L2:
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lecture2
listen to part of a lecture in a history class,
the professor is discussing ancient roman society.last time we talked about the roman diet,which consisted largely of cereal based foods,mainly wheat by the middle one hundred bce,the city of Rome was experiencing a dramatic surge in population.
and traditional grain production in areas in and around the city could no longer meet the needs of this growing populations.the food supply had to be supplemented with imports from other areas of the empire,from sicily,Spain,north Africa and as we see today.
there could be complications at any step of the way importing the grain safe guarding it and selling it at the right price.just off the top of your head,what are some of the things that could go wrong if you’re trying to supplement the food supply with imports?nbsp well if grain was being transported by.boat then maybe weather could be a factor,
right? that’s why supplemental grain could only be shipped between April and October,when the sea was calm.romans,of course,attempted to store part of what was imported,
you know,to save it up for the winter months when no further supplies could be delivered.but sometimes winter rains could flood the granaries and spoil the supply,and that’s only if the grain made it to Rome at all.in times of war feeding armies who were fighting abroad automatically took precedence over feeding,
the local populations.and piracy was also a factor,so things could go wrong. and when grain did arrive safely in Rome.there were lots of people waiting to get their hands on it,so when the grain reached the city,
it was unloaded directly into granaries special storage areas built on the banks of the river.so they didn t have to risk transporting open loads of grain through the city streets. it was like gold,I guess sure not unlike gold.granaries were strategically built like fortresses with small entrances for security purposes and the grain was stored and distributed from a central courtyard that was not accessible to the public.so a little like a bank,
and then there was the question of whom to distribute the grain to and what to charge for it.when grain first started being imported,wealthy citizens,those running for public office would purchase portions of it at their own expense.and distributed in return for votes.
so it wasn’t merely a coincidence that the only romans receiving these grain donations just happened to be those citizens who were eligible to vote.these grain recipients were generally members of the lowest economic class,often referred to as the urban plebs.later on,the government officially took over the grain distribution and public officials tried to ensure that plebs could purchase grain at an affordable price.
in fact,grain was sold to the plebs at a price that was less than what the government had paid for it.nbsp,so wait,you’re saying the government was losing money by importing and distributing grain,
why would they do that? well,the plebs accounted for about one third of rome’s overall population.so not only were the plebeian votes important to those wealthy candidates distributing the grain,but it was also necessary to keep the grain prices affordable to.avoid general unrest throughout the city if the grain got priced above what most citizens could afford well.
no politician wants a city full of hungry citizens,right id say its pretty clear that it WASN t exactly the peoples well being that motivated the whole grain distribution program.the government had to keep this population happy,in fact later on the government even began distributing the grain to the plebs for free.but wouldn’t that drain the government’s budget? that’s what some members of the senate worried about too,
the distribution of free grain did continue for some time,but it couldn’t be sustained forever.in the year fifty bce,the emperor julius caesar cut this public subsidy by more than half.under the measures introduced by Julia caesar,
more than half the citizens who had been receiving the free grain now had to fend for themselves.how did he manage such a big cutback,weren’t there political repercussions?caesar’s strategy was pretty clever. he moved people out of Rome with the promise of land good land,suitable for agriculture.
in other areas of the empire,this strategy also helped alleviate food shortages in the city itself.what is the lecture mainly about?according to the professor,why did it become necessary to supplement the roman food supply with imports from abroad?
what do the speakers imply about grain when they mention gold?according to the lecture who ultimately received the grain that was imported from outside Rome.我。the professor’s attitude about the grain program that she describes.according to the professor,
what strategy did julius caesar use to manage the grain shortage?
