- Grain was produced in the Roman Empire on huge Estates known as Latifundia.
- Josephus wrote that Africa fed Rome for eight months and Egypt for only four. During the Empire there were no Famines because the State organised the Grain Fleets and the distribution of free grain.
Rome’s Grain Requirement
- Historians estimate that Rome may have required 60 million Modii of Grain per year.
- The Historia Augusta states that Septimius Severus left 27 million Modii of Grain in his warehouses.
Modii
- In Roman Measurements, Grain was measured by the Modius.
- 1 Modius was 1/3 of an Amphora (8.73 litres).
- A large Grain ship could carry up to 50,000 Modii (350 tonnes).
- Lucian described an Alexandrian Grain Ship of 143,000 Modii (over 1,000 metric tonnes) which had diverted into the Piraeus, the Harbour of Athens.
Rome’s Grain Sources
- The Sources of Grain for Rome were:
- Sicily was known as the Granary of the Roman Republic.
- Africa Proconsularis Africa was the Granary of the Empire.
- Egypt supplied one third of Rome’s Grain during the Roman Empire.
- Dacia exported Grain to Rome.
Method of Transport
- The Provinces supplying Rome held the Grain in warehouses ready for the annual sailing of the Grain Fleet.
- The Grain was then loaded in sacks aboard large cargo vessels which traveled in convoy.
- It was transhipped into barges for Rome where the Grain was stored in Warehouses before being distributed or ground into flour.
Alexandrian Grain Fleet
- The Alexandrian Grain Fleet had its home port at Alexandria, Egypt.
- 20 Million Modii per annum was transported from Egypt to Rome.
- The large Grain ships could carry up to 50,000 Modii (350 tonnes).
African Grain Fleet
- With its home port at Carthage, this Fleet also supplied Rome.
The Grain Dole
- Free grain was distributed through the Aerarium.
- Grain was measured by the Modius (plural Modii) which was about 6.67 kgs.
- The corn dole is thought to have fixed by Augustus to supply free Grain to 200,000 people in Rome, which had a population of 1,000,000, a third of which were Roman Slaves.
- Grain was distributed either free, or very cheaply, through a system of money vouchers called ‘Tesserae Nummulariae’; these were small tablets or hollow wooden balls inscribed with numbers indicating their monetary value. The same voucher system applied for receiving free Money, Olive Oil and other commodities.
- Augustus continued the Corn Dole because under the Roman Republic it had been used by Senators to obtain political advantage over the population, and the Emperors wanted to prevent this from reoccurring.
- Although the Grain Fleet was not owned by the State, and the vessels were all privately owned, they nonetheless received their sailing orders and dates of sail from the Prefect of the Grain Supply.
- Augustus created a Prefect of the Grain Supply who’s duties were to monitor and regulate the flow of Grain into Rome, to avoid a Grain shortage could cause Riots.
- Claudius transferred the distribution of Free Grain from the Aerarium to the Fiscus, so that it was clearly the personal generosity of the Roman Emperor, not the Roman State.
- Ship owners carrying the Annona were exempt from the Portorium, harbour tax of 2.5%.
- Claudius provided insurance to the Grain vessels in the event of loss if they carried on sailing through the dangerous winter months, according to Suetonius.