Economy of Ancient Greece - Agriculture

Agriculture

Greek soil's "stinginess" or "tightness" (Ancient Greek: stenokhôría, στενοχωρία) explains Greek colonialism and the importance of the cleruchies of Asia Minor in controlling the supply of wheat. The olive tree and grapevine were complemented by the cultivation of herbs, vegetables, and oil-producing plants. Husbandry was badly developed due to a lack of available land. Sheep and goats were the most common types of livestock. Woods were heavily exploited, first for domestic use and eventually to build triremes. Bees were kept to produce honey, the only source of sugar known to the ancient Greeks.

Since it was so labor-intensive, agriculture employed up to 80% of the Greek population. Agricultural work followed the rhythm of the seasons: harvesting olives and trimming grapevines at the beginning of autumn and the end of winter, setting aside fallow land in the spring, harvesting cereals in the summer, cutting wood, sowing seeds, and harvesting grapes in autumn.

In the ancient era, most land was held by the aristocracy. During the 7th century BCE, demographic expansion and the distribution of successions created tensions between these landowners and the peasants. In Athens, the crisis was resolved by Solon's reforms, which eliminated debt bondage and protected the peasant class. Nonetheless, the Greek aristocrat's domains remained small compared with the Roman latifundia.

The Greeks would cut down all their enemies' olive trees to deprive them of olive oil.