a comparative study of a Roman frontier province. - Historia Antigua

-445-
8: 1
Wheat from the threshing floor 1/3
Barley """" 1/3
Beans it it "" 1/4
Wine from the vats 1/3
Oil from the presses 1/3
Honey in containers 1 sextarius/honey jar
Cato, de agric, CXXXVI, mentioned sharecropping at rates of 1/6 to
1/9 of produce and it was still a common feature in rural Libya
earlier this century, Franchetti 1914,330-37 (when the sharecropper
sometimes received as little as 1/4 of his crop).
46. Pavis d'Escurac 1974,94-95.
47. On the continuing importance of pastoralism, see Barker 1981; 1982; 1983.
48. De Mathuisieulx 1904; 22-27; Romanelli 1930,53-71; Bauer 1933,61-78;
Brogan 1965a, 47-56; Brogan and Smith, forthcoming; Barker and Jones
1981,37.
49. Pers. obs. in the wadis Khanafes, Agerem, Ghirza, Antar, Sofeggin,
Lamout. See also note 48 above.
50. Notably the Ghirza tombs, for which see de Mathuisieulx 1904; Bauer
1933; Brogan and Smith, forthcoming. A photograph of a tomb relief
from the wadi Sofeggin (Goodchild 1952c, 152) shows a man on a horse
about to enter his gasr with his family, his camel and his flocks.
51. For the appearance of camels see Brogan 1955; Demougeot 1960.
Hunting scenes with dogs and horses are common, pers. obs. Ghirza
and wadi Khanafes. A relief from wadi Antar appears to depict a
race between
two "chariots".
52. On rural life in mosaics see Precheur-Canonge 1962, passim, (especially
for the famous Cherchel mosaic showing polyculture of vines, olives
and cereals); Romanelli 1965,241-57.
53. Van der Veen 1981,45-48; Further samples are currently being analysed
but preliminary observation of sieved material in the field suggested
that a similar range of crops was present, including olives.
54. Barker and Jones 1982,19, and Barker pers. comm.
55. Beechey and Beechey 1828,506-07; Bronson 1982; also pers. obs. 1979-81.
56. Prost 1954,28-66; Louis 1975,152-75,188-90 and pers. obs. 1982.
Cf also Despois 1935,97-103 and Franchetti 1914,249-347 on the
Gebel Nefusa.
57. Kraemar 1958, passim, on an archive of documents relating to a region
of pre-desert agriculture centred on Nessana. Mayerson 1962,211-69
and Evenari et al 1971,95-119, deal with the archaeological evidence
and technical functioning of the Negev farms. For the Jordanian
evidence, see Helms 1981,135-95 and Kennedy 1982,331-41.
58. Euzennat 1977b, 535-37; 1983, forthcoming.
59. Rebuffat 1977,396-99; 1979,233-34.
60. Many further presses are no doubt buried in the ground floor rooms
of ruined gsur. Seventy may be only between 50 - 70% of the true total.
61. Since wealth in the marginal zone is obviously unevenly distributed it
is a logical conclusion that some form of social exploitation was
being practised.
62. Cereals were probably cultivated only for subsistence or for local
markets (including the military). The relative cheapness of transpor-
ting oil, wine and animals made their export practicable, cf. Fentress
1979,180-83.
63. See now Barker and Jones 1981,33-42'(esp. figs 11-13), for a preliminary
abstract analysis of the socio-economic implications of the gasr in
wadi farming. The dating evidence from surface sherding suggests that
the gsur were mainly constructed from the late second or early third
century onwards and took over the role of the earlier open farms, Dore
1983,54-57. For cemeteries being used as boundary markers see
Buck, Burns and Mattingly 1983,45-54.