Unit 3.3

The Roman Economy

What is an agrarian world?

Dependent on agriculture

Why might concern for the environment seem modern, and how does this relate to Rome?

Although environmental concern seems modern, similar ideas appear in Roman literature

What types of sources help us understand Roman views on agriculture?

Surviving ancient agricultural “handbooks,” which reflect elite Roman attitudes toward agriculture and the economy

Who was Varro?

A prominent intellectual figure in late Republican Rome

What is De Re Rustica?

A work by Varro, completed in 37 BCE, consisting of three books on agriculture, stock-raising, and farm animals

How is De Re Rustica presented?

It is dedicated to Varro’s wife and framed as instructions for her to follow after his death

Why is the presentation of De Re Rustica considered misleading?

It reflects a patriarchal literary conceit, as the work is actually written as dialogues between elite men

What literary model influenced De Re Rustica?

Plato’s philosophical dialogues

Is De Re Rustica a practical farming manual?

No — it contains advice but is not a practical handbook for everyday farming

Why is De Re Rustica important for studying the Roman economy?

It reveals elite Roman attitudes toward agriculture rather than practical economic activity

What two main concerns does Varro identify for the ancient Italian farmer?

Environmental suitability and profit

How are Varro’s agricultural concerns similar to those of modern farmers?

Both consider environmental conditions and profit, though modern farmers can profit from growing crops out of season or outside their natural environment

How does Varro describe Italy’s agricultural landscape?

As highly diverse, with different regions producing excellent crops suited to their environments

Who is the “Italian farmer” Varro most likely imagining?

Elite landowners like Varro and his social circle, not subsistence peasant farmers

Why is Varro’s use of Homer as evidence problematic?

Homer is a literary source and is unlikely to be a reliable guide to real agricultural productivity

What examples of agricultural produce does Varro emphasise?

Stereotypical elite products such as Falernian wine and Venafran olive oil

Why are these examples significant in the Roman world?

They were considered the best of their kind (“best of class”)

What is the main purpose of De Re Rustica?

To interest and entertain elite readers and express elite attitudes toward agriculture, rather than serve as a practical farming manual

Why were basic economic structures necessary to profit from environmental diversity in Italy?

To allow agricultural produce to be bought and sold in order to realise profit

What economic features were required for agricultural trade in the Roman world?

Markets and mechanisms of exchange, such as coinage

Why was transport essential to the Roman agricultural economy?

It allowed produce to be moved between regions to exploit surpluses in one area and shortages in another

What does “internal connectivity” in Italy mean in economic terms?

The ability to link different regions so agricultural produce could be exchanged and profits made

How did large-scale connectivity benefit the Roman Empire?

It enabled the redistribution of food across the empire, ensured supplies for cities such as Rome, and generated profit

What was the core of the Roman economy according to this passage?

The empire-wide connection between production, markets, and profit

What is meant by “scale” in the context of Roman imperial ecology?

The idea that the economy operated at multiple interconnected levels

What were the main economic scales in the Roman Empire?

Local rural areas, cities, provinces, and the empire as a whole

Why is understanding economic scale important for studying the Roman economy?

It shows how local, urban, provincial, and imperial economic activities were interconnected

Were Roman cities isolated from their surrounding territories?

No — cities were closely connected economically and administratively to their surrounding territories (ager, plural agri)

How did cities govern their surrounding territories?

Cities governed and organised their territories through administration and economic links

What type of newly founded Roman city was often planned with its territory?

A colonia (colonial city)

What was centuriation?

The organisation of a city’s territory, including straight roads and surveyed land parcels (centuries)

How were roads and land parcels planned in centuriation?

Roads were designed respecting local geography, and land parcels were measured and marked on the ground by surveyors

Who was Hyginus and why is he relevant here?

Hyginus was a land-surveying author in the time of Trajan; his work illustrates Roman practices of centuriation

What is Figure 3.1 an example of?

A theoretical illustration of centuriation, based on Hyginus’ text, copied in the 16th century from a 6th-century manuscript

What features are shown in Figure 3.1 of Roman land surveying?

Rivers, mountains, forests, roads joining fortified settlements, faint squares marking centuries, and faint shapes showing pre-existing landholdings

What were the main roads in centuriation called?

Decumanus maximus (east–west) and Cardo maximus (north–south)

What was the function of the decumanus maximus and cardo maximus?

They formed the framework for the land division in Roman centuriation

How do traces of Roman land boundaries survive today?

As field boundaries or roads, or detectable via aerial photography

Which areas provide the best archaeological evidence for centuriation?

Western Mediterranean areas, especially around Pompeii, Nola, and Nuceria

Were systems of land division found outside the western Mediterranean?

They are hypothesised for northern Gaul and Germania, but little hard evidence exists for physical boundaries there

What do the faint squares and irregular shapes in centuriation represent?

Squares: surveyed land parcels (centuries); irregular shapes: pre-existing landholdings

What does centuriation exemplify in Roman practice?

Roman organisational effectiveness

How did surveying and dividing land contribute to Roman order?

By creating regular, defined parcels, especially in newly conquered territories

How did roads in centuriation affect agriculture?

They connected farms to cities, making the marketing of produce more efficient

How did centuriation support local administration?

It enabled effective management of land and likely involved systematic records of land ownership, even where physical boundaries are lost

Why was defining and maintaining land boundaries important?

It ensured order, clarity, and proper administration, as carefully specified by sources like Frontinus

According to Varro, what was the aim of the Roman landowner?

To grow the appropriate crops in the appropriate place, which required organisation

What does archaeological research show about rural buildings and settlements?

There was a wide range of rural buildings and settlement patterns, which varied according to local environments and agricultural regimes

How did the meaning of “villa” vary across the Roman Empire?

