Daily life in these societies revolved around animal
husbandry and the fulfi llment of basic needs, such as the
preservation of food, which was vital for the sustenance of
the community. Food, such as grain, was stored in holes in
the ground, covered with a simple rock. Milk was drained
through cloth and turned into cheese that could be pre-
served for a longer time. Meat was cut and smoked over fi re
or cured and smoked. Spinning of wool and making clothes
was the task of women. Only wars with other tribes dis-
rupted this life; such wars were not uncommon. Disputes
over grazing sites and theft s of animals were the most usual
reasons for fi ghts.
Since the nomadic way of life is characterized by mobil-
ity, monuments and other permanent signs of culture are ab-
sent. Th is is very far from the traditional view of Greek society
seen in the Archaic and the Classical periods (600–323 b.c.e.).
Th is is not to say that there were no cultural aspects to the life
of these communities. Myths and rituals abounded. Also, it
seems that singing, accompanied by the fl ute, was part of the
culture of pastoral societies. Homer gives such information
in the Iliad, and the historian Diodorus Siculus describes a
celebrated bucolic hero, the shepherd Daphnis.
Th e nomadic and pastoral way of life adapted itself to
harsh environments, where it was diffi cult to maintain per-
manent settlements. Climatic conditions in Greece were
never that harsh, however, and the few fertile areas were big
enough to sustain main bands. Seasonal migration from more
mountainous areas in summer to the plains in winter was al-
ways part of life, but the ancient Greeks soon passed from the
nomadic stage to a more sedentary agricultural way of life.
Animal husbandry remained important, but it became part
of a less mobile life organized around permanent settlements
in villages and towns. As early as 6000 b.c.e. Greeks had be-
come farmers. Archaeologists have discovered agricultural
tools, such as fl int sickles and clay slabs, in the fertile areas of
Th essaly and the Peloponnese, Th race, and Macedonia.
ROME
BY MARK ANTHONY PHELPS
Pastoralist traditions were an integral part of ancient Ro-
man society. Many concepts were tied to a pastoral lifestyle.
For example, pecunia, the Latin noun translated as “money,”
fi nds its root in the older meaning of “wealth in fl ocks or
herds.” Prehistoric rituals preserved in Roman society in-
clude the Parilia, a ritual for fertility for the fl ocks, and the
Fordicidia, in which pregnant cows were killed and their fetal
calves were burned in the spring and pregnant sows and their
fetuses were sacrifi ced in the winter. A festival for ensuring
the harvest of crops, the Ambarvalia, involved the killing of
a pig, a sheep, and a bull, followed by an examination of the
victims for omens. Historians of religion see the off ering of
animal sacrifi ce as evidence of a pastoral economic compo-
nent in a society. Rituals involving sacrifi ce are also tied to
the cults of Juno, Mars, and Jupiter (all originally gods of ag-
riculture, transformed by Rome’s emerging political power).
Th e Romans later considered sacrifi ce as a mark of barbarian-
ism but still continued these rituals.
Th e geography of the immediate environs of Rome,
however, could not support a large population of animals, at
least not before those environs began to be expanded by con-
quest. Some historians thus see legendary struggles, such as
the conquest of the Sabines, as an attempt at securing access
to mountain pastures. Th e Sabines in Roman legend were a
group of pastoralists living near the site of Rome. According
to legend, the founding generation of Romans was made up
entirely of males who were without kinship ties. Th is group
of men attacked the Sabines, carrying off their women and
livestock. Th ough it is speculative, this legend may have some
basis in fact.
Th e transhumance that was practiced in prehistory in
the Apennines continues in the 21st century. (Transhumance
dictated that some people live in villages while others go out
with the fl ocks and herds.) Sheep, goats, and pigs have always
predominated. During Roman history the southern third of
the Apennines was more intensely grazed. Th e typical trans-
humance cycle in this region has the fl ocks going higher into
the mountains as the heat and dryness of the Mediterranean
summer increases. Th e herders return aft er harvest, as the
animals feed upon the stubble of the harvested fi elds and then
on fodder crops once the stubble has been exhausted.
Th e rise of the villa does not seem to have interfered with
the traditional pastoral interaction with village life. Villas
focused on the cultivation of vines, fruits, and grains and
tended to be near the coast or in river valleys, areas not tra-
ditionally devoted to animal husbandry. It is clear that larger
operations (with herds numbering in the hundreds or thou-
sands) were concerned with the production of wool. Among
the ways this is evidenced is by the presence of a higher per-
centage of rams. Th ese operations were oft en run by large
estates, though arrangements typically were made to graze
the fl ocks on distant pasturage. Lower percentages of rams in
small herds indicate that herders were engaging in either sub-
sistence or small-scale production of milk. Th e Romans con-
sidered sheep’s milk more easily digestible than cow’s milk,
though they preferred the taste of cow’s milk. Goat’s milk was
more common than either of the others, but it was considered
least digestible of all.
Despite the advice off ered in the works of the classical
authors known as agronomists (among them, Varro, Cato,
and Virgil), there was no streamlined system employed by the
Romans either in Italy or elsewhere in the empire. Further,
the Romans did not interfere in the methods employed by
local pastoralists. Roman presence did alter demand for an-
imal products, in the form of taxes and requisitions for mili-
tary needs. Roman improvement of roads and development
of aqueducts and new trade networks oft en expanded local
production as well. Wool and woolen garments for export
have been noted at some sites, such as Timgad in modern-
day Tunisia, but surveys done throughout the empire shownomadic and pastoral societies: Rome 795