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Modelling Roman Agricultural Production in the Middle Tiber Valley, Central Italy

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Modelling Roman Agricultural Production in the Middle Tiber Valley, Central Italy MODELLING ROMAN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN THE MIDDLE TIBER VALLEY, CENTRAL ITALY By HELEN GOODCHILD A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham For the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity School of Historical Studies The University of Birmingham April 2007 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This thesis analyses the potential agricultural production of the regions of South Etruria and Sabina, north of Rome in the Middle Tiber Valley, Central Italy. Historical evidence from Roman authors is combined with archaeological evidence from field survey and geographical resource data, and modelled within a Geographical Information System. Farm size and location are investigated in order to determine any correlation with contemporary Roman recommendations. Multi-criteria evaluation is then used to create suitability maps, showing those regions within the study area best suited to different types of crops. A number of different models for agricultural production within the study area are presented. Many variables are utilised, each presenting a range of possibilities for the carrying capacity of the area, complementing previous studies of demography. Research into workload, nutrition and crop yields provides a basis for determining the supported population of the area. Urban provisioning is investigated also, showing how high yielding models could have supported a large urban population within the studied region, as well as its potential contribution to the food supply of Rome. This analysis showed which agricultural systems could adequately supply urban centres, and highlighted those models that would have led either to an urban dependency on larger scale trade networks or to decline. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research would not have been possible without the time I spent working as a Research Assistant at the British School at Rome, 1999-2001, and I would like to thank Helen Patterson and Andrew Wallace-Hadrill for allowing me to use the data from the Tiber Valley Project. Other colleagues from the Tiber Valley Project are thanked also for their feedback on presentations I gave during my research. The University is acknowledged for providing financial support via School of Historical Studies and Francis Corder Clayton Scholarships. I thank my supervisors Vince Gaffney and Niall McKeown for surviving the long haul, as well as Rob Witcher for his help and support. I would like to thank my Birmingham colleagues, in particular Lisa Alberici, David Bukach, John Carman, Simon Fitch, Gareth Sears, David Smith, and Meg Watters. In particular I am indebted to Mary Harlow, for both her moral support and for her undergraduate lectures that inspired me to become a Romanist. I’ll get you back one day… Last but not least, for putting up with my endless moaning, paranoia, defeatism and deteriorating mental state I would like to thank Liam and the Goodchild clan – Mum, Dad, Stef, Rachel, Jude, Noah and Holly. Any errors or omissions are entirely the fault of Bill Gates. CONTENTS CONTENTS .............................................................................................................................................................................. i FIGURES................................................................................................................................................................................. iv FIGURES................................................................................................................................................................................. iv TABLES .................................................................................................................................................................................. vi TABLES .................................................................................................................................................................................. vi 1 MODELLING THE PRODUCTIVE LANDSCAPES OF THE MIDDLE TIBER VALLEY ....................................1 1.1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................................1 1.2 THE STUDY AREA AND METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................................................4 1.3 THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE MIDDLE TIBER VALLEY ................................................................................................13 1.3.1 Topography..............................................................................................................................................13 1.3.2 Soils and geology ...................................................................................................................................14 1.3.3 Vegetation and land use........................................................................................................................19 1.3.4 The River System ...................................................................................................................................22 1.4 CONCLUSIONS ......................................................................................................................................................23 2 ROMAN AGRICULTURE AND RURAL SETTLEMENT.......................................................................................24 2.1 ISSUES IN THE STUDY OF ROMAN AGRICULTURE...................................................................................................24 2.1.1 The historical background: from the Gracchi to the 1st century ‘crisis’...........................................25 2.1.2 The potential impact of Rome...............................................................................................................31 2.2 THE NATURE OF EVIDENCE FOR ROMAN FARMING AND RURAL SETTLEMENT ........................................................35 2.2.1 Tools and techniques .............................................................................................................................35 2.2.2 The natural and cultivated landscape ..................................................................................................47 2.2.3 Rural excavation in Central Italy...........................................................................................................57 2.2.4 Rural settlement and field survey .........................................................................................................65 2.2.5 Farm location and desirable resources ...............................................................................................74 3 THE SIZE OF ROMAN AGRICULTURAL UNITS..................................................................................................78 3.1 ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND TEXTUAL EVIDENCE FOR FARM AND ESTATE SIZE.............................................................78 3.1.1 Evidence for villa estate size.................................................................................................................80 3.1.2 Evidence for smaller agricultural units.................................................................................................84 3.1.3 Deriving plot sizes from other evidence...............................................................................................89 3.1.4 Deriving plot size from value.................................................................................................................94 3.1.5 Comparative evidence for peasant holdings.....................................................................................100 3.1.6 Conclusions ...........................................................................................................................................102 3.2 THE SIZE OF AGRICULTURAL UNITS IN THE MIDDLE TIBER VALLEY .....................................................................103 3.2.1 Types of site in the study area............................................................................................................103 3.2.2 Determining territories for known sites ..............................................................................................108 3.2.3 Deriving territories from the South Etruria survey data ...................................................................110 3.3 CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................................................................117 4 LOCATIONAL ANALYSIS OF SITES IN THE MIDDLE TIBER VALLEY........................................................121 4.1 ALTITUDE............................................................................................................................................................123 4.2 SLOPE ................................................................................................................................................................126
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