WARFARE AND AGRICULTURE
Farmland was a regular target in Greek warfare. Invading
armies needed to travel light and so would ransack farms
and storehouses in enemy territory for food. Oft en armies
sought to damage their enemies by destroying the crops
growing in the fi elds as well as olive groves, vineyards, and
farmhouses. Olive trees and vines were diffi cult to destroy.
Th e real toll on the countryside from warfare was fi nancial,
as it took money to rebuild structures and replace lost stores
of seed grain, wine, and oil as well as damaged equipment.
War forced farmers to spend their savings or borrow and thus
pushed many into debt, enabling richer neighbors to acquire
their land. During the Peloponnesian War between the Athe-
nians and the Spartans (431–404 b.c.e.), Sparta and her allies
invaded Attica repeatedly and did considerable damage to the
Athenian countryside. Th eir attacks sought to do economic
damage to the Athenians and also provoke them into leav-
ing the protection of their walls and fi ght an infantry battle
(in which the Spartans would have a considerable advantage).
Such tactics were common throughout the ancient world.
RELIGION
Th e main Greek crops were all associated with particular
gods. Dionysus was the god of wine, while Athena was cred-
ited with the olive tree. Demeter was the goddess of grain and
agricultural fertility, and her sanctuary at Eleusis in Attica
was an important cult center from the Archaic era down to
the Roman Empire. People came from all over Greece and
beyond to be initiated into the “Eleusinian mysteries” at the
sanctuary of Demeter and her daughter Kore (also known as
Persephone). Th ere were religious festivals associated with all
the main events in the agricultural cycle. Many farmers of-
fered “fi rst fruits,” or food from the harvest, to the gods each
year. At Athens all farmers had to give a small portion of
their barley and wheat crops to Demeter. Some temples even
owned their own land and leased it out to generate income to
pay their operating expenses.
ROME
BY AMY HACKNEY BLACKWELL
A vast and effi cient system of agricultural production was es-
sential to Rome’s success as an empire. Th e staple ingredients
of Roman cooking were olive oil, wine, and wheat. Producing
these basic foodstuff s occupied more than 30 percent of the to-
tal workforce. Th e Italian countryside, Sicily, Sardinia, North
Africa, and Egypt were all cultivated to keep food on Roman
tables. Romans brought home foods from foreign lands and
in return left some of their favorite crops in far-fl ung prov-
inces. A complex governmental bureaucracy managed the
distribution of grain to citizens to avoid famine and riots.
Over the centuries of Roman history, agricultural enterprises
progressed from small farms to larger businesses worked by
slaves to the precursor of the medieval tenant farmer system.
ROMAN WRITINGS ON FARM MANAGEMENT
Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Censor) (234–149 b.c.e.),
wrote one of the best-known works on Roman agriculture,
De agri cultura (ca. 160 b.c.e.). Cato was born to a peasant
family in Tusculum, and although he had a lengthy career in
the army and the Roman government, he devoted a great deal
of his time and energy to the subject of farm maintenance
and domestic economy.
Cato believed that a farm should be run as a business. In
De agri cultura he provides directions on all aspects of farm-
ing. Cato assumed that the farmer reading his manual would
be an absentee landlord who lived in Rome and made only oc-
casional trips to his farm. Th e farm’s daily operations would
be handled by a slave overseer and his wife, who would man-
age a large staff of slaves. Whenever the farmer arrived at the
farm, Cato directs that he fi rst greet his household gods and
then go around the property. Having assessed the situation,
he would then meet with the farm’s manager to discuss op-
erations. Th e farmer should always seek the highest profi t. He
should hold his olive oil until the price was high and then sell
it. He should sell livestock as soon as the animals became too
old to work; likewise, old tools, carts, or slaves should be sold
without sentiment. Cato was himself known for frugality;
he disapproved of frivolity, and he believed that the farmer
should always sell more than he bought.
De agri cultura contains detailed instructions for all
types of farming jobs. Cato explains how to build a farm-
house and an olive press. He describes grape culture and
wine production. He mentions other fruits that might be
profi table for a farmer in Italy. He also includes a list of reci-
pes for preserving food produced on the farm. Th ese recipes
were intended to help the farm be self-suffi cient and pro-
duce surplus items for sale. Cato also provides recipes for
cheesecakes, pastries, medicines, and special wines. Some
of the wine recipes suggest ways, such as by adding seawa-
ter to make local wines taste like more fashionable vintages
from Greece. Cato also describes the use of spices in making
olive relish and other snacks.
Cato lived fairly early in the Roman period, but subse-
quent writers proved just as interested in matters of family
farms. Wealthy Romans oft en owned property in the coun-
try, and they liked to farm it, both for profi t and as a matter
of fashion. Many people enjoyed serving their dinner guests
with food that had come straight from their family farm. Th e
p o e t J u v e n a l ( c a. 5 5 – c a. 1 2 7 c. e. ) m o c k e d f a s h i o n a b l e R o -
mans who bragged about the fresh meat and produce served
in their homes.GOVERNMENT POLICIES ON GRAIN
Feeding Rome’s people required a vast amount of grain.
Wheat does not grow in cities. By ancient standards Rome
and its environs covered a large area and housed a large ur-
ban population that could not grow food to feed itself. Rome
therefore relied on imports of grain from North Africa,40 agriculture: Rome