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65-570: De agri cultura ( [deː ˈaɡriː kʊlˈtuːraː] ), also known as On Farming or On Agriculture , is a treatise on Roman agriculture by Cato the Elder . It is the oldest surviving work of Latin prose. Alexander Hugh McDonald, in his article for the Oxford Classical Dictionary , dated this essay's composition to about 160 BC and noted that "for all of its lack of form, its details of old custom and superstition, and its archaic tone, it

130-449: A family owned animals to help cultivate land, then 20 iugera was needed. More land would be required to meet subsistence levels if the family farmed as sharecroppers . In Africa Proconsularis in the 2nd century AD, one-third of the total crop went to the landowner as rent (See Lex Manciana ). Such figures detail only the subsistence level. It is clear that large scale surplus production was undertaken in some provinces, such as to supply

195-413: A farm in one of three ways. The most common way to gain land was to purchase the land . Though some lower-class citizens did own small pieces of land, they often found it too difficult and expensive to maintain. Because of the many difficulties of owning land, they would sell it to someone in the aristocracy who had the financial backing to support a farm. Though there were some public lands available to

260-485: A farm should have "a foreman, a foreman's wife, ten laborers, one ox driver, one donkey driver, one man in charge of the willow grove, one swineherd, in all sixteen persons; two oxen, two donkeys for wagon work, one donkey for the mill work." He also said that such a farm should have "three presses fully equipped, storage jars in which five vintages amounting to eight hundred cullei can be stored, twenty storage jars for wine-press refuse, twenty for grain, separate coverings for

325-403: A huge market for the purchase of food produced on Italian farms." Land ownership was a dominant factor in distinguishing the aristocracy from the common person, and the more land a Roman owned, the more important he would be in the city. Soldiers were often rewarded with land from the commander they served. Though farms depended on slave labor, free men and citizens were hired at farms to oversee

390-446: A way of paying them for their services. The last way to obtain land was through inheritance. A father could leave his land to his family, usually to his son, in the event of his death. Wills were drawn out that specified who would receive the land as a way of ensuring that other citizens did not try to take the land from the family of the deceased. Roman farmers faced many of the problems which have historically affected farmers, including

455-508: A yield of 8:1 as normal, and 10:1 in exceptionally good harvest. Paul Erdkamp mentions in his book The Grain Market in the Roman Empire , that Columella was probably biased when he mentions a much lower yield of 4:1. According to Erdkamp, Columella wanted to make the point that "grain offers little profit compared to wine. His argument induces him to exaggerate the profitability of vineyards and at

520-518: Is "what we rival when we plough ". Of the most preferred types of soil he says the best is fat and loose soil that is the least costly and most productive, then fat and dense which is productive though requiring more effort, and after these are the moist soils. In the 5th century BC, farms in Rome were small and family owned. The Greeks of this period, however, had started using crop rotation and had large estates. Rome's contact with Carthage , Greece, and

585-413: Is a practical guide. There was much commerce between the provinces of the empire, and all regions of the empire were largely economically interdependent. Some provinces specialized in the production of grains including wheat, emmer, spelt, barley, and millet; others in wine and others in olive oil , depending on the soil type. Columella writes in his De re rustica , "Soil that is heavy, chalky, and wet

650-454: Is clearly traditional, somewhat more archaic than that of the remainder of the text, and has been studied by Calvert Watkins . All of the manuscripts of Cato's treatise also include a copy of Varro 's essay of the same name. J.G. Schneider and Heinrich Keil showed that the existing manuscripts directly or indirectly descend from a long-lost manuscript called the Marcianus, which was once in

715-581: Is considered an important witness for the text. Roman agriculture Roman agriculture describes the farming practices of ancient Rome , during a period of over 1000 years. From humble beginnings, the Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) and the Roman Empire (27 BC–476 AD) expanded to rule much of Europe , northern Africa , and the Middle East and thus comprised many agricultural environments of which

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780-457: Is easily stored and transported with limited spoilage, unlike other agricultural products. Healthy grain supply and trade is important to many societies, providing a caloric base for most food systems as well as important role in animal feed for animal agriculture . The grain trade is as old as agricultural settlement, identified in many of the early cultures that adopted sedentary farming. Major societal changes have been directly connected to

