Agriculture, underemployment, and the cost of rural labour in the roman world

Classical Quarterly

Volumn 49, Issue 2, 1999, Pages 556-572

  Erdkamp, Paul ^a  

^a RADBOUD UNIVERSITY NIJMEGEN   (Netherlands)

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EID: 40249116349     PISSN: 00098388     EISSN: 14716844     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/cq/49.2.556     Document Type: Review

References (87)

1. P. Garnsey, 'Introduction', in P. Garnsey (ed.), Non-slave Labour in the Greco-Roman World (Cambridge, 1980), 3
2. Cf. Garnsey, 'Non-slave labour in the Roman world', ibid., 37
3. J. E. Skydsgaard, 'Non-slave labour in rural Italy during the late Republic', ibid., 67
4. S. L. Dyson, Community and Society in Roman Italy (Baltimore, 1992), 134-5
5. Already recognized by F. Engels: 'Competition enables the capitalists to substract from the price of labour what the family produces in its own garden and small plots.' Quoted from H. Medick, 'The proto-industrial family economy. The structural function of household and family during the transition from peasant society to industrial capitalism', Social History 2 (1976), 299
6. P. Kriedte, Spätfeudalismus und Handelskapital. Grundlinien der europäischen Wirtschafts-geschichte vom 16. bis zum Ausgang des 18. Jahrhunderts (Göttingen, 1980), 96: 'Das zentrale Moment für das Funktionieren des proto-industriellen Systems war die Externalisierung der Arbeitskosten. Das Handelskapital wälzte sie zu großen Teilen auf den Agrarsektor ab, indem es nur einen Teil der Reproduktionskosten der Arbeit übernahm.' The concept did not apply to the growing numbers of rural proletariat, who had an increasing role in rural industry
7. A. V. Chayanov, The Theory of Peasant Economy, D. Thorner et al. (edd.), (Manchester, 1996), 189
8. M. S. Spurr, Arable Cultivation in Roman Italy, c. 200 B.C.-c. A.D. 100 (London, 1986), 67
9. Cf. P. Halstead and G. Jones, 'Agrarian ecology in the Greek islands. Time stress, scale and risk', JHS 109 (1989), 47, regarding the time stress of small farmers on the Aegean islands of Karpathos and Amorgos. They point out the dangers of sudden storms, theft, birds, or raiding by livestock (49-50), and one may add the danger of fire
10. On crop diversification in ancient Greek agriculture see T. W. Gallant, Risk and Survival in Ancient Greece. Reconstructing the Rural Domestic Economy (Cambridge, 1991), 36-7
11. Cf. P. Garnsey, Famine and Food Supply in the Graeco Roman World (Cambridge, 1988), 49
12. D. W. Rathbone, 'The development of agriculture in the ager Cosanus during the Roman republic. Problems of evidence and interpretation', JRS 71 (1981), 15
13. Cf. A. Knotter, 'Problems of the family economy. Peasant economy, domestic production and labour markets in pre-industrial Europe', Economic and Social History in the Netherlands 6 (1994), 35ff., regarding the 'labour cycle' in early modern Europe
14. Cf. Chayanov (n.4), 91ff
15. For Garnsey (n. 1), 34, this is the defining characteristic of the smallholder. Pliny, N.H. 18.38 is interesting here. In the interpretation of W. Scheidel, 'Coloni und Pächter in den römischen literarischen Quellen vom 2. Jh. v. Chr. bis zur Severerzeit. Eine kritische Betrachtung. Colonus-Studien 1', Athenaeum 80 (1992), 354-5, the passage is translated thus: 'Die Land- wirtschaft gut zu betreiben ist notwendig, aber verderblich sie bestmöglich zu betreiben, außer wenn der Landwirt mit seinen Nachkommen oder jenen, die er ohnedies ernähren muß, wirtschaftet.' Scheidel rightly says: 'Die Stelle niramt somit auf die Subsistenzwirtschaft von Bauernfamilien bezug, für die intensivste Bewirtschaftung deshalb möglich sei, da der "labour input" mit keinerlei Kosten verbunden ist.' In other words, reproductive costs were borne by the farm anyhow. However, the question is also whether there were alternative options of employment for this labour
16. R. P. Sailer and D. I. Kertzer, 'Historical and anthropological perspectives on Italian family life', in D. I. Kertzer and R. P. Sailer (edd.), The Family in Italy from Antiquity to the Present (S.I., 1991), 9-10, point out that values of honour and shame precluded an important role for such service
17. Cf. J. K. Evans, War, Women and Children in Ancient Rome (London, 1991), 117-18
18. D. S. Reher, Cambridge Studies in Population, Economy and Society in Past Time. 12 Town and Country in Pre-industrial Spain. Cuenca 1550-1870, (Cambridge, 1990), 201ff.
19. M. Barbagli and D. Kertzer, 'An introduction to the history of Italian family life', Journal of Family History 15 (1990), 381
