Ancient Roman Empire - Farming Methods

Ancient Roman manuals about agriculture state that a standard farm of 200 Iugera (51 hectares) could be worked by 6 laborers and 2 assistants; Italy had in AD100 a total estimated cultivated area of 20 million Iugera, 600,000 farm laborers and 150,000 laborer assistants. Italy at that time had a total labor workforce estimated at 3 million (Roman total population was 7 million at the time), of which roughly 750,000 were farmers - making up 25% of their total labor workforce.

The Romans were able to establish and feed a very large empire, because they employed a geometric system to lay out crop lands and used crop rotation systems. They were also known for trying to maximize land use, which eventually led to soil depletion. Like Greece, Italy has a large percentage of mountainous terrain unfit for cultivation.

During the Roman time, much of the crops were raised on large estates knows as latifundia's. The farms were staffed mostly by slaves from conquered countries - with estates often having three levels of ranks. First there was the steward who ran the estate. Under him would be the field foreman and finally came the field workers. All of these were often slaves; although each had different percentages of privilege and physical labor depending on their rank.