Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00216-6 - An Environmental History of Ancient Greece and Rome Lukas Thommen Frontmatter More information

AN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME In ancient Greece and Rome an ambiguous relationship developed between man and nature, and this decisively determined the manner in which they treated the environment. On the one hand, nature was conceived as a space characterised and inhabited by divine powers, which deserved appropriate respect. On the other, a rationalist view emerged, according to which humans were to subdue nature using their technologies and to dispose of its resources. This book systematically describes the ways in which the Greeks and Romans intervened in the environment and thus traces the history of the tension between the exploitation of resources and the protection of nature, from early Greece to the period of late antiquity. At the same time, it analyses the comprehensive opening up of the Mediterranean and the northern frontier regions, both for settlement and for economic activity. The book’s level and approach make it highly accessible to students and non-specialists. lu k as t h o m me n is a professor in the Historical Institute at the University of Zurich and is also a member of the Sosipolis International Institute of Ancient Hellenic History in Greece.

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00216-6 - An Environmental History of Ancient Greece and Rome Lukas Thommen Frontmatter More information

AN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME LUKAS THOMMEN t r a ns l a t e d b y PHILIP HILL

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00216-6 - An Environmental History of Ancient Greece and Rome Lukas Thommen Frontmatter More information

cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sa˜o Paulo, Delhi, Mexico City Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521174657 Originally published in German by Verlag C.H. Beck oHG, Mu¨nchen 2009 as Umweltgeschichte der Antike by Lukas Thommen # Verlag C.H. Beck oHG, Mu¨nchen 2009 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. Revised English edition first published 2012 Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data Thommen, Lukas. [Umweltgeschichte der Antike. English] An environmental history of ancient Greece and Rome / Lukas Thommen; translated by Philip Hill. – Rev. English ed. p. cm. “Originally published in German by Verlag C.H. Beck . . . Mu¨nchen, 2009, as Umweltgeschichte der Antike”–T.p. verso. Based on Umweltgeschichte der Antike, somewhat expanded and with chapter 22, The environment in Roman Britain, added. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-1-107-00216-6 (Hardback) – isbn 978-0-521-17465-7 (Paperback) 1. Human ecology–Greece–History–To 1500. 2. Human ecology–Rome–History. 3. Greece–History–146 b.c.–323 a.d. 4. Rome–History–Republic, 265–30 b.c. 5. Rome–History–Empire, 30 b.c.–284 a.d. 6. Greece–Environmental conditions. 7. Rome–Environmental conditions. I. Title. gf13.3.g74t4713 2012 304.20938–dc23 2011030736 isbn 978-1-107-00216-6 Hardback isbn 978-0-521-17465-7 Paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00216-6 - An Environmental History of Ancient Greece and Rome Lukas Thommen Frontmatter More information

Contents

List of figures Preface

page viii xi

Introduction

1

Terminology Modern environmental history: theoretical approaches and periodisation Ancient environmental history: a review The goal of this book

3 10 13 15

part i greece 1 The geographic space

19

The polis and the chora: the city and its countryside The era of colonisation The Hellenistic kingdoms Climate, coastlines and estuaries

21 22 23 25

2 People and nature

29

3 Agriculture

33

4 Forests and timber

37

5 Gardens

42

Animals

45

6

7 Food

49

Basic foods The symbolism of food: beans and fish

8 Fire and water

49 51

54

Mythology Science: the four elements Hydraulic engineering and water poisoning

54 56 57

v

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00216-6 - An Environmental History of Ancient Greece and Rome Lukas Thommen Frontmatter More information

Contents

vi 9 Earthquakes and volcanoes Earthquakes Volcanoes

10 Mining

59 59 60

62

part ii rome 11

12

The geographic space

69

Rome and Italy The Roman Empire The Roman roads

69 70 71

People and nature

76

13 Agriculture

79

14 Forests and timber

85

15 Gardens

90

16 Animals

95

17 Food

98

18 Fire and water Fires in Rome The water supply and sewage system of Rome Hydraulic engineering, water poisoning and lead problems

19 Earthquakes and volcanoes Earthquakes The eruption of Vesuvius

20 Mining 21

Urban problems and rural villa construction Housing and urban sanitation in Rome Rural villa construction in Italy

103 103 106 111

114 114 115

121 124 124 128

22 The environment in Roman Britain

132

The geographic space Agriculture, forestry and industry Military camps, cities and villas

