Lin Foxhall explores the cultivation of the olive as an extended case study for understanding ancient Greek agriculture in its landscape, economic, social, and political settings. Evidence from written sources, archaeology, and visual images is assembled to focus on what was special about the cultivation and processing of the olive in classical and archaic Greece, and how and why these practices differed from Roman ones. This investigation opens up new ways of thinking about the economies of the archaic and classical Greek world.

Contents

1:Introduction
2:Wealthy Households: Theory, Sources, Methodology
3:The Agricultural Holdings of Large-Scale Households
4:The Domestic Consumption of Olive Oil
5:Cultivating the Olive
6:Processing Olives
7:Arboriculture and Ornamental Gardens in Ancient Greece
8:Conclusions