Spain, Egypt, Sicily, and Sardinia. Th is grain needed to arrive
on a regular basis and be available at a reasonable price—both
uncertain propositions in the ancient world. Th e government
therefore stepped in to help. A large portion of the govern-
ments of both the republic and the empire was dedicated to
getting this bread to Roman tables.
In order to prevent famines and the peasant revolts that
could accompany them, the Roman government created
a system to provide wheat to all citizens. Th is began under
Gaius Gracchus, who in 123 b.c.e. passed a lex frumentaria,
or grain law, that provided each citizen grain at a subsidized
price. In 58 b.c.e. Clodius Pulcher made grain free to all citi-
zens. Administering this enterprise required a large bureau-
cracy of offi cials to keep track of distributions. An elected
offi cial monitored the grain imports that arrived in Rome’s
port, Ostia, and saw to the proper distribution of the supply.
Th e free grain was immensely popular, and by the time of
Julius Caesar (100–44 b.c.e.) some 25 percent of Rome’s pop-
ulation was receiving it. For fi nancial reasons, both Caesar
and the emperor Augustus (63 b.c.e–14 c.e.) had to reduce
the number of people receiving the grain dole. Despite these
diffi culties, the free distribution of grain continued until the
end of the empire.
Rome furthered its agricultural needs through the use of
ager publicus, or public land. When a community or a foreign
possession rebelled and was subdued, the government would
claim a portion of its territory, usually a third, for public use.
Th e best-known ager publicus was the rich land around the
city of Capua in southern Italy, which Rome’s government
took aft er Capua rebelled several times. In 59 b.c.e. Caesar
distributed this land to Pompey’s veterans, the soldiers who
had fought in Pompey’s army during the civil war. Th ere was
ager publicus in every Roman province, both overseas and on
the Italian peninsula. Some of this land was given to Roman
colonists, and the state held other portions of it. Th e censors
(magistrates) leased land to those who requested it, typical-
ly favoring those who wanted to run large estates. Generals
would give away plots of public land to their soldiers aft er
concluding military campaigns. Most recipients of plots of
public land used them for agriculture, building small farms
for their own families or running large estates if they held
enough acreage. During the empire most of the ager publicus
was eventually incorporated into the emperor’s own estates.
ROMAN CROPS: WHEAT
Romans grew mainly wheat and barley. Th e barley was used
chiefl y as fodder for animals, while wheat was the primary
energy source in the Roman diet. In the earliest days of Rome,
the wheat was most commonly cooked into porridge, but by
the time of the republic baked bread was more common and
formed the bulk of most meals. Th is transition in culinary
habits went along with a change in agricultural preferences;
as people began to eat more bread, farmers replaced husked
species of wheat (suitable only for boiling) with wheat that did
not have a husk and could be baked. Th ese new “naked” spe-
cies of wheat included durum wheat, now used to ma ke pasta,
as well as the types of wheat still used in modern bread.ROMAN CROPS: OLIVES
Olives were tremendously important to ancient people. Th ey
ate cured olives as a vegetable, but the oil from the olives
was more signifi cant. Olive oil was the principal or even the
only source of fat in many people’s diets and a good source
of nutrients, such as vitamin E. People also used olive oil as
a skin moisturizer and a cleaner; instead of cleaning them-
selves with soap, they would rub themselves with olive oil and
scrape it off. Olive oil could also be burned in lamps.
Olives grow wild in the Mediterranean region, so they
were readily available to ancient farmers. Th e ancient Greeks
improved the cultivation of olives, and the Romans took their
techniques and varieties to Italy and throughout the Mediter-
ranean. Olive farmers grew the trees in groves; olives could
grow in areas where grain could not, allowing farmers to take
advantage of more land. Olive trees thrive on drought and are
not particular about soil quality. Th ey can live for hundreds
of years.
Romans knew of at least 27 diff erent varieties of olive.
Th ey used graft ing to combine hardy rootstocks with pro-
ductive trees, graft ing cultivated olive cuttings onto fi g tree
stocks or wild olive cuttings onto cultivated olive tree stocks.
Once trees reached a productive size, they were kept small
and fruitful by yearly pruning done by slaves. Slaves also did
most of the olive harvesting, an operation that required a
great deal of labor because every tree branch had to be beaten
with sticks to loosen the olives.
Most farmers did not grow only olives; an olive grove was
typically just one component of a larger establishment that
might include several other crops. Olives typically bear a crop
every other year, but harvests can be erratic, so it made sense
for farmers to diversify their holdings. Cato’s ideal olive grove,
for example, included a shepherd, a swineherd, and a herd
of 100 sheep; the pigs ate the material left over from making
olive oil, and the sheep ate the grass under the trees so that
slaves did not have to weed. To make oil, slaves crushed the
olives in a large stone press. Th e oil fl owed out through open-
ings at the bottom of the press and could be collected in fi red
clay jars. To eat the olives themselves, people cured them by
soaking in a salt solution for several weeks or by packing in
salt. Th is treatment removed the olives’ natural bitterness and
preserved them.
In his handbook, Cato describes an ideal olive plan-
tation; this farm was run by a slave overseer and his wife
and was worked by fi ve slaves, three ox drivers, one donkey
driver, a swineherd, and a shepherd. It covered 160 acres of
land and had its own oil press, so oil could be made on the
premises. Th e size of this establishment and the time it took
olive trees to mature (15 years) made olive cultivation dif-
fi cult for small farmers. On the other hand, olive trees live
up to 1,000 years, so an established olive grove could be very
valuable. For a wealthy landowner olive farming could beagriculture: Rome 41