down on all labor performed for wages as demeaning and
servile. Hence there is little evidence of such practices. Ten-
ancy was another option for those possessing large tracts of
land. Landowners could lease parcels of land to tenants who
would farm the land and pay them a rent, usually a portion
of their harvest.
AGRICULTURAL TOOLS
Greek farmers used a variety of tools to cultivate their
crops, but most of them, constructed of wood or iron, dete-
riorate considerably over time and so rarely appear in the
archaeological record. Among the most important tools
were plows that were fitted with bronze or iron plowshares
and used to break up the earth prior to the sowing of seeds.
Hoes helped those engaged in weeding, while sacks and
baskets held seed grain for sowing the fields. Harvesters
used iron sickles to cut down the stalks of grain, which
they would then bind together in sheaves and transport to
the threshing f loor. Either livestock or a sledge could be
used to remove the hulls from the grain. Then the grain
would be tossed in the air to separate out the chaff, and
mills would grind the grain into f lour. Olive and vine cul-
tivation also required specialized equipment, such as bas-
kets to hold the grapes and olives, mills to crush olives,
and presses to extract the oil or grape juice. Such equip-
ment could be expensive, and operating a vineyard or olive
grove constituted a major investment.
LANDHOLDING
There is little firm evidence for the size and distribution
of landholdings. The study of Greek colonies and the re-
marks made by the philosopher Aristotle (384–322 b.c.e.)
on the subject suggest that, ideally, land was to be divided
into a relatively large number of small plots owned by indi-
vidual citizens. Aristotle claimed that farmers of moderate
means made the best citizens, since they had enough land
to support themselves but were not rich enough to have
much leisure time. Under such circumstances, Aristotle
believed, farmers would not allow politics and excessive
public meetings distract them from their work. Further-
more, great disparities in landholdings often led to civil
war in Greek city-states. Such conf lict was thought to be
among the greatest evils that could aff lict a community.
Relative equality of wealth among citizens would ensure
tranquility. Unfortunately, the Greek practice of bequeath-
ing property equally among all sons and the inherently
risky nature of agriculture meant that even if a communi-
ty’s land was at first evenly divided among its citizens, that
situation was unlikely to last long.
Farmers who were unlucky and suff ered a string of poor
harvests would have to borrow money, going into debt to con-
tinue cultivating their land. Some might be able to pay off
those debts eventually, but many were not. Such farmers were
forced to sell part or all of their land to their more success-
ful neighbors. For some, even the sale of their land was not
enough to pay off their debts, and they found themselves sold
into slavery. Th e Athenian politician Solon faced just such
conditions in 594 b.c.e. when, as archon, or magistrate, he
was chosen to mediate a dispute between debtors and credi-
tors. In this position of power he addressed the situation by
canceling debts, freeing enslaved citizens, outlawing debt
bondage, and reorganizing the city-state’s constitution. In
many cities and on many occasions throughout Greek antiq-
uity, poor and indebted citizens demanded the cancellation
of debts and the redistribution of land. Similar movements
were successful, but others met with violent repression. On
the other hand, farmers who were fortunate enough to have
high yields were able to invest the profi ts, lending money or
food to their neighbors. If those neighbors were unable to pay
off their loans, their creditors could seize their property as
collateral. Farmers with more land were less likely to suff er
in times of drought, since they could store or sell the surplus
food they had accumulated. Th us rich farmers tended to get
richer as the poor got poorer.
At Sparta there seems to have been an increase in the size
of individual landholdings during the fi ft h century b.c.e. At
the same time, Spartan women came to own a larger portion
of the land through inheritance. Since citizenship and mili-
tary service were tied to landholding at Sparta, the size of the
Spartan army and citizen body (both exclusively male pre-
serves) began to decline at this point. In the fourth century
the Spartans were unable to fi eld the large, highly trained
armies with which they had once fended off the might of the
Persian Empire and dominated the neighboring Greek com-
munities. In 369 b.c.e. the valuable lands of Messenia were
wrested from Spartan control and became independent. In
the third century b.c.e. the kings Agis IV and Cleomenes III
attempted to revive Spartan power in part by canceling debts
and redistributing land to create a larger and more equal pool
of citizens. Th eir eff orts ultimately failed.
From the fourth century b.c.e. onward much of Greece
saw the same trend in landholding that Sparta had expe-
rienced. In general, fewer people came to own more land.
Urbanization increased, as did the gap between rich and
poor. These trends led to the development of new pools
of manpower, which the Hellenistic monarchs of Egypt
and Asia exploited to hire mercenaries and administra-
tors. From the late fourth century onward the great kings
of the Seleucid, Antigonid, and Ptolemaic dynasties lured
poor Greeks to their kingdoms with grants of land confis-
cated from the indigenous populations. This practice drew
off a substantial part of the free poor of mainland Greece,
though many still remained behind to demand debt can-
cellation and the redistribution of land. Thus revolution
became a persistent fear among the wealthy in the Helle-
nistic era. At the same time, as fewer people owned farm-
land and more and more people lived in cities, nostalgia
for the countryside developed. The rural-themed works of
poets such as Theocritus ref lect this increased yearning
for a now idealized rural life.agriculture: Greece 39