Editing Agriculture in ancient Rome (section)

==The "delightful" life==

Agriculture in ancient Rome was not only a necessity but was idealized as a way of life. [[Cicero]] considered farming the best of all Roman occupations. In his treatise ''[[De officiis|On Duties]]'', he declared that "of all the occupations by which gain is secured, none is better than agriculture, none more profitable, none more delightful, none more becoming to a free man." When one of his clients was derided in court for preferring a rural lifestyle, Cicero defended country life as "the teacher of economy, of industry, and of justice" (''parsimonia'', ''diligentia'', ''iustitia'').<ref>''[[Pro Roscio Amerino]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0018%3Atext%3DS.%20Rosc.%3Asection%3D75 75.]</ref> [[Cato the Elder|Cato]], [[Columella]], [[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]] and [[Rutilius Taurus Aemilianus Palladius|Palladius]] wrote handbooks on farming practice.

In his treatise ''[[De Agri Cultura|De agricultura]]'' ("On Farming", 2nd century BC), Cato wrote that the best farms contained a [[Ancient Rome and wine|vineyard]], followed by an irrigated garden, willow plantation, olive orchard, meadow, grain land, forest trees, vineyard trained on trees, and lastly acorn woodlands.<ref name="Cato">Cato the Censor, Columbia University Records of Civilization: On Farming, translated by Ernest Brehaut (Columbia University Press)</ref> Though Rome relied on resources from its many [[Roman province|provinces]] acquired through conquest and warfare, wealthy Romans developed the land in Italy to produce a variety of crops. "The people living in the city of Rome constituted a huge market for the purchase of food produced on Italian farms."<ref name="ReferenceB">{{cite book |last=Hopkins |title=Conquerors and Slaves |url=https://archive.org/details/conquerorsslaves00hopk |url-access=limited |location=New York |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/conquerorsslaves00hopk/page/n19 1]–9 |year=1978 |isbn=978-0521219457 }}</ref>

Land ownership was a dominant factor in distinguishing the aristocracy from the common person, and the more land a Roman owned, the more important he would be in the city. Soldiers were often rewarded with land from the commander they served. Though farms depended on slave labor, free men and citizens were hired at farms to oversee the slaves and ensure that the farms ran smoothly.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>