845-528: Is hard to think of it as literature. The book seems to be no more than a manual of husbandry intended for friends and neighbours. Its direct style, however, was noted by other ancient authors like Aulus Gellius as "forceful and vigorous", in a context of extreme simplicity. Perhaps the main achievement of De agri cultura is its depiction of rural life during the Roman Republic . Cato's introduction compares farming with other common activities of that time, specifically commerce and usury . He criticizes both,

910-480: Is not unsuited to the growing for winter wheat and spelt. Barley tolerates no place except one that is loose and dry." Pliny the Elder wrote extensively about agriculture in his Naturalis Historia from books XII to XIX, including chapter XVIII, The Natural History of Grain. Greek geographer Strabo considered the Po Valley (northern Italy) to be the most important economically because "all cereals do well, but

975-471: Is sensitive to freezing temperatures and intolerant of the colder weather of northern Europe and high, cooler elevations. The olive was grown mostly near the Mediterranean Sea. The consumption of olive oil provided about 12 percent of the calories and about 80 percent of necessary fats in the diet of the average Roman. Viticulture was probably brought to southern Italy and Sicily by Greek colonists, but

1040-556: Is sometimes grown as a perennial . Winter varieties are hardy enough to be planted in the autumn, becoming dormant in the winter, and harvested in spring or early summer; spring varieties are planted in spring and harvested in late summer. The term cereal is derived from the name of the Roman goddess of grain crops and fertility, Ceres . Cereals were domesticated in the Neolithic , some 8,000 years ago. Wheat and barley were domesticated in

1105-413: Is stored and gives advice to prevent spoilage. Liquids produced for market like oil and wine were stored on the ground floor and grain was stored in lofts with hay and other fodder . He instructs that granaries be well ventilated, cool, with minimal humidity, to prolong freshness. He describes certain methods of construction to avoid buildings developing cracks that would give animals and weevils access to

1170-662: The Biblioteca Marciana in Venice and described by Petrus Victorinus as liber antiquissimus et fidelissimus ( lit.   ' a book most ancient and faithful ' ). The oldest existing manuscript is the Codex Parisinus 6842, written in Italy at some point before the end of the 12th century. The editio princeps was printed at Venice in 1472 ; Angelo Politian 's collation of the Marcianus against his copy of this first printing

1235-715: The Fertile Crescent ; rice was domesticated in East Asia, and sorghum and millet were domesticated in West Africa. Maize was domesticated by Indigenous peoples of the Americas in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago. In the 20th century, cereal productivity was greatly increased by the Green Revolution . This increase in production has accompanied a growing international trade , with some countries producing large portions of

1300-520: The Mediterranean climate of dry, hot summers and cool, rainy winter was the most common. Within the Mediterranean area, a triad of crops were most important: grains , olives , and grapes . The great majority of the people ruled by Rome were engaged in agriculture. From the beginning of small, largely self-sufficient landowners, rural society became dominated by latifundium , large estates owned by

1365-994: The Phoenicians of Carthage in northern Africa gave the Romans much of their knowledge of growing grapes and making wine. By 160 BC, the cultivation of grapes on large estates using slave labor was common in Italy and wine was becoming a universal drink in the Roman empire. To protect their wine industry, the Romans attempted to prohibit the cultivation of grapes outside Italy, but by the 1st century AD, provinces such as Spain and Gaul (modern-day France) were exporting wine to Italy. Columella mentions turnips as important, high-yielding food crop, especially in Gaul where they were used as winter fodder for cattle . As other " fodder crops" he lists Medic clover , vetch , barley, cytisus , oats, chickpea and fenugreek . Of Medic clover, he says it improves

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1430-564: The Treveri people. It cut the ears of grain without the straw and was pushed by oxen or horses. Pliny the Elder mentions the device in the Naturalis Historia XVIII, 296. Possibly because the vallus was cumbersome and expensive, its adoption never became widespread and it fell into disuse after the 4th century AD. Scythes and sickles were the usual tools for harvesting crops. Aristocrats and common people could acquire land for