20. Cf. Knotter's criticism (n. 8), 20-1, of the concept of the 'family economy' in early modern Europe as used, for instance, by Medick (n. 2). Knotter: 'People appear to allocate and coordinate their labour within the family in much more varied ways than originally assumed.' It has to be stressed, however, that Knotter has the pro-industrial family rather than the peasant family in mind. The fewer the alternative economic strategies available (e.g. as a result of a hardly developed wage economy), the more the peasant family has to operate as a production unit. The concept of the family economy goes back to Chayanov. Central to Chayanov's theories was the peasant family, which was firmly attached to its basic source of livelihood in working the land and for whom external labour was at most secondary. Central to Knotter's analysis, however, seem to have been the marginal, rural groups, who had little access to land and for whom economic strategies apart from subsistence farming had become of primary importance ('sub-peasants'). Nevertheless, Knotter's emphasis on social differentation among the peasantry provides important refinement of the family economy concept. Cf. Knotter (ibid.), 22ff., who also refers to Mitterauer's distinction between the peasant and sub-peasant strata. Medick (ibid.), 295, had already emphasized the importance of social context when stressing the differences in function between the extended household among the rural proletariat and among the peasantry
21. Cf. the joint property of separate households in late medieval Macedonia. A. Laiou, Peasant Society in the Late Byzantine Empire. A Social and Demographic Study (Princeton, 1977), 73ff., emphasizes that, while household and family changed cyclically in accordance with the succession of the generations, they retained joint property and continued economic cooperation. According to early medieval law in Italy, where partible inheritance predominated, it was common for heirs to hold property jointly and undivided.
22. R. R. Ring, 'Early medieval peasant households in Central Italy', Journal of Family History 4 (1979), 16
23. Both southern Italy and southern Portugal were characterized by agrotowns, and these are the areas where large, complex family households were, in general, least frequent, and and 113: 'Both southern Italy and southern Portugal were characterized by agrotowns, and these are the areas where large, complex family households were, in general, least frequent.
24. On household patterns, see R. P. Sailer, 'Familia, domus, and the Roman conception of the family', Phoenix 38 (1984), 336-55
25. R. P. Sailer and B. Shaw, 'Tombstones and Roman family relations in the principate. Civilians, soldiers and slaves', JRS 74 (1984), 124-56
26. and P. Garnsey and R. P. Sailer, The Roman Empire. Economy. Society and Culture (London, 1987), 126ff., who postulate the predominance of the nuclear family in the ancient world
27. The methods of Sailer and Shaw are rightly critized by D. B. Martin, 'The construction of the ancient family. Methodological considerations', JRS 86 (1996), 40-60
28. Whether daughters had strong rights or an equal part to their brothers is unclear. In general, see R. P. Sailer, 'Roman heirship strategies in principle and in practice', in Kertzer and Saller (n. 13), 26-47
29. Cf. F. McArdle, Altopascio. A Study in Tuscan Rural Society, 1587-1784 (Cambridge, 1978), 137-8
30. and R. Sallares, The Ecology of the Ancient Greek World (London, 1991), 208
31. Thus J. K. Evans, 'Plebs rustica. The peasantry of classical Italy', AJAH 5 (1980), 19ff.
32. S. Bergqvist, 'Considerations on yields, the distribution of crops and the size of estates. Three Roman agricultural units', Ciassica et Mediaevalia 43 (1993), 112-13. The continued existence of small and medium-sized farms in many regions of Italy has been confirmed by archaeological surveys
33. For example: E. M. Wightman, 'The lower Liri valley. Problems, trends and pecularities', in G. W. W. Barker and R. Hodges (edd.), Papers in Italian Archaeology II. Archaeology and Italian Society (Oxford, 1981), 278
34. S. L. Dyson, 'The villa of Buccino and the consumer model of Roman rural development', in C. Malone and S. Stoddart (edd.), Papers in Italian Archaeology IV. Classical and Medieval Archaeology (Oxford, 1985), 76
35. B. Ward-Perkins et al., 'Luni and the Ager Lunensis. The rise and fall of a Roman town and its territory', PBSR 54 (1986), 106ff.
36. S. Coccia and D. Mattingly (edd.), 'Settlement history, environment and human exploitation of an intermontane basin in the central Apennines. The Rieti survey 1988-1991, part I', PBSR 60 (1992), 271-2
