ABSTRACT
Covering everything from malnutrition to severe famines. Even though many things have changed over the subsequent millennia, when extreme famines in rich countries are seemingly eradicated, so called “food banks” exist to support people who lack access to sufficient food. This chapter discusses the nature of the famines that hit four ancient societies (Han China, Seleucid Empire, the Roman Empire, and the pre-classical Maya civilization), including the share of nature-caused famines. The occurrence of famines based on wars is difficult to assess, especially for the pre-classical period. Even though plagues were commonly co-occurring with famines, one might question whether they were a cause or a consequence. Famines had to be dealt with to survive. As a first step, a person could deal with a famine individually, without any societal coordination mechanism. The government has a very diverse role in famine management, essentially by supporting certain groups in the form of income transfers and other forms of help.