It differed depending on geography and environment; for example, a villa in central Italy’s centuriated landscape was very different from one in the West Midlands of Britain

What were two recurrent features of villas in the western empire?

1) Villas were often the largest rural settlements in the countryside
2) Each villa was the centre of a landed estate

What was the economic role of villas?

They organised agricultural production within a specific environment, aiming to generate profit

What has been a constant feature of societies, including Rome?

Human inequality

How central was slavery in Roman society?

Slavery was an integral part of Roman society and economy

How did the social status of Roman slaves vary?

It ranged from highly skilled personal assistants (e.g., Cicero’s Tiro) to war-captured slaves doing menial labour

In which sectors were slaves the major source of labour by the first century CE?

Countryside/agriculture, mines, industries, public services, and homes

Was the prevalence of slavery uniform across the Roman Empire?

The extent in the provinces is debated, but slavery was widespread and an important part of the economy

How is Roman slavery often described in historical accounts?

It is a dark aspect of Roman imperialism that is often glossed over

Why is slavery difficult to detect archaeologically in the Roman world?

Physical traces of slaves are limited, making them often “invisible” in the archaeological record

What types of archaeological evidence might indicate the presence of slaves?

Restraints (e.g., manacles), slave quarters, estates requiring labour (like Settefinestre), and material culture showing slaves performing servile roles

Where are direct traces of slaves rarely found?

In burials and forms of self-expression, such as graffiti

What does the limited archaeological evidence for slaves tell us?

Even though slaves were economically significant, they are often physically invisible in the material record

What makes Settefinestre unusual among Roman villas?

It has been thoroughly excavated and its excavation details are fully published

How well understood are smaller rural settlements compared to villas like Settefinestre?

They have received less archaeological attention and are poorly understood

What has fieldwork in some areas revealed about rural settlements?

It has mapped settlements and identified a hierarchy of rural buildings

What is the hierarchy of rural buildings identified in fieldwork?

Small structures with few rooms → larger farms → elaborate villas → villages → urban centres

What does the evidence from Settefinestre and other sites show about rural settlements?

There is variation in size and complexity, but only a few villas are well documented

Do settlement patterns look the same across the Roman Empire?

No — patterns vary regionally, but a hierarchy of settlements regularly emerges in the archaeological evidence

In Italy, what were lesser rural sites typically interpreted as?

Small independent farms, likely worked by free peasant farmers

In Italy, what were larger rural sites typically interpreted as?

Slave-run estates

How did the balance between free farms and slave estates change?

It changed over time and is the subject of academic debate

What types of rural settlements were common outside Italy, e.g., northern/western areas and Egypt?

Villas were not the largest settlements; production was organised via isolated farmsteads, large villages, or vici

How did the relationship between settlements and surrounding land vary?

Farmsteads might produce only for themselves

• Villages could serve as the centre of large estates or a cluster of smallholdings, even without an owner’s elaborate residence

What is The Moretum?

An idyllic poem featuring a peasant hero

What key feature of the Roman economy does The Moretum highlight?

Producers needed to be connected to markets to sell their goods

Where were Roman markets usually located?

In cities

How should economic activities in Pompeii be understood?

As processes, involving multiple stages such as resource extraction, transport, and production

What did metal workshops in Pompeii depend on?

A supply chain of imported metal ingots and fuel resources (wood or charcoal)

Why did Pompeii need to import raw metal?

There were no local mines, so metal had to be brought in from elsewhere

What do fish-processing workshops reveal about Pompeii’s economy?

They show intensive exploitation of marine resources

What does the scale of fish-processing suggest about Pompeii?

That there was a fishing fleet operating from seaside Pompeii

Why were coastal areas economically important in Roman Italy?

They enabled marine resource extraction and processing, supporting the wider regional economy

What evidence shows processed fish was valuable?

It is mentioned by Pliny the Elder as a particularly valued product

What was found near the Porta Marina in Pompeii?

Large ceramic amphoras waiting to be filled at a garum production site

Whose name appeared on the amphora stamps?

A. Umbricius Scaurus, a city magistrate, along with the names of his freedmen

What do the amphora stamps suggest about ownership?

That an elite city official owned the garum works, showing elite investment in the economy

What role did freedmen play in the garum industry?

They likely managed production on behalf of wealthy patrons

What do the atrium mosaics in Scaurus’ house show?

Labelled images advertising the product, producer, and quality of the garum

Why might the atrium have functioned as a showroom?

It displayed branded products, linking domestic space to commercial activity in the city

Why was garum economically important in the Roman world?

It was a popular condiment used widely in Roman cooking

Where else was garum produced on a large scale?

Along the coasts of south-west Spain and Morocco

What archaeological evidence supports large-scale garum production?

Concrete fermentation tanks left open to the sun along the coastline

What does widespread garum production show about the Roman economy?

That it operated through Mediterranean-wide trade and production networks

What does microscopic sediment analysis reveal about Pompeii?

Evidence for the economic function of the city through food consumption and production

How many plant remains were identified in the Pompeian city block?

Over 20,000 fragments, showing large-scale urban food use

What types of plant remains were found in Pompeii?

Olives, grapes, cereals, pulses, fruits, and nuts, indicating a diverse urban food economy

Where did food consumed in Pompeii come from?

Both the surrounding territory and production within the city itself

What proportion of Pompeii’s land was used for gardens?

Market gardens covered 9.7% and ornamental gardens 5.4% of the city’s land area

What does the presence of market gardens show about Pompeii?

That economic production was integrated into the urban environment

What was unusual about Regio II, Insula 5 near the amphitheatre?

An entire city block was largely open and used for agriculture

What do over 2,400 root cavities in this block indicate?

Intensive cultivation within the city walls