Food shortages in Rome eased policy measures in the late republic
What measures did Rome take to temporarily alleviate the food shortage at the end of the Republic?Before answering this question, we must first recognize that the development of cities at that time was the result of the rapid increase of foreign wealth and peasant immigration, and the expansion of markets was the result of the development of slave estates. Between the third and second centuries BC, there was a significant change in the number and wealth of Italian urban centers. The city of Rome was one of the most important developments. From the second century BC to the first century BC, Rome's population and wealth increased dramatically. The countryside around Rome became more and more urbanized and populated, and there was no longer a clear boundary between the countryside and the city of Rome.
Food systems. The Roman Republic imported grain from central Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, North Africa, and Egypt, partly from land rent and taxes in kind, partly from purchases (private and state), and to a lesser extent from Gaul and Spain.
The tradition of the state distributing grain to citizens at low prices, pioneered by Gaius Gracchus, was the political guiding principle on which the Roman food system was first established. This policy established a food system in which grain was supplied by the provinces, transported by sea, stored in large granaries, and distributed to Roman citizens by **low price or free of charge.
In order to solve the problem of food shortage in the city of Rome, a combination of food promotion and relief food distribution was adopted. **Food was only distributed to adult male Roman citizens. Most Romans met their food needs by buying grain from the grain market. The Roman state created many favorable conditions to encourage the development of food **.
First of all, subsidies were given to grain merchants in order to attract a sufficient number of contractors **grain, to ensure grain**. The main forms of subsidy for grain traders include tax breaks, granting grain merchants citizenship, granting grain merchants other privileges, encouraging private shippers to participate in grain transportation, and granting public contracts for grain transportation.
Grain merchants were an important part of the ** system, and during the imperial period, the importance of grain merchants increased day by day due to the fact that the transportation and sale of public grain was mainly in the hands of private grain merchants. In the process of grain **, in addition to grain merchants, shipowners, porters, weighers, and porters also formed their own guilds, which provided an ample labor force for the Roman grain ** system.
The market is also a central element of the system, and the political class helps to strengthen the stability of the cereal system by maintaining a stable and relatively low market**. In addition, the initial establishment of the cereal system and the adoption of the cereal law provided legal support. Despite the lack of a strong monitoring mechanism, the adoption of a series of food laws shows that the food system is still organized, which contributes to the orderly operation of food **.
Pompey put an end to piracy, allowed normal sea traffic between Rome and the provinces, and grain ** in the Mediterranean became more stable. The construction of roads, ports, and granaries improved Rome's infrastructure.
Overall, the initial grain** system in the late Roman Republic allowed Rome to regularly import grain from overseas provinces, alleviating the crisis of food shortages. However, it is undeniable that this system also had various flaws, which were improved during the imperial period.
Many towns depend on the fruits of local agriculture to survive, and in times of famine, urban gangs attack the surrounding countryside. Alternatively, towns and cities may also be formed naturally, with some river or seaports profiting directly from grain. In Augustan times, the grain of the city of Rome was controlled by private traders**, and the Führer increasingly tightened control over the grain ** process, even transporting surplus products from private estates to Rome.
Conditions of transport and storage of grain.
With the gradual expansion of overseas territories, food** has also continued to develop. At the same time, frequent food crises in Rome led to an increase in cash crop cultivation and non-food production activities.
Rome became increasingly dependent on food from the overseas provinces**. However, in ancient societies, transportation was slow and information was scarce. To improve connections to navigable rivers, Rome built roads and canals. Pompey suppressed pirates and opened the door to maritime traffic in the Mediterranean.
Important ports such as Ostia and Putioli have heavy traffic. The improvement and development of maritime communication not only contributed to the control of the provinces by the Roman state, but also greatly contributed to the development and prosperity of the Roman world, especially Italy.
In general, the concentration of business activities in one place has a favorable effect on the formation of the market, which in turn facilitates the administration and taxation of the state and creates conditions for professional shippers to assume responsibility for transportation.
