The spectacular wealth of the coastal cities of Tripolitania was generated in a variety of ways, but first place must be accorded to agriculture and, in particular, to the olive. Previous accounts of the economy of Tripolitania have tended to stress the importance of trans-Saharan trade to the sea-borne commerce of the cities, but this supposition is both unverifiable and unquantifiable. Whilst I do not deny the probable existence of some trans-Saharan traffic (see below), the overwhelming impression to be gained from literary and archaeological evidence is that olive oil was the chief currency-earning export of the region. The emphasis in this chapter, therefore, will be on agricultural development and the potential trade in food staples. Other elements of trade and industry may be speculated upon but evidence remains elusive.1