hams and sausages but also that greatest of all Roman
delicacies: roast suckling pig.
Roman farms were usually worked by the owner
and his familia—the legal definition of which, though
precise, was remarkably inclusive. It meant the nuclear
family as well as the entire household including depen-
dent relatives and slaves. Most plots could support
only the owner, his wife, and his children, but the
labor-intensive character of Italian agriculture favored
the growth of extended families whenever sufficient
land was available. It also encouraged slavery, even on
properties that seem small by modern standards. No
great slave-worked estates existed of the kind that be-
came common in the second century B.C., but many
families found that owning a few extra workers was a
good investment.
Some slaves were war captives, but most were Ro-
mans subjugated for debt. As in Mesopotamia or early
Greece, those unable to satisfy their creditors were
forced to sell themselves or their children to discharge
their obligation. Under the early republic, slavery was
not as harsh as it would later become. The term of debt
servitude was usually limited, with freedom guaranteed
after a fixed period of years. Dehumanization was fur-
ther reduced by the fact that most slaves lived under
their master’s roof and shared his table. Marcus Porcius66Chapter 4
Illustration 4.3
Roman Agriculture. These mosaics from Saint Roman-en-
Gal, France, show Roman farmers engaged in gathering grapes,
picking apples, and bundling straw.