Market Regulation and Intervention in the Urban Food Supply

The vast majority of people in the Roman world lived in rural areas, but a notable minority lived in towns and cities and were dependent on the market for their food supply. ¹ Most of the food that they consumed was produced locally, but the demand of some urban centres, most notably Rome, far outstripped the capacity of their immediate hinterlands. Such places were routinely reliant on food transported from further afield, while other towns and cities relied on the importation of external food supplies in times of poor local harvest. Markets could, however, be unstable, causing the price of food to fluctuate. On occasion then, it was deemed necessary to intervene and regulate the market; the aim of this chapter is to consider both the nature and extent of this regulation and intervention, and the motivation behind it. Was it driven by a genuine desire to ensure an adequate food supply for all and to protect the poor from the vicissitudes of the market, or was it only ever intended to assist