37. E. Curti, E. Dench, and J. R. Patterson, 'The archaeology of central and southern Roman Italy. Recent trends and approaches', JRS 86 (1996), 175 and 177(cf.pp. 186f.)
38. On the emergence of large estates, see G. Barker, 'The archaeology of the Italian shepherd', PCPhS 35 (1989), 13
39. P. Arthur, Romans in Northern Campania (London, 1991), 66 and 100-1
40. Also L. Foxhall, 'The dependent tenant. Land leasing and labour in Italy and Greece', JRS 80 (1990), 104
41. Cf. W. Scheidel, Grundpacht und Lohnarbeit in der Landwirtschaft des römischen Italien (Frankfurt am Main, 1994)
42. According to P. W. de Neeve, Colouns. Private Farm-tenancy in Roman Italy during the Republic and the Early Principate (Amsterdam, 1984), tenancy developed mainly from the first century B.C. onwards. Share-cropping only occurs in the sources for the principate (15ff.)
43. Thus, regarding share-cropping in early modern Tuscany, see D. I. Kertzer, 'The joint family household revisited. Demographic constraints and household complexity in the European past', Journal of Family History 14 (1989), 4. As a result, multiple households predominated among share-croppers. In one nineteenth century community in Tuscany, three-quarters of the sharecroppers lived in households containing two or more simple family units
44. Cf. V. Caiati, 'The peasant household under Tuscan Mezzadria. A socioeconomic analysis of some Sienese Mez-zadri households, 1591-1640', Journal of Family History 9 (1984), 113-14
45. See also P. W. de Neeve, De boeren bedreigd (Amsterdam, 1993), 25
46. P. Halstead, 'Traditional and ancient rural economy in mediterranean Europe: plus ça change?', JHS 107 (1987), 81ff
47. On the marketing of fruits, flowers, and similar items, see J. M. Frayn, Markets and Fairs in Roman Italy. Their Social and Economic importance from the Second Century B.C. to the Third Century A.D. (Oxford, 1993), 76. She emphasizes the consideration that the most perishable goods would come from the immediate neighbourhood of the town
48. quoted from J. K. Evans, 'Wheat production and its social consequences in the Roman world', CQ 31 (1981), 429
49. Cf. A. H. M. Jones, The Roman Economy (Oxford, 1974), 355ff
50. W. Jongman and R. Dekker, 'Public intervention in the food supply in pre-industrial Europe', in P. Halstead and J. O'Shea (edd.), Bad Year Economics. Cultural Responses to Risk and Uncertainty (Cambridge, 1989), 116
51. L. de Ligt, Fairs and Markets in the Roman Empire. Economic and Social Aspects of Periodic Trade in a Pre-industrial Society (Amsterdam, 1993), 130
52. A. Tchemia, 'Italian wine in Gaul at the end of the Republic', in P. Garnsey et al. (edd.), Trade in the Ancient Economy (London, 1983), 87-104
53. P. Middleton, 'The Roman army and long distance trade', in P. Garnsey and C. R. Whittaker (edd.), Trade and Famine in Classical Antiquity (Cambridge, 1983), 75-83
54. This is not to say that A. Burford's article, 'Heavy transport in classical antiquity', Economic History Review 13 (1960), 1-18, did not have an important point to make in pointing out that ancient transport technology did have the capacity to move heavy goods
55. Cf. A. M. Snodgrass, 'Heavy freight in Archaic Greece', in P. Garnsey et al. (edd.), Trade in the Ancient Economy (London, 1983)
56. R. G. Osborne, Classical Landscape with Figures. The Ancient Greek City andits Countryside (London, 1987), 84 and 91
57. On transportation in antiquity: W. L. Westermann, 'On inland transportation and communication in antiquity', Political Science Quarterly 43 (1928), 364-87.
58. C.A. Yeo, 'Land and sea transportation in Imperial Italy', TAPA 77 (1946), 224: The cost of transporting corn 100 miles by ox-team 'was equivalent to about 62% of the Roman price'. 'It is not to be wondered at that the large-scale production of wheat was unprofitable and that Italy was unable to support herself in cereals.' Yeo derived the price of transporting corn from a passage in Cato on the transportation of an oil-press. The arguments that will be given anon will hopefully explain why the transportation of an oil-press is not a fair comparison to the distribution of corn. Yeo's figures are criticized
59. R. Laurence, 'Land transport in Roman Italy. Costs, practice and the economy', in H. Parkins and C. Smith (edd.), Trade, Traders and the Ancient City (London, 1998), 130ff
60. A. H. M. Jones, The Later Roman Empire, 284-602. A Social, Economic and Administrative Survey (Oxford, 1964), 821 ff
61. was influential. Consequently, J. G. Landels, Engineering in the Ancient World (London, 1978), 170, starts his chapter on land transport with remarks on its unimportance
