Latifundium

History

In Italy, a latifundium was a great agricultural property at the origin made up starting from the distributions of the Ager publicus at the beginning of. By extension, that initially indicates the great farms of the Roman colonies in Sicily, then in Greece and in the provinces of Africa. The production was specialized in the Vin, the Céréale S, the Olive according to the areas. Each one comprised a large farm, Villa rustica , with an important team of slaves ( familia ) which provided an abundant labor at a cheap rate. Such properties had the sufficient capital to produce new harvests and news brooded while exploiting the ground and by making benefit. Also a great number of farm peasants were obliged to sell their small properties. The small holders, with the need for living of their mixed agriculture, could not compete on the market, especially that most of the grounds had transformed into pastures, held by slaves shepherds.

In Italy, is located the first latifundia , organized on the grounds confiscated with the Italic Peuples which had been opposed to Rome at the beginning of second century BC. There existed also latifundia specialized in the production of cattle. They were typically located in Grande Greece and Sicily. Pline the Young person was sorry to see that only the slaves exploited the ground, the Roman farm solids being the backbone of the armed .
In Greece, the production was especially specialized in the wine and olive and in other in cattle.
In the East and Africa, the hellenistic latifundia are typical agriculture specialized towards the export of the Syrian coast and ptolemaic Egypt. In the the Seventies, Pline the Young regard which six landowners have half of Egypt.
In Bétique, or Gaulle transalpine, one found latifundia specialized in the production of Garum. Specialized in self-sufficiency, they also produced, cereals, wines, olives and cattle.

The senatorial order, best placed to monopolize the grounds, sat its economic power by their obtaining. The economic trades were prohibited to them since the Lex Claudia of -218. In addition, they ceased little by little paying the rents, and monopolized the grounds causing the land question.

Even in antiquity, this type of exploitations rented by Caton Old the is décrié by Columelle which estimates that this system is anti-economic; Pline Old the estimates him that the latifundia were the ruin of the Italy. When servile work ceased being cheap, the familia was replaced by farmers managers, the coloni .

Today

The farms are exploitations practitioner the extensive agriculture. Characteristic of the little developed economies where the Land and buildings is concentrated, they were generally exploited with the assistance of Journalier S or sharecropper S.

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