1495-486: The grain market is a major global commodity market that includes crops such as maize , rice , soybeans , wheat and other grains. Grains and cereal are synonymous with caryopses , the fruits of the grass family . In agronomy and commerce, seeds or fruits from other plant families are called grains if they resemble caryopses. For example, amaranth is sold as " grain amaranth ", and amaranth products may be described as "whole grains". The pre-Hispanic civilizations of

1560-681: The Andes had grain-based food systems, but at higher elevations none of the grains was a cereal . All three grains native to the Andes ( kaniwa , kiwicha , and quinoa ) are broad-leafed plants rather than grasses such as corn, rice, and wheat. A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods . They include rice , wheat , rye , oats , barley , millet , and maize . Edible grains from other plant families, such as buckwheat and quinoa , are pseudocereals . Most cereals are annuals , producing one crop from each planting, though rice

1625-642: The Carthaginian , the agricultural treatise Rusticatio , originally written in Punic and later translated into Greek and Latin, is now lost. Scholars speculate whether this text may have been an early source for agricultural traditions in the Near East and Classical world. Agriculture in ancient Rome was not only a necessity but was idealized as a way of life. Cicero considered farming the best of all Roman occupations. In his treatise On Duties , he declared that "of all

1690-537: The Hellenistic East in the 3rd and 2nd centuries improved Rome's agricultural methods. Roman agriculture reached its height in productivity and efficiency during the late Republic and early Empire. Farm sizes in Rome can be divided into three categories. Small farms were from 18–108 iugera. (One iugerum was equal to about 0.65 acres or a quarter of a hectare). Medium-sized farms were from 80–500 iugera. Large estates (called latifundia ) were over 500 iugera. In

1755-600: The Historia Augusta, it is stated Severus left 27 million modii in storage - considered to be a figure for the canon at the end of the 4th century and enough for 800,000 inhabitants at 500 lbs of bread per person per annum Pliny the Younger painted a picture that Rome was able to survive without Egyptian wheat in his speech the Panegyricus in 100 AD. In 99 there was an Egyptian crisis due to inadequate flooding. Pliny

1820-519: The Mediterranean region than common (soft) wheat. Grains, especially baked into bread, were the staple of the Roman diet, providing 70 to 80 percent of the calories in an average diet. Barley was also grown extensively, dominating grain production in Greece and on poorer soils where it was more productive than wheat. Wheat was the preferred grain, but barley was widely eaten and also important as animal feed. In De re rustica Columella wrote that emmer

1885-403: The Mediterranean very difficult to average overall. An agricultural unit was known as a latus fundus mentioned by Varro as a great estate, which can be interpreted as a latifundia or at 500 iugera or around 125 hectares because this is the land limit imposed by Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus as tribune in 133 BC. With the incorporation of Egypt into the Roman empire and the rule of

1950-447: The Younger stated that for "long it was generally believed that Rome could only be fed and maintained with Egyptian aid". However, he argued that "Now [that] we have returned the Nile its riches... her business is not to allow us food but to pay a proper tribute. The Romans improved crop growing by irrigating plants using aqueducts to transport water. Mechanical devices aided agriculture and

2015-877: The aid of the farmers and try to regain the land, these fights often resulted in damaged or destroyed property. Landowners also faced problems with slave rebellions at times. "In addition to invasions by Carthaginians and Celtic tribes, slave rebellions and civil wars which were repeatedly fought on Italian soil all contributed to the destruction of traditional agricultural holdings. Grain After being harvested, dry grains are more durable than other staple foods , such as starchy fruits ( plantains , breadfruit , etc.) and tubers ( sweet potatoes , cassava , and more). This durability has made grains well suited to industrial agriculture , since they can be mechanically harvested , transported by rail or ship, stored for long periods in silos , and milled for flour or pressed for oil . Thus,

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2080-545: The amount needed would be at least 150,000 tonnes, calculating that each resident of the city consumed 200 kilograms (440 lb) of grain per year. The total population of Rome assumed in calculating these estimates was between 750,000 and one million people. David Mattingly and Gregory Aldrete estimated the amount of imported grain at 237,000 tonnes for 1 million inhabitants; This amount of grain would provide 2,326 calories daily per person not including other foods such as meats, seafood, fruit, legumes, vegetable and dairy. In

