famine
famineCatastrophic breakdowns in the production and distribution of essential foodstuffs, resulting in exceptionally high mortality from attendant epidemic diseases, were rare in the ancient world. The typical natural and man-made causes of famine were omnipresent: crop failure caused by the unreliable Mediterranean rainfall (see climate) or pests and diseases, destruction in war, state oppression and incompetence, poor arrangements for transport, storage, and distribution, and profiteering by the élite. Specific food-shortages of varying intensity and chronic malnutrition of the poor were common, but most of the population were subsistence farmers whose primary strategy of production was to minimize risk, and the political culture helped town-dwellers to pressure their leaders to resolve food crises before they became critical. The exaggerated references to ‘famine’ in the ancient sources echo the political...
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