Environmental History
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ancientrome-agricultureanimalsslaves1.pptxAncient Rome
Agriculture, animal husbandry and slavery
Background
Founded 753 BCE: Romulus and Remus (legendary)
Monarchy: 753 BCE – 509 BCE
Ended with the overthrow of L. Tarquinius Superbus
Republic: 509 BCE – 27 BCE
Frequent wars
Greatest enemy: Carthage
Empire: 27 BCE – 476 CE
Capitoline Wolf. Bronze.
11th/12th century (wolf) and late 15th century (twins)
Agriculture
Cato the Elder (234 BCE – 149 BCE)
Wrote De Agri Cultura
Marcus Terentius Varro (116 BCE – 27 BCE)
Wrote Res Rusticae
Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (c. 4 CE – 70 CE)
Wrote De Re Rustica
Farming
Peasant farms, large, commercial farms and villa farmsteads
Best evidence = that connected to the wealthy villas
Production of bricks, amphorae, tiles in addition to farming
Crops: grapevines, olives, lupines, beans, vetch, lentils, chickpeas, turnips, peas, wheat
Farming methods
Two-field system
Green manuring
Interplanting/intercropping (most common in Roman era = wheat/olives)
Farming implements
Hook-shaped plough
Yoke harness oxen
Scythe
Oxen yoked
Roman scythe
Slaves
Primary workforce on the Roman villa
Very little archaeological evidence on slave life
Slaves could occupy almost any job a free person did
Agricultural work = bottom of slave social scale
Social mobility was possible, but not common
Bailiff on the farm was usually a slave
Slaves worked in various types of farm labor: arable, vineyards, oliveyards, animal management/care
Weaving regarded as a “servile” task (spinning & weaving usually done by women)
Views on manual labor would change with the advent of Christianity (Benedictine Rule, c. 516 CE)
Working Animals
The Roman agricultural manuals detail the care and management of a variety of animal species
Cattle = the most widely referenced
Evidence of selective breeding for a variety of animals (appearance & working capacity)
Horses and mules: transport (people/goods), communication, entertainment, prestige, agriculture
Pig was a prominent element of the Roman diet
Pets
Dogs = the most common pet
“Lap dogs” – the Yasmina dog
Active care toward pet dogs is indicated by literary sources and their remains
“Yasmina dog”
Carthage, 3rd century CE
A grave from the 3rd century CE included an adolescent human (10-15 yrs old) and an elderly dog (15-18 yrs old) The dog was small (20-21 cm at the withers). This small size led the zooarchaeologists to suggest this dog was a Maltese
