ABSTRACT
The principal cereal crop of the Roman empire was wheat, the next largest was barley, which was mainly used for animal fodder, and also brewed into beer in Egypt, northern Gaul and Illyricum. Peas and beans were also extensively grown, and onions and cabbages and other vegetables. Flax was commonly raised for manufacture into linen; a peculiar crop was papyrus in Egypt, which supplied paper for the whole empire. Viticulture was very widespread, and had extended into northern Gaul; wine was the staple drink of all classes in Mediterranean lands, and of the upper classes everywhere. Olives were very important, providing not only the principal edible fat used in the Mediterranean area, but also soap and lamp oil. Olives were cultivated as far north as they would grow, and in desert areas in Africa and Syria, where they have now ceased to exist or been recently reintroduced; in some areas, notably the desert parts of Syria, there was a marked advance in olive growing in the fifth and sixth centuries. Various fruit and nut trees were also cultivated, often in now arid zones.
