Agriculture was the chief occupation of the Roman people.
"When our forefathers," said an ancient writer, "would praise a
worthy man, they praised him as a good farmer and a good landlord; and they
believed that an praise could go no further." [10] Roman farmers raised
large crops of grain—the staple product of ancient Italy. Cattle-breeding, also,
must have been an important pursuit, since in early times prices were estimated
in oxen and sheep.
[10] Cato, De agricultura, I.
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
In such a community of peasants no great inequalities of
wealth existed. Few citizens were very rich; few were very poor. The members of
each household made their own clothing from flax or wool, and fashioned out of
wood and clay what utensils were needed for their simple life. For a long time
the Romans had no coined money whatever. When copper came into use as currency,
it passed from hand to hand in shapeless lumps that required frequent weighing.
It was not until the fourth century that a regular coinage began. This use
of copper as money indicates that gold and silver were rare among the Romans,
and luxury almost unknown.