132 135 138

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Contents

vii

Conclusion

141

Chronology Further reading List of sources Bibliography Greece Rome Index

143 144 148 152 155 165 180

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Figures

Fig. 1. Major terrain types in the Mediterranean area. From: K. Rother, Der Mittelmeerraum, Stuttgart, 1993, 46. page 20 Fig. 2. Silted harbour of Leptis Magna, Libya. Photo: L. Thommen. 27 Fig. 3. Princess Farm, Agrileza Valley, Attica. Photo: L. Thommen. 36 Fig. 4. Olive trees and forest cover near Sparta (Acropolis): view of the Taygetus Mountains with coniferous vegetation up to 1,700 m above sea level. Photo: L. Thommen. 38 Fig. 5. View from the Athenian Acropolis, above the Areopagus and the Agora, to the Aegaleus Mountains. Photo: L. Thommen. 38 Fig. 6. View from the Athenian Acropolis and the Olympieion to the Hymettus Mountains. Photo: L. Thommen. 39 Fig. 7. Kerameikos cemetery in Athens. Photo: L. Thommen. 43 Fig. 8. Ancient mining area in the Souriza Valley, Laureion, Attica. Photo: L. Thommen. 63 Fig. 9. Ancient cistern and washery in the Souriza Valley, Laureion, Attica. Photo: L. Thommen. 64 Fig. 10. Ancient washery in Thorikos, Attica. Photo: L. Thommen. 65 Fig. 11. Roman Germany: settlements, the road network, the Rhine boundary and the limes. From: K. Brodersen and B. Zimmermann (eds.), Metzler Lexikon Antike, Stuttgart and Weimar, 2000, 702. 72–73 Fig. 12. Reconstruction drawing of a villa rustica in south-western Germany. From: H. Hinz et al., Germania Romana, vol. iii, Gymnasium Suppl. 7, Heidelberg, 1970, 101. 83 viii

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List of figures Fig. 13.

Fig. 14. Fig. 15. Fig. 16. Fig. 17. Fig. 18. Fig. 19. Fig. 20.

Fig. 21. Fig. 22. Fig. 23. Fig. 24. Fig. 25. Fig. 26. Fig. 27.

ix

Changes in wooded valley meadows due to Roman settlement in south-western Germany. From: H.-P. Kuhnen (ed.), Gestu¨rmt – Gera¨umt – Vergessen? Der Limesfall und das Ende der Ro¨merherrschaft in Su¨dwestdeutschland, Stuttgart, 1992, 80–1. 88 House and garden of Loreius Tiburtinus in Pompeii. From: A. G. McKay, Ro¨mische Ha¨user, Villen und Pala¨ste, Lucerne and Feldmeilen, 1984, 38. 91 House and garden of Loreius Tiburtinus in Pompeii. Photo: L. Thommen. 92 Tavern in the Thermopolium of the via di Diana in Ostia. Photo: L. Thommen. 101 Thermopolium of the via di Diana in Ostia. Photo: L. Thommen. 102 Rome’s aqueducts. From: Frontinus-Gesellschaft e.v. (ed.), Wasserversorgung im antiken Rom, 4th edn, Mainz, 1989, 34. 107 Herodian Roman aqueduct in Caesarea, Israel. Photo: L. Thommen. 111 The Gulf of Naples, with the cities destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius. From: H. Sonnabend, Naturkatastrophen in der Antike. Wahrnehmung – Deutung – Management, Stuttgart and Weimar, 1999, 13. 116 Ancient quarry at Chemtou, Tunisia, with Giallo Antico marble. Photo: L. Thommen. 122 Map of Rome, c. ad 70. From: Cambridge University Press archive. 125 Model of ancient Rome by I. Gismondi, Museo della Civilta` Romana (Rome): view from the north towards the Subura. Photo: Archaeological Seminar of the University of Basel. 126 The principal military installations and main civilian settlements in Roman Britain. From: G. de la Be´doye`re, Roman Britain. A New History, London, 2006, 103. 133 Hadrian’s Wall at Housesteads (Vercovicium). Photo: L. Thommen. 134 Main mining areas and products in Roman Britain. From: H. H. Scullard, Roman Britain, London, 1979, 129. 137 Distribution of villas in Roman Britain. From: H. H. Scullard, Roman Britain, London, 1979, 112. 139

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00216-6 - An Environmental History of Ancient Greece and Rome Lukas Thommen Frontmatter More information

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Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-00216-6 - An Environmental History of Ancient Greece and Rome Lukas Thommen Frontmatter More information

Preface

This book is based on my Umweltgeschichte der Antike (Munich: C.H. Beck, 2009), somewhat expanded and with the new Chapter 22, ‘The environment in Roman Britain’, added. It goes back to my many years of teaching environmental history at the University of Basel (1995–2005), and attempts to convey the foundations for historical research on the environment in the ancient world. I hope that it can thus serve as a point of departure for further study of the topic. I would like to thank Paul Cartledge and Peter Garnsey for their useful comments, as well as Michael Sharp for editing the manuscript with the kind assistance of Josephine Lane and Merle Read. I am also indebted to the Freiwillige Akademische Gesellschaft (Voluntary Academic Society) of Basel for providing a significant contribution toward the cost of the translation, and to Philip Hill (Berlin), for carrying out that work.

xi

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