Cities, Peasants and Food in Classical Antiquity

355 Pages·2009·18.71 MB·English

by  Garnsey, Peter;Scheidel, Walter

Sixteen essays in the social and economic history of the ancient
world by a leading historian of classical antiquity are here brought
conveniently together. Three overlapping sections deal with the
urban economy and society, peasants and the rural economy, and
food-supply and food-crisis. While focusing on eleven centuries of
antiquity from archaic Greece to late imperial Rome, the essays
include theoretical and comparative analyses of food-crisis and
pastoralism, and an interdisciplinary study of the health status of the
people of Rome using physical anthropology and nutritional
science. A variety of subjects are treated, from the misconduct of
a builders' association in late antique Sardis, to a survey of the
cultural associations and physiological effects of the broad bean.
The essays, of which two appear in English for the first time,
are presented together with bibliographical addenda by Walter
Scheidel, which summarize and assess research stimulated by the
original and often provocative theses and approaches of the author.
Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009
Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009
CITIES, PEASANTS AND FOOD
IN CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY
Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009
Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009
CITIES, PEASANTS AND FOOD
IN CLASSICAL ANTIQUITY
ESSAYS IN SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC HISTORY
PETER GARNSEY
Professor of the History of Classical Antiquity,
University of Cambridge
Edited with addenda by
WALTER SCHEIDEL
Moses and Mary Finley Research Fellow in Ancient History,
Darwin College, University of Cambridge
CAMBRIDGE
UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009
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© Cambridge University Press 1998
This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 1998
First paperback edition 2004
Typeset in 9.75/12.5 pt Times Ten
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data
Garnsey, Peter.
Cities, peasants, and food in classical antiquity: essays in
social and economic history / Peter Garnsey; edited with addenda by
Walter Scheidel.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0 521 59147 3 hardback
1. Cities and towns, Ancient — Rome. 2. Peasantry - Rome - History.
3. Food supply — Rome - History. 4. Food supply - Greece — History.
I. Scheidel, Walter, 1966- . II. Title.
HT114.G37 1998
307.76'0938-dc21 97-25203 CIP
ISBN 0 521 59147 3 hardback
ISBN 0 521 89290 2 paperback
Transferred to digital printing 2004
Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009
TO MY TEACHERS, YOUNG AND OLD
Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009
Cambridge Books Online © Cambridge University Press, 2009
CONTENTS
Preface xi
Editor's preface xiii
Acknowledgements xv
List of abbreviations xvii
PART I CITIES
i Aspects of the decline of the urban aristocracy in the empire 3
2 Independent freedmen and the economy of Roman Italy
under the Principate 28
3 Economy and society of Mediolanum under the Principate 45
4 Urban property investment in Roman society 63
5 An association of builders in late antique Sardis JJ
PART II PEASANTS
6 Peasants in ancient Roman society 91
7 Where did Italian peasants live? IOJ
8 Non-slave labour in the Roman world 134
9 Prolegomenon to a study of the land in the later Roman empire 1
10 Mountain economies in southern Europe 166
PART III FOOD
11 Grain for Athens 183
12 The yield of the land in ancient Greece 201
13 The bean: substance and symbol 214
14 Mass diet and nutrition in the city of Rome 226
15 Child rearing in ancient Italy 253
16 Famine in history 272
Bibliography 293
Index 330
IX