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Utica's District of
Hinterland
Praefectus:
Position is currently vacant
The hinterland of
Utica was one of the wealthiest and most highly developed agricultural
regions of north Africa.
In a letter written in Nero's time, Pliny the Younger observed that
half of all the land in Africa Proconsularis was owned by just
six private landlords. Their holdings were the immense estates called
latifundia that engaged in extensive monoculture of cereals,
mainly wheat and barley. Utica was the gateway to the fertile plains of
the Bagrada river and its environs, one of the wealthiest and most
highly developed agricultural regions in all of north Africa. According
to one estimate, north Africa produced one million tons of cereals each
year, one-quarter of which was exported. Small wonder it was called the
"granary of the empire." Additional crops included beans, figs, grapes,
and other fruits. By the second century, olive oil rivaled cereals as
an export item. Modern Tunisia, the site of ancient Utica, is the
fourth largest exporter of olive oil in the word today.
The meandering of the Bagrada river has changed its course considerably
from that of ancient times. The deposition of soil by its turbid waters
enlarged its delta, altered the coastline, and silted up the harbor at
Utica. It is likely that the extensive agricultural practices during
Roman times contributed to the process. The ruins of the city are now
miles inland from the coast, surrounded by firm land rather than the
great marsh that Caesar witnessed during his African campaign.
Agriculture was the cornerstone of the regional economy, and it reached
its height in productivity and efficiency during the late republic and
early empire. The Romans introduced improved irrigation systems, soil
conservation methods, and a variety of tree and vegetable crops
suitable to different soil types. Plantations of olive trees sprang up
where other crops could not prosper, and the exportation of olive oil
brought wealth to many large landowners.
The mosaic features the villa and farming scenes from a great rural
estate of "Dominus Julius." It dates from the 4th century, comes from
Cathage, and is on display at the Bardo Museum in Tunis.
Although Utica faced progressive silting up of its port and was
eventually eclipsed by Carthage, it prolonged its life right up to the
end of ancient times by converting its activity to further cultivation
of its agricultural territory.
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For more information about Utica, agriculture, and the grain trade,
consult these resources.
An entry in Wikipedia for "latifundia" gives
details about these great landed estates of Roman history.
An entry for 'Bagrada' in Smith's Dictionary of
Greek and Roman Geography gives information about the river from classical sources about its quality and operation.
An article entitled Ancient Roman Economy
provides a brief overview of the importance of the production and
transportation of foods in the Roman economy.
A website about Roman agriculture provides a summary
of various farming practices: ploughing, irrigation, crop rotation,
harvesting, and milling.
A website entitled Agriculture in the Roman
Empire provides a generalized account of the role of agriculture
in the various Roman territories .
image courtesy Roman Africa
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