The realization of food demand has further stimulated the purchase demand for other commodities. Is the main task of the state to control the market?The state has changed this by appointing a number of ** to monitor the fairness of transactions and establish a good market order. The most important area is the sudden change in the contact of contract law, which determines the form and conditions of future performance of obligations between the parties, such as borrowing and repayment. There are two main features of the maritime loan contract, which began to be used in the fourth century BC.
Unlike other loans, there is no limit to the interest rate due to the different levels of risk taken by the lender. It is not convenient to mention it here. From the second century BC to the first century BC, the population and wealth of the Roman city increased dramatically with the accumulation of slaves and displaced peasants. The urbanization of the countryside around Rome and the high density of settlements that are not clearly demarcated from the city of Rome are mainly due to the improvement of the traffic situation in Rome.
The improvement of the environment for the transportation of grain not only strengthened the connection between the city of Rome and the countryside, but also promoted the food **, and thus the better ** army and the city. The improvement of the grain transportation environment strengthened the economic exchange between the towns and cities of Rome and promoted the movement of people.
The Mediterranean region is faced with the practical problem of transporting large quantities of food, so finding a means of transport becomes an important issue. The port of Ostia was originally a small port on the Tiber River, and because the entrance was too narrow to accommodate a few large-tonnage ships, the pressure on Rome's grain ** increased.
The development of Ostia was facilitated by the development of the maritime and timber processing industries, as well as the further improvement of infrastructure. Improved grain transportation conditions allowed Rome to levy regular grain taxes, which alleviated food shortages more than food freedom**. The transportation of other goods and labor also contributed to the development of Rome.
It helped to stabilize the supervision of the grain market in Rome.
The German scholar Herschelm believes that the formulation of the Gaio-Graeko Law is the result of the food *** in the Mediterranean region. He conducted a general study of grain in the Mediterranean region and concluded that there was a period of low food prices in the Mediterranean between 160 and 140 BC.
However, recent evidence suggests that food was relatively stable between 130 and 150 BC. The climate-influenced covariance between cereal production and cereals** in the Mediterranean region is uncertain.
In the case of the grain market: firstly, the measures taken to determine the low prices of cereals have largely prevented the hoarding, deliberate price gouging and profiteering of grain merchants;It helped to reduce the volatility of cereals**, stabilize the market**, and protect the interests of Roman citizens during food crises. Prevent the shortage of grain from causing a surge in cereals, disrupting the market order.
Second, Rome's food distribution policy was limited to a small number of adult male citizens, and the majority of the citizens of Rome still had to buy food in the market. The food system established by the state through granaries, ports, roads, shipbuilding and other means has met the nutritional needs of the citizens, strengthened the connection between Rome and the provincial markets and even the Mediterranean world, increased the best exchanges between the Roman grain market and foreign markets, and helped to further stimulate the consumption potential of the Roman market and improve the consumption capacity of the citizens.
Third, in order to ensure the quality and circulation of grain, the state set up a series of consuls, prime ministers, treasurers and a series of management related affairs, which to a certain extent enhanced the control of the Roman grain market and promoted the orderly development of the Roman market.
In terms of the organization of the grain market: the measures of regular distribution of cheap rations to the citizens mainly met the basic food needs of the Roman citizens and preserved the privileged position of the Roman citizens. A fixed ration of 5 moles per month could feed two Roman citizens, which improved the relatively poor economic situation of the common people.
Second, food shortages were a serious problem in the late Roman Republic. The distribution of food organized by the Roman political hierarchy helped to eliminate the threat of famine among the Roman citizens, thereby reducing the number of hunger riots and maintaining the stability of the social order in the Roman cities. Similarly, the mobilization of labor groups in the process of organizing and distributing grain**, such as grain scales, shipowners, shipowners, and private grain merchants, further improved the division of labor and contributed to the development of cereal** in Roman society.
In general, the construction of roads, ports, docks and granaries also promoted the construction and improvement of the infrastructure of the city of Rome, improved the level of construction of public works in Rome and the ability of Rome to provide public services, thus greatly improving the efficiency of the governance of the city of Rome and better balancing the relationship between public and private interests.