62. Similarly, G. Rickman, The Corn Supply of Ancient Rome (Oxford, 1980), 13: movement by land 'was both extremely slow and intolerably expensive
63. See also K. D. White, Greek and Roman Technology (London, 1984), 131-2
64. H.-C. Schneider, 'Die Bedeutung der Straßen für den Handel', Münstcrsche Beiträge zur antiken Handelsgeschichte 1 (1982), 85-95
65. D. V. Sippel, 'Some observations on the means and cost of the transport of bulk commodities in the late Republic and early Empire', Ancient World 16 (1987), 35-45, argues that cities like Rome would be willing to pay for high costs of transport overland up to 200 miles, especially in winter, when the sea was closed and farmers profited from a seller's market
66. A structural approach to transport in antiquity was introduced by K. Hopkins, 'Models, ships and staples', in P. Garnsey and C. R. Whittaker (edd.), Trade and Famine in Classical Antiquity (Cambridge, 1983). He pointed out that the high cost of land transport was only one factor among others in shaping trade and economy
67. See also K. Hopkins, 'Economic growth and towns in classical antiquity', in P. Abrams and E. A. Wrigley (edd.), Tonns and Societies (Cambridge, 1978), 43ff
68. In the Spain of c. 1800, 90% of transport was undertaken by pack animals. D. R. Ringrose, Transportation and Economic Stagnation in Spain. 1750-1850 (Durham, NC, 1990), xxii
69. F. Braudel, The Identity of France. Vol. 2. People and Production (New York, 1990), 461IT
70. Braudel (n. 36), 479-80: 'Waterways were used for medium- and particularly for long-distance traffic' and 'should be compared to the main highways'. F. Braudel, The Wheels of Commerce (London, 1982), 350ff., refers to the study of W. Sombart, who concluded that in Germany at the end of the eighteenth century five times as much goods was transported overland as by river. Another example is given by an estimate of the transportation in France undertaken in 1828: 4.8 million tons transported by waterways, 41.3 million by land; the latter can be divided in 30.9 million tons local and 10.4 long-distance transportation. Also Braudel (n. 36), 464, and 488 on the volume of agricultural surplus production
71. Cf. C. R. Phillips, Ciudad Real, 1500-1750. Growth, Crisis, and Readjustment in the Spanish Economy (Cambridge, MA, 1979), 54. Some of the muleteers would make an annual trip to Madrid or a large seaport. Most of them operated, if on a medium distance, within a range of 80-120 km (ibid. 73). Examples are given by Ringrose (n. 35), 50-1
72. S. von Bolla-Kotek, Untersuchungen zur Tiermiete und Viehpacht im Altertum (München, 1969), 7ff.
73. S. Martin, 'Servum meum mulionem conduxisti. Mules, muleteers and transportation in classical Roman law', TAPA 120 (1990), 301-314
74. Cf. R. J. Buck, Agriculture and Agricultural Practice in Roman Law, Historia Einzelschriften, 45 (Wiesbaden, 1993), 7ff., on the biases of juridical literature on agriculture
75. Hesiod's sailors: G. L. Snider, 'Hesiod's sailing season (Works and Days 663-665)', AJAH 3 (1978), 130
76. H. T. Wallinga, 'Hesiod's farmer as a sailor', in H. Sancisi-Weerdenburg (ed.), De agricultura. In memoriam Pieter Willem de Neeve (1945-1990) (Amsterdam, 1993), 1-12
77. W. Scheidel, 'Zur Lohnarbeit bei Columella', Tyche 4 (1989), 140
78. P. Rosafio, 'Slaves and coloni in the villa system', in J. Carlsen et al. (edd.), Land-use in the Roman Empire (Rome, 1994), 147 and 152
79. P. Garnsey and G. Woolf, 'Patronage of the rural poor in the Roman world', in A. Wallace-Hadrill (ed.), Patronage in Ancient Society (S.I., 1989), 159ff.
80. M. Millet, 'Town and country. A review of some material evidence', in D. Miles (ed.), The Romano-British Countryside, BAR 103 (Oxford, 1982), 428
81. On the location of such industries, also L. de Ligt, 'Demand, supply, distribution. The Roman peasantry between town and countryside', Münstersche Beiträge zur antiken Handeisgeschichte 10 (1991), 35ff
82. S. B. Pomeroy, Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves. Women in Classical Antiquity (New York, 1975), 199-200
83. S. Treggiari, 'Lower class women in the Roman economy', Fiorilegium 1 (1979), 67ff
84. On ancient attitudes, W. Scheidel, 'Feldarbeit von Frauen in der antiken Landwirtschaft', Gymnasium 97 (1990), 424ff.
85. 'The most silent women of Greece and Rome. Rural labour and women's life in the ancient world (II)', Greece and Rome 43 (1996), 5ff
86. Cf. the role of women in agriculture mainly as day-labourers in early modern Languedoc, E. Le Roy Ladurie, Die Bauern des Languedoc, Übers. v. Les paysans de Languedoc, cop. 1969 (Darmstadt, 1985), 125-6
87. M. I. Finley, The Ancient Economy (London, 1985), 80-1