2145-417: The best farms contained a vineyard , followed by an irrigated garden, willow plantation, olive orchard, meadow, grain land, forest trees, vineyard trained on trees, and lastly acorn woodlands. Though Rome relied on resources from its many provinces acquired through conquest and warfare, wealthy Romans developed the land in Italy to produce a variety of crops. "The people living in the city of Rome constituted

2210-420: The cereal supply for other countries. Starchy grains from broadleaf (dicot) plant families: Pulses or grain legumes , members of the pea family , have a higher protein content than most other plant foods, at around 20%, while soybeans have as much as 35%. As is the case with all other whole plant foods, pulses also contain carbohydrates and fat. Common pulses include: Oilseed grains are grown primarily for

2275-535: The cities, especially Rome, with grain, a process known as the Cura Annonae . Egypt , northern Africa, and Sicily were the principal sources of grain to feed the population of Rome, estimated at one million people at its peak. For yields of wheat, the number varies depending on the ancient source. Varro mentions 10:1 seed-yield ratio for wheat as normal for wealthy landowners. In some areas of Etruria, yield may have been as high as 15:1. Cicero indicates In Verrem

2340-513: The common person for use, aristocrats also tended to purchase those pieces of land, which caused a great deal of tension between the two classes. “Mass eviction of the poor by the rich underlay the political tensions and civil wars of the last century of the Roman Republic.” Another way to acquire land was as a reward for going to war. High-ranking soldiers returning from war would often be given small pieces of public land or land in provinces as

2405-482: The creation of the first temporary settlements and the division of society into classes. This assumption that grain agriculture led to early settlements and social stratification has been challenged by James Scott in his book Against the Grain . He argues that the transition from hunter-gatherer societies to settled agrarian communities was not a voluntary choice driven by the benefits of increased food production due to

2470-453: The emperor Augustus (27 BC-14 AD), Egypt became the main source of supply of grain for Rome. By the 70s AD, the historian Josephus was claiming that Africa fed Rome for eight months of the year and Egypt only four. Although that statement may ignore grain from Sicily, and overestimate the importance of Africa, there is little doubt among historians that Africa and Egypt were the most important sources of grain for Rome. To help assure that

2535-572: The end of the 1st century AD until about the end of the 3rd century. The capacity of the mills has been estimated at 4.5 tons of flour per day, sufficient to supply enough bread for the 12,500 inhabitants occupying the town of Arelate at that time. Vertical water wheels were well known to the Romans, described by Vitruvius in his De architectura of 25 BC, and mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his Naturalis Historia of AD 77. There are also later references to floating water-driven grain mills in Rome and Byzantium and to water-driven sawmills on

2600-454: The extraction of their edible oil . Vegetable oils provide dietary energy and some essential fatty acids . They are also used as fuel and lubricants. Ancient grains is a marketing term used to describe a category of grains and pseudocereals that are purported to have been minimally changed by selective breeding over recent millennia, as opposed to more widespread cereals such as corn , rice and modern varieties of wheat , which are

2665-485: The former on the basis of the dangers and uncertainty which it bears, the second because according to the Twelve Tables , the usurer is judged a worse criminal than a thief. Cato makes a strong contrast with farming, which he praises as the source of good citizens and soldiers, of both wealth and high moral values. De agri cultura contains much information on the creation and caring of vineyards, including information on

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2730-507: The grain supply would be adequate for Rome, in the second century BC, Gracchus settled 6,000 colonists near Carthage, giving them about 25 hectares (62 acres) each to grow grain. Grain made into bread was, by far, the most important element in the Roman diet. Several scholars have attempted to compute the total amount of grain needed to supply the city of Rome. Rickman estimated that Rome needed 40 million modii (200,000 tonnes) of grain per year to feed its population. Erdkamp estimated that

2795-661: The grain trade, such as the fall of the Roman Empire . From the early modern period onward, grain trade has been an important part of colonial expansion and international power dynamics. The geopolitical dominance of countries like Australia, the United States, Canada and the Soviet Union during the 20th century was connected with their status as grain surplus countries. Those who handle grain at grain facilities may encounter numerous occupational hazards and exposures . Risks include grain entrapment , where workers are submerged in

