Latifundium

Outside of cities in the ancient world most people made a frugal living through agriculture. Major crops included cereals such as wheat and barley, fruits such as apples, plums, peaches, cherries and always olives wherever they could be grown. Most farms were family-owned businesses but as the cities grew so did demands on the available fertile land. Despite rising prices, it became difficult for small farmers to survive. Wealthy Romans bought up vast areas creating huge estates, or latifundia, to increase production. Slave labour was brought in and water was fed through irrigation ditches supplied by small reservoirs. The writer Pliny eventually complained that large-scale industrial farming ruined Italy and her provinces.