by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus as tribune in 133 BC.[41]
With the incorporation of Egypt into the Roman empire and the rule of the emperor Augustus (27 BC-14 AD), Egypt became the main source of supply of grain for Rome.[42] By the 70s AD, the historian Josephus was claiming that Africa fed Rome for eight months of the year and Egypt only four. Although that statement may ignore grain from Sicily, and overestimate the importance of Africa, there is little doubt among historians that Africa and Egypt were the most important sources of grain for Rome.[43] To help assure that the grain supply would be adequate for Rome, in the second century BC, Gracchus settled 6,000 colonists near Carthage, giving them about 25 hectares (62 acres) each to grow grain.[44]
Grain made into bread was, by far, the most important element in the Roman diet. Several scholars have attempted to compute the total amount of grain needed to supply the city of Rome. Rickman estimated that Rome needed 40 million modii (200,000 tonnes) of grain per year to feed its population.[45] Erdkamp estimated that the amount needed would be at least 150,000 tonnes, calculating that each resident of the city consumed 200 kilograms (440 lb) of grain per year.[46] The total population of Rome assumed in calculating these estimates was between 750,000 and one million people. David Mattingly and Gregory Aldrete [47] estimated the amount of imported grain at 237,000 tonnes for 1 million inhabitants;[48] This amount of grain would provide 2,326 calories daily per person not including other foods such as meats, seafood, fruit, legumes, vegetable and dairy. In the Historia Augusta, it is stated Severus left 27 million modii in storage - considered to be a figure for the canon at the end of the 4th century and enough for 800,000 inhabitants at 500 lbs of bread per person per annum[49]
Pliny the Younger painted a picture that Rome was able to survive without Egyptian wheat in his speech the Panegyricus in 100 AD.[citation needed] In 99 there was an Egyptian crisis due to inadequate flooding.[50]
Pliny the Younger stated that for "long it was generally believed that Rome could only be fed and maintained with Egyptian aid". However, he argued that "Now [that] we have returned the Nile its riches... her business is not to allow us food but to pay a proper tribute.[50]
Mechanization
The Romans improved crop growing by irrigating plants using
Vertical
There is evidence from bas-reliefs that farmers in northern Gaul (present day France) used a kind of automatic
Acquiring a farm
Aristocrats and common people could acquire land for a farm in one of three ways. The most common way to gain land was to
Aristocracy and the land
Though some small farms were owned by lower-class citizens and soldiers, much of the land was controlled by the noble class of Rome. Land ownership was just one of many distinctions that set the aristocracy apart from the lower classes. Aristocracy would "reorganize small holdings into larger more profitable farms in order to compete with other nobles."[4] It was considered a point of pride to own not just the largest piece of land, but also to have land that grew high quality produce. As Cato the Elder wrote "when they would praise a worthy man their praise took this form: 'Good husband good farmer'; it is from the farming class that the bravest men and the sturdiest soldiers come."[55] The farms would produce a variety of crops depending on the season and focused on trying to acquire the best possible farm under the best possible conditions. Cato discusses many of the primary focuses of the farmer and how to distinguish a great piece of land. He notes that a good farmer must take precious time to examine the land, looking over every detail. Not only did the land need to be perfect for purchase, but the neighbors must maintain their farms as well because "if the district was good, they should be well kept." Individuals looking to buy a piece of land had to also take into consideration the weather of the area, the condition of the soil, and how close the farm would be to a town or port. Careful planning went into every detail of owning and maintaining a farm in Roman culture.[55]
Running a farm in Rome
While the aristocracy owned most of the land in Rome, they often were not present at the farms. With obligations as senators, generals, and soldiers at war, many of the actual landowners spent very little time working on their farms. The farms instead were maintained by
The majority of the work was done by servants and slaves. Slaves were the main source of labor. In Roman society, there were three main ways to obtain a slave. The first and possibly most common way to gain a slave was to buy one on the market. Slaves were purchased at auctions and slave markets from dealers or were traded between individual slave owners. Another way slaves were acquired was through conquest in warfare. As Keith Hopkins explains in his writings, many landowners would go to war and bring back captives. These captives were then taken back to Roman territory and either sold to another citizen or made to work on the capturer's farm. The final way a slave could be obtained was through birth: if a female slave gave birth to a child, that child became property of the slave's owner. Extramarital relations with women who were not citizens was not considered to be adultery under Roman law (and Roman wives were expected to tolerate such behavior), so there was no legal or moral impediment to having children being fathered by a slave's owner or overseer.
Slaves were relatively cheap to use because they were property;[56] their treatment depended on the humanity of their owners, who met the needs of their slaves on what they cared to spend, not what they had to. Overseers motivated slaves by imposing punishments and by giving rewards. "If the overseer sets his face against wrongdoing, they will not do it; if he allows it, the master must not let him go unpunished."[55] Although outright cruelty to slaves was considered a mark of bad character in Roman culture, there were few limits on the punishments an overseer or slave-owner could inflict.[citation needed]
Problems for farmers
Roman farmers faced many of the problems which have historically affected farmers, including the unpredictability of weather, rainfall, and pests. Farmers also had to be wary of purchasing land too far away from a city or port because of war and land conflicts. As Rome was a vast empire that conquered many lands, it created enemies with individuals whose land had been taken. They would often lose their farms to the invaders who would take over and try to run the farms themselves.[4] Though Roman soldiers would often come to the aid of the farmers and try to regain the land, these fights often resulted in damaged or destroyed property. Landowners also faced problems with slave rebellions at times. "In addition to invasions by Carthaginians and Celtic tribes, slave rebellions and civil wars which were repeatedly fought on Italian soil all contributed to the destruction of traditional agricultural holdings.[4] (pg. 4)
See also
- Ancient Egyptian agriculture
- Agriculture in ancient Greece
- Byzantine agriculture
- History of agriculture
- Deforestation during the Roman period
- Grain supply to the city of Rome
References
- ISBN 9789088901874.
- ^ Pro Roscio Amerino 75.
- ^ a b Cato the Censor, Columbia University Records of Civilization: On Farming, translated by Ernest Brehaut (Columbia University Press)
- ^ ISBN 978-0521219457.
- ^ Fussell, G. E. (January 1967), "Farming Systems of the Classical Era," Technology and Culture, Vol. 8, No. l, p 22
- ^ James, Bruce R., Diazzi, Carmelo, and Blum, Winfried E. H. (2014), "Bread and Soil in Ancient Rome: A Vision of Abundance and an Ideal of Order Based on Wheat, Grapes, and Olives," [1]. Accessed 10 Nov 2018
- ^ Erdkamp, Paul, "The Food Supply of the Capital," in The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Rome, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 262-263
- ^ James et al, p. 165
- ^ Rosenstein, Nathan (2013), "Agriculture, Roman Republic," Encyclopedia of Ancient History, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah20007, Accessed 9 Nov 2018.
- ^ Jasy, Naum (1950), "The daily bread of the Ancient Greeks and Romans," Ostria,, Vol. 9, pp. 231-233. Downloaded from JSTOR.
- ^ Columella, De re rustica, 2.6.3-4
- ^ Cato, De agricultura, 6.1
- ^ Columella, De re Rustica, 2.9.17
- ^ Columella, De re Rustica, 2.7.1
- ^ Columella, De re Rustica, 2.10.1
- ^ James et al, p. 169
- ^ "Wine and Rome", [2], accessed 15 Nov 2018
- ^ Casson, Lionel (1991), The Ancient Mariners, Princeton: Princeton University Press, pl 200.
- ^ Columella, De re Rustica, 2.10.22
- ^ Columella, De re Rustica, 2.7.2
- ^ Columella, De re Rustica, 2.10.25
- ^ Cato, De Agricultura, 5.8
- ISBN 978-0415324496.
- ^ Columella, De re Rustica, 1.6.9-1.6.17
- ^ Columella, De re Rustica, 1.6.18
- ^ Columella, De re Rustica, 2.2.1-3
- ^ Columella, De re Rustica, 2.2.4-7
- ISBN 978-0198661214.
- ^ ISBN 978-0801405754.
- ^ Cornell, Tim (1982). Atlas of the Roman World. Facts on File. p. 55.
- ^ Rosenstein, Nathan (2013). Rome at War.
- ^ Terranato, Nicola (2012). Republican Villas in the Suburbium of Rome in Roman Republican Villas. University of Michigan Press. pp. 69–93.
- ^ Read, Brendon (2012). Cato's de agricultura and the Spectacle of Expertise in Roman Republican Villas. University of Michigan Press. pp. 61–68.
- ^ Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella, On Agriculture (Res Rustica), (Loeb Classical Library), Book II, p. 145
- ^ "Pliny the Elder, the Natural History, BOOK I".
- ^ ISBN 978-3525251881.
- ^ Rickman, G.E. (1980). "The Grain Trade Under the Roman Empire". Memoirs from the American Academy in Rome. 36: 263, 264.. Downloaded from JSTOR.
- S2CID 161349038.
- ^ Hopkins , K. ( 1983 b) ‘ Models, ships and staples ’, in Garnsey , Whittaker ( 1983 ), 84 – 109
- ISBN 978-0521838788.
- ISBN 978-9004171183.
- ^ Erdkamp, p. 270
- ^ Rickman (1980), pp 263-264
- ^ Cristofori, p. 143.
- ^ Rickman (1980), p. 264. A modii of grain weighs six to seven kilograms.
- ^ Rickman (1980), p. 263
- ISBN 978-0-947816-55-1
- ^ p. 154 (they also estimated the amount of wine and oil; and the number of shiploads, an average of 250 tonnes of products per ship, to carry at 1,692 and the number of ships arriving daily at 17 per day from April to September, 4 months, 100 days (sic!) not 120)
- ^ Jones A.H.M. Later Roman Empire Vol. I pp. 698, 1287
- ^ ISBN 978-0521838788.
- ^ Ville d'Histoire et de Patrimoine Archived 2013-12-06 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "La meunerie de Barbegal". Archived from the original on 2007-01-17. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
- ^ King, Anthony (1990), Roman Gaul and Germany. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 1001-101
- ^ White, K.D. (2010), Agricultural Implements of the Roman World Reissue Edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 160-171
- ^ a b c d Marcus Cato, On Agriculture, 1-2,5
- ISBN 978-0520024366.
a slave is property, subject to the rules and procedures of property, with respect to sale, lease, theft, natural increase and so on.
Further reading
Modern sources
- Buck, Robert J. Agriculture and Agricultural Practice In Roman Law. Wiesbaden: F. Steiner, 1983.
- Erdkamp, Paul. The Grain Market In the Roman Empire: A Social, Political and Economic Study. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
- Hollander, D. B., "Farmers and Agriculture in the Roman Economy", Routledge, 2019,
- Horden, P., and N. Purcell. The corrupting sea: A study of Mediterranean history. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000.
- Kehoe, D. P. Investment, profit, and tenancy: The jurists and the Roman agrarian economy. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press, 1997.
- Reynolds, P. Hispania and the Roman Mediterranean AD 100–700: Ceramics and trade. London: Duckworth, 2010.
- Spurr, M. S. "Arable cultivation in Roman Italy: c. 200 B.C.–c. A.D. 100." Journal of Roman Studies Monographs 3. London: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 1986.
- White, K. D. Roman Farming. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1970.
- --. Farm Equipment of the Roman World. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1975.
Primary sources
- Cato, Marcus Porcius. Cato, the Censor, On Farming. Translated by Ernest Brehaut. New York: Columbia University Press, 1933.
- Columella, Lucius Junius Moderatus. On Agriculture. Translated by Harrison Boyd Ash. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1941.
External links
- Cato the Elder's De Agri Cultura (on Agriculture) in Latin and English
- Columella's Res Rustica in Latin Complete text in Latin at The Latin Library
- Columella's Res Rustica in English Books I‑IV in English translation at LacusCurtius
- Latin text of Varro Rerum Rusticarum de Agri Cultura
- Pliny the Elder's Natural History