2860-559: The grains. Press rooms, he advised, should be warm receiving light from the south to prevent the oil from freezing, which makes oil spoil faster. Columella describes land as being classified into three types of terrain which he calls champaign (sloping plains ), hills with a gradual but gentle rise, and wooded, verdant mountain highlands. Of soil, he says there are six qualities: fat or lean, loose or compact, moist or dry. The permutations of these qualities producing many varieties of soils. Columella quotes Vergil 's comment that loose soil

2925-402: The heavy work on the farm. Sheep and goats were cheese producers and were prized for their hides. Horses were not widely used in farming but were raised by the rich for racing or war. Sugar production centered on beekeeping, and some Romans raised snails as luxury food. The Romans had four systems of farm management: direct work by owner and his family; tenant farming or sharecropping in which

2990-414: The jars, six fiber-covered half amphorae , four fiber-covered amphorae, two funnels, three basketwork strainers, [and] three strainers to dip up the flower, ten jars for [handling] the wine juice..." It is important to note that Cato's description is not indicative of the majority of farms in the early 2nd century BC. De agri cultura is a political document designed to show off Cato's character as much as it

3055-455: The land. For it affords an excellent fertilizer for worn out vineyards and ploughlands; it flourishes even in exhausted soil; and it endures age when laid away in the granary. When softened by boiling it is good fodder for cattle during the winter; in the case of humans, too, it serves to warn off famine if years of crop failures come upon them. The Romans grew olive trees in poor, rocky soils, and often in areas with sparse precipitation. The tree

3120-488: The late Republican era, the number of latifundia increased. Wealthy Romans bought land from peasant farmers who could no longer make a living. Starting in 200 BC, the Punic Wars called peasant farmers away to fight for longer periods of time. This is now disputed; some scholars now believe that large-scale agriculture did not dominate Italian agriculture until the 1st century BC. Cows provided milk while oxen and mules did

3185-402: The long storage potential of grains, but rather that the shift towards settlements was a coerced transformation imposed by dominant members of a society seeking to expand control over labor and resources. The grain trade refers to the local and international trade in cereals such as wheat , barley , maize , and rice , and other food grains . Grain is an important trade item because it

3250-528: The occupations by which gain is secured, none is better than agriculture, none more profitable, none more delightful, none more becoming to a free man." When one of his clients was derided in court for preferring a rural lifestyle, Cicero defended country life as "the teacher of economy, of industry, and of justice" ( parsimonia , diligentia , iustitia ). Cato , Columella , Varro and Palladius wrote handbooks on farming practice. In his treatise De agricultura ("On Farming", 2nd century BC), Cato wrote that

3315-493: The owner and a tenant divide up a farm's produce; forced labour by slaves owned by aristocrats and supervised by slave managers; and other arrangements in which a farm was leased to a tenant. Cato the Elder (also known as "Cato the Censor") was a politician and statesman in the mid- to late Roman Republic and described his view of a farm of 100 iugera in the De agri cultura. He claimed such

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3380-416: The peasants subsist on food made from them". Of legumes , Columella lists some that are preferred for cultivation: lentils , peas , lupinus , beans , cowpeas , and chickpeas (also listing sesame , panicum , cannabis , barley , and millet as legumes). He writes the following about lupinus : ...it requires the least labor, costs least, and of all crops that are sown is most beneficial to

3445-524: The product of thousands of years of selective breeding. Ancient grains are often marketed as being more nutritious than modern grains, though their health benefits over modern varieties have been disputed by some nutritionists . Because grains are small, hard and dry, they can be stored, measured, and transported more readily than can other kinds of food crops such as fresh fruits, roots and tubers. The development of grain agriculture allowed excess food to be produced and stored easily which could have led to

3510-418: The production of food. Extensive sets of mills existed in Gaul and Rome at an early date to grind wheat into flour. The most impressive extant remains occur at Barbegal in southern France , near Arles . Sixteen overshot water wheels arranged in two columns were fed by the main aqueduct to Arles, the outflow from one being the supply to the next one down in the series. The mills apparently operated from

3575-420: The river Moselle by the poet Ausonius . Multiple stacked sequences of reverse overshot water-wheels were used to provide motive power in many Roman mines. There is evidence from bas-reliefs that farmers in northern Gaul (present day France) used a kind of automatic harvester or reaper when collecting ripe grain crops. The machine, called the "vallus" or "gallic vallus", was apparently invented and used by

3640-590: The same time to diminish the yields that were obtained in grain cultivation. At best Columella provides a trustworthy figure for poor soils; at worst, his estimate is not reliable at all." Average wheat yields per year in the 3rd decade of the century, sowing 135 kg/ha of seed, were around 1,200 kg/ha in Italy and Sicily, 1,710 kg/ha in Egypt, 269 kg/ha in Cyrenaica , Tunisia at 400 kg/ha, and Algeria at 540 kg/ha, Greece at 620 kg/ha. This makes

3705-408: The slaves and ensure that the farms ran smoothly. Staple crops in early Rome were millet , and emmer and spelt which are species of wheat. According to the Roman scholar Varro , common wheat and durum wheat were introduced to Italy as crops about 450 BC. Durum (hard) wheat became the preferred grain of urban Romans, because it could be baked into leavened bread and was easier to grow in

3770-475: The slaves who helped maintain them. After numerous landowners in Rome read Cato's prose during this time, Rome began to produce wine on a large scale. Many of the new vineyards were sixty acres, and because of their large size, even more slaves were necessary to keep the production of wine running smoothly. One section consists of recipes for farm products. These include: There is a short section of religious rituals to be performed by farmers. The language of these

3835-813: The soil, fattens lean cattle and is a high-yielding fodder crop. Cato the Elder wrote that leaves from poplar , elm and oak leaves should be gathered in the Fall before they have dried completely and stored for use as fodder. Turnips, lupines and forage crops were to be sown after the rainy season. The Romans also grew artichoke , mustard , coriander , rocket , chives , leeks , celery , basil , parsnip , mint , rue , thyme "from overseas," beets , poppy , dill , asparagus , radish , cucumber , gourd , fennel , capers , onions , saffron , parsley , marjoram , cabbage , lettuce , cumin , garlic , figs , "Armenian apricots ," plums , mulberries , peaches , and hemp . Columella describes how produce

3900-434: The unpredictability of weather, rainfall, and pests. Farmers also had to be wary of purchasing land too far away from a city or port because of war and land conflicts. As Rome was a vast empire that conquered many lands, it created enemies with individuals whose land had been taken. They would often lose their farms to the invaders who would take over and try to run the farms themselves. Though Roman soldiers would often come to

3965-561: The wealthy and utilizing mostly slave labor. The growth in the urban population, especially of the city of Rome, required the development of commercial markets and long-distance trade in agricultural products, especially grain, to supply the people in the cities with food. The main texts of the Greco-Roman agricultural tradition are mostly from the Roman agronomists : Cato the Elder 's De agri cultura , Columella 's De re rustica , Marcus Terentius Varro and Palladius . Attributed to Mago

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4030-497: The yield from millet is exceptional, because the soil is so well watered." The province of Etruria had heavy soil good for wheat. Volcanic soil in Campania made it well-suited for wine production. In addition to knowledge of different soil categories, the Romans also took interest in what type of manure was best for the soil. The best was poultry manure, and cow manure one of the worst. Sheep and goat manure were also good. Donkey manure

4095-416: Was an up-to-date "treatise" constructed from his own knowledge and experience to the new capitalistic farming." Cato was revered by many later authors for his practical attitudes, his natural stoicism and his tight, lucid prose. He is much quoted by Pliny the Elder , for example, in his Naturalis Historia . The work of Cato is often characterized as a "farmer's notebook" written in a "random fashion"; it

4160-436: Was best for immediate use, while horse manure wasn't good for grain crops, but according to Marcus Terentius Varro , it was very good for meadows because "it promotes a heavy growth of grass plants like grass." In the grain-growing area of north Africa, centered on the ancient city of Carthage , a family of six people needed to cultivate 12 iugera / 3 hectares of land to meet minimum food requirements (without animals). If

4225-458: Was more resistant to moisture than wheat. According to Columella four types of emmer were cultivated, including one variety that he calls Clusian (named for the town Clusium ). Cato wrote that if sowing grain in humid or dewy soils was unavoidable, they should be sown alongside turnips, panic grass, millet and rape . Despite listing panicum and millet among the legumes Columella says they should be considered grain crops "for in many countries

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