ral catastrophe, such as a fl ood, prolonged draught, fi re, or
earthquake, could drive the people to abandon the country-
side and move to cities to earn a living. Civic communities
were not always prepared to handle such events. It was easy
for agricultural problems to become social problems if the
city could not compensate the devastated farmers or provide
alternative ways to incorporate them into the broader social
mechanism. In some cases extreme situations called for ex-
treme solutions. Th e Greek historian Herodotus (ca. 484–ca.
425 b.c.e.) describes the case of the small island of Th íra in the
fourth century b.c.e. Unable to provide for the needy farmers
or to handle the political and social tension created by the
dissatisfi ed citizens, the state of Th íra sent a large population
to colonize another territory. Th e state released a decree that
prohibited the colonists from returning to Th íra before fi ve
years had elapsed. In this case the successful colony of Cyrene
was founded in northern Africa. Between 750 and 550 b.c.e.
colonization became a common way to diff use internal social
tension and to divert the surplus of a city’s male population
outside the society.
Th e economic and social organization of the city-states
were closely connected to the way a given city handled the
economic and political crises that manifested toward the end
of the Homeric Period (ca. 1600–ca. 1100 b.c.e.). Rapid popu-
lation growth and the inability of city governments to redis-
tribute land satisfactorily led to social unrest. Sparta tried to
solve this problem by waging war on other regions to gain
more land, the Athenians encouraged trade, and most cities
turned to colonization. Th e demand for greater amounts of
raw materials or agricultural products and the heavy taxation
of farmers oft en drove farming communities to desperation.
In the Hellenistic Period (323–31 b.c.e.) the abandonment of
the countryside (a phenomenon the Greeks called anahorisis)
became an economic and political problem for the Ptolemaic
Dynasty of Egypt. Th e fi rst rulers of this dynasty tried to ex-
pand their power by rapidly developing their naval economy;
for this they demanded heavy taxes from farmers. Conse-
quently, the farmers deserted the countryside and sought
guidance and protection at the local temples, thereby upset-
ting both the local Greek economy and the intentions of the
Ptolemaic kingdom.
War is an obvious reason for the abandonment of rural
settlements. Farmers, woodsmen, goatherds, and inhabitants
of small fi shing villages oft en were forced to seek protection
behind the walls of a nearby city with the advent of war. Th is
was bad for the city in two ways. First, the city was deprived
of the replenishment of natural goods upon which the civic
population depended for sustenance. Th is was the intended
result of a prolonged siege on a strong, fortifi ed city: to ex-
haust the resources and compel the citizens to surrender.
Second, other practical problems arose from an un-
predicted overpopulation. Th e Greek historian Th ucydides
(d. ca. 401 b.c.e.) describes how a plague was added to the
problems of the Athenians during the Peloponnesian War
(431–404 b.c.e.). Pericles (ca. 495–425 b.c.e.), the leader of thedemocratic party in Athens at the time, had thought that the
famous “long walls,” the fortifi cation that connected Athens
with Piraeus, would secure the country’s population. He also
thought that the walls would enable the city to communicate
undisturbed with the vital harbor of Piraeus during the siege,
thereby replenishing its products and withstanding the Spar-
tans’ siege. But Pericles had not provided for proper housing
for all of these refugees. In 430 b.c.e. the inevitable pestilence,
caused by a lack of elementary hygiene and the concentration
of thousands of people, wiped out more than a quarter of the
population of Athens. Among the victims of the pestilence
were Th ucydides’ family and Pericles himself.
War puts a stop to the development of a society in more
than one way. In the western plain of Boeotia there was a
marshy lake called Copais that was a source of illnesses. Th e
Minyae, a native people of the 13th and 14th centuries b.c.e.,
had tried to drain the lake to provide arable land for the local
farmers. Th is ambitious plan was stopped because of a war
with Orchomenus.
Some historians see a defi nite connection between the
collapse of the Mycenaean society around 1100 b.c.e. and the
formation of cities. When the Mycenaean civilization, also
known as the Palace civilization, collapsed and the Dorians
colonized Greece, many important social changes took
place. People ceased being dependent upon the prosperity
of palaces and stopped living in small settlements around
them. Th is and the repopulation of the countryside led to
the formation of the fi rst cities, marking the beginning of
a new social and political era for Greece. Th e interdepen-
dence between social order and the agricultural economy of
Greece was a defi ning factor in the development of Greek
cities throughout antiquity.ROME
BY CHRISTOPHER BLACKWELL
Th e third century c.e. was a time of social crisis for the Ro-
man Empire even as the emperors completed some of the
most striking and enduring monuments to Roman great-
ness. From 193 to 312 c.e. the Column of Marcus Aurelius,
the Arch of Septimius Severus, the Baths of Caracella, the
Aurelian Walls, and the Basilica of Maxentius were added
to the splendor of the city of Rome. Also during this period
the death of the emperor Commodus (r. 180–192 c.e.) led
to the chaotic “Year of Four Emperors” (193 c.e.), the em-
peror Severus (r. 193–211 c.e.) died campaigning in Britain,
Ardashīr I (r. 224–241 c.e.) took the throne of Iran and began
a war with Rome that would continue for 400 years, and Rome
and its provinces suff ered invasions from Goths, Heruli, and
other Germanic groups. Th e entire Mediterranean world suf-
fered from a recession in trade, and prices soared. Despite the
Constitutio Antoniniana, or Constitution of Antoninus (r.
211–217 c.e.), issued in 212 c.e.—a law that granted univer-
sal citizenship to all free men living under Roman rule—the
population of Rome was neither growing nor harmonious;1006 social collapse and abandonment: Rome0895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i1006 1006 10/10/07 2:30:44 PM