Author’s Prologue cannowdiscerntherealrootsandoriginsofWesterncivilisation,whichare
mirroredinthemythicalstoryofAbraham,andhismigrationfromMesopo-
tamiatotheHolyLand,theretoserveasthefounderfigureofasacredstory
which,diffusedinGreekandLatinasChristianity,wouldembraceallofthe
MediterraneanzoneandEurope;and,transmittedintoArabic,wouldtravel
backacrosstheEurasianlandmasstoIran,CentralAsia,India,andsouth-east
Asia.
Moreparticularly,thestory,orratherthesetofdifferentstories,toldby
JaredDiamond,focusing,asregardstheearlyperiod,onthebasicfeaturesof
humanexploitationoftheplantandanimalworld,oughttoservetoinvite
historiansoftheGraeco-Romanworldalsotogobackliterallytobasics.The
firstquestiontoaskmightthenbe:offwhatstockofplantsdidcommunities
whichspokeGreekorLatininfactlive,andhowweretheseplantsgrown
andharvested,andtheirproductsstoredandcooked?Thesecondconcerns
animals.OneofthemoststrikingmessagesofDiamond’sbookisalsohow
narrowandlimited,atalltimes,hasbeentherangeofanimalswhichhave
genuinelybeendomesticatedandbred,tobeusedforfood,clothing,leather,
carryingburdens,pullingwheeledcartsorsledgesorploughs,andwar.
Thequestionofdietandfoodsupplyhasatleastnowbeenbroughtfirmly
totheattentionofclassicalancienthistorians,aboveallintheworkofPeter
Garnsey,^2 while the late Joan Frayn opened up quite new perspectives in
making us think about wild and cultivated plants,orabout sheep-rearing
andthewooltrade.^3 Thereisnoneedtomultiplyexamples:allthatisunder-
scoredhereistheneedforawareness,onthepartofthosewhoseaccesstothe
classicalworldisessentiallymediatedthroughwords,ofthedesirabilityof
understandingthetermsofhumaninteractionwith,andexploitationof,the
naturalworld.Ofcourse,inthatareatoo,weneithercannorshouldattempt
toworkwithouttheaidofthewordsinwhichclassicalwritersreflectedthis
relationship,whetheritisGalen’streatiseOnthePropertiesof Foodstuffs,^4 orthe
Naturalis HistoriaofPlinytheElder.MaryBeagon’sstudyhasshownthatthe
Natural Historyhasanintellectualstructure,andismorethanjustarandom
. See Peter Garnsey,Famine and Food Supply in the Graeco-Roman Cities();Cities,
Peasants and Food in Classical Antiquity: Essays in Social and Economic History();Food and
Society in Classical Antiquity().
. J.M.Frayn,‘‘WildandCultivatedPlants:ANoteonthePeasantEconomyofAncient
Italy,’’JRS():;Subsistence Farming in Roman Italy();Sheep-Rearing and theWool
Trade in Italy during the Roman Period().
. Galen,OnthePropertiesofFoodstuffsI–III(Dealimentorumfacultatibus),Opera,ed.Kühn,
VI,–().SeeV.Nutton,‘‘GalenandtheTraveller’sFare,’’inJ.Wilkins,D.Harvey,
andM.Dobson,eds.,Food in Antiquity(),.