Farmers and Agriculture in the Roman Economy

143 Pages·2018·2.337 MB·English

by  David B. Hollander

Farmers and Agriculture in the
Roman Economy
Often viewed as self-sufficient, Roman farmers actually depended on markets
to supply them with a wide range of goods and services, from metal
tools to medical expertise. However, the nature, extent, and implications
of their market interactions remain unclear. This monograph uses literary
and archaeological evidence to examine how farmers – from smallholders
to the owners of large estates – bought and sold, lent and borrowed, and
cooperated as well as competed in the Roman economy. A clearer picture
of the relationship between farmers and markets allows us to gauge their
collective impact on, and exposure to, macroeconomic phenomena such
as monetization and changes in the level and nature of demand for goods
and labor. After considering the demographic and environmental context
of Italian agriculture, the author explores three interrelated questions:
what goods and services did farmers purchase; how did farmers acquire the
money with which to make those purchases; and what factors drove farmers’
economic decisions? This book provides a portrait of the economic world of
the Roman farmer in late Republican and early Imperial Italy.
David B. Hollander earned a PhD in Ancient History from Columbia
University (2002). He published his monograph Money in the Late Roman
Republic in 2007 and served as the economy editor for The Encyclopedia
of Ancient History (2012). He is an associate professor in the History
Department at Iowa State University, USA.
Cover image: Denarius of C. Marius Capito. Photo by author.

Farmers and Agriculture
in the Roman Economy
David B. Hollander
First published 2019
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
© 2019 David B. Hollander
The right of David B. Hollander to be identified as author of
this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections
77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
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or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
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Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-09988-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-10388-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by codeMantra
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
1 Problems and sources 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 The problem with self-sufficiency 1
1.3 Sources for Roman agriculture 4
1.3.1 Cato’s De agricultura 4
1.3.2 Varro’s De re rustica 6
1.3.3 Columella’s De re rustica 7
1.3.4 Pliny the Elder’s Natural History 7
1.3.5 Archaeology 10
1.3.6 Art 11
1.4 Conclusion 15
2 The parameters of Roman agriculture 20
2.1 Introduction 20
2.2 Climate and geography 20
2.3 Demography 22
2.4 Roman crops 23
2.4.1 Cereals 23
2.4.2 Viticulture 27
2.4.3 Olives 28
2.4.4 Other fruit trees 29
2.4.5 Legumes 29
2.4.6 Fiber crops 30
2.4.7 Nuts 31
2.4.8 Vegetables and tubers 32
2.4.9 Other plants 33
2.5 Livestock 33
2.6 Conclusion 35
vi Contents
3 Buyers and borrowers: The rural demand for goods,
services, and money 40
3.1 Introduction 40
3.2 Start-up requirements 41
3.2.1 Building supplies 42
3.2.2 Metal agricultural tools 43
3.2.3 Wooden tools 46
3.2.4 Livestock 46
3.2.5 Storage 46
3.2.6 Clothing 47
3.2.7 Processing equipment 47
3.2.8 Other equipment 48
3.3 Seasonal requirements 48
3.4 Maintenance requirements 49
3.5 Extra-agricultural expenses 51
3.6 Borrowing and sharing 52
3.7 Rural demand for coinage 53
3.8 Conclusion 57
4 Vendors and lenders: The rural supply of goods and services 62
4.1 Introduction 62
4.2 Animals and animal byproducts 63
4.2.1 Meat 64
4.2.2 Wool 66
4.2.3 Dairy products 67
4.2.4 Apiculture 68
4.3 The profitability of plants 71
4.3.1 Grain 71
4.3.2 Viticulture 72
4.3.3 Olive oil 73
4.3.4 Flowers 73
4.3.5 Vegetables 73
4.3.6 Other produce 74
4.3.7 Linen 75
4.4 The sale of the superfluous 75
4.5 Working for others 76
4.6 Moneylending 77
4.7 Conclusion 78
5 Farmers’ markets, farmers’ networks 83
5.1 Introduction 83
5.2 Markets 85
Contents vii
5.3 Reciprocity 87
5.4 Redistribution 89
6 Farmers in Roman economic history 93
6.1 Introduction 93
6.2 Degrees of market dependency 94
6.2.1 Elite farmers 94
6.2.2 Moderately wealthy farmers 95
6.2.3 Smallholders 95
6.2.4 Landless farmers 96
6.3 Farmers in the Roman economy 96
6.3.1 The second century bce 97
6.3.2 The first century bce prior to the reign of Augustus 99
6.3.3 The early Empire 100
Bibliography 105
Index 125
Map of Italy made using QGIS. Ancient World Mapping Center. “Ba_rivers”,
“Openwater” and “Coastline”. Accessed February 9, 2018. http://awmc.unc.edu/
wordpress/map-files/
Acknowledgements
I first became interested in the economic behavior of Roman farmers while
in graduate school; my initial thoughts on this topic can be found in my
dissertation and the subsequent book, Money in the Late Roman Republic
(2007). At Iowa State University, with its long commitment to the study of
all things rural and agricultural, it seemed like an obvious topic to pur-
sue further. Hence thanks must go first and foremost to my colleagues past
and present at Iowa State, beginning with a series of supportive department
chairs: Andrejs Plakans, Charles Dobbs, Pamela Riney-Kehrberg, Michael
Bailey, and currently Simon Cordery. Many colleagues and students in
what is now the RATE program have helped me see agricultural issues from
new perspectives. Grants from the University, College of Liberal Arts and
Sciences, and the Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities facili-
tated my research and writing. I am also grateful to my classical colleagues
in the department of World Languages and Cultures, especially Peggy
Mook and Rachel Meyers. Larry Elsken and Donna Gatewood fielded
my occasional questions about veterinary medicine with good humor and
Donna, along with Becky Olson, provided some insight into cheese-making.
I also appreciate the help of the staff at the University Library, especially
those in Interlibrary Loan.
Preliminary versions of some parts of this book were presented at confer-
ences and elsewhere over the years; I therefore thank session organizers and
audiences at annual meetings of the Archaeological Institute of A merica,
Classical Association of the Middle West and South, Society of Biblical
Literature, and Agricultural History Society, as well as hosts and audiences
at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University,
the University of Leicester, and the University of Missouri. Thanks also
to Ethan Spanier who provided some early feedback on the project. I am
especially grateful to the anonymous reviewers of my initial book proposal
and the subsequent manuscript for their many helpful comments. Of course,
none of them are responsible for any remaining flaws. I also greatly appreci-
ate the help (and patience) of my editor at Routledge, Michael Greenwood.
The most patient, however, must surely be my wife and daughter, to whom
I dedicate this work.