96 THE ROMAN EMPIRE
( saltus ) worth 350,000. The only single substantial properties owned by
Coelius Verus and Mommeius Persicus were, respectively, a saltus worth
350,000 sesterces (formerly integrated with that of the brothers Annii and a
portion in the hands of the city of Luca), and the farm ( fundus ) called
Carbardiacus vetus worth 210,000 sesterces.
Fourthly, when we look at the way small farms relate to large, we fi nd
that the element of random scattering is minimal.^11 Mommeius Persicus was
largely in Ambitrebius, the parish covering the hill country on both sides of
the lower Trebbia valley before it reaches the plain. He was the owner of
more than 60 per cent of the property declared in the parish, and despite the
evident existence of a number of landowners who appear on the inscription
only as neighbours, was patently the largest single proprietor in the parish.
Much of his land must have been held in a bloc or blocs. The distribution of
the holdings of the Annii and of Coelius Verus was less concentrated but still
far from chaotic. Their holdings in saltus in the upland zone where Veleia
confronts Luca were together worth almost one million sesterces. Linked
with the saltus were several farms (11 between them) overlapping several
parishes (as did the saltus ), which brought their holdings in the area to
800,000 and 600,000 sesterces respectively, or around 4/5 and 3/5 of the
total value of their holdings.
Fifthly, over time, landowners had acted not only to limit the geographical
distribution of their properties, but also to reduce the number of units
of management and operation. Three factors invite this inference: the
declaration and evaluation of single units of fundi (farms) rather than the
more normal fundus, a phenomenon especially pronounced in the declaration
of the Annii; the contiguity that is demonstrable or that can be plausibly
inferred between individual holdings, notably within the estate of Mommeius
Persicus; and perhaps also the multiple names of very many farms.
Sixthly, we note the contrasting phenomenon of the splitting up of
property – Mommeius Persicus declared no fewer than nine properties that
are identifi ed as fractions (usually half) of farms. The estates of the rich were
both swelled and reduced by this process of fragmentation, a product of
inheritance and marriage customs and the operation of economic forces.
With each succeeding generation the battle between the contrary tendencies
toward integration and disintegration was joined anew.
Among the other estates declared at Veleia, the others worth at least
200,000 sesterces (the qualifi cation for jury service at Rome, twice the
qualifi cation for the local council, half that for equestrian status) reveal
essentially the same pattern.^12 The estates are characteristically made up of
many holdings, they are small or modest in size, and one (lying in the range
94,000–150,000 sesterces) is considerably more substantial than the rest.
Again, it is common to fi nd a number of close- knit estates built around one
consolidated farm in a single parish: thus, Cn. Antonius Priscus in Domitius,
Virius Nepos and Dellius Proculus in Iunonius, C. Calidius Proculus in
Albensis. The estate of M. Antonius Priscus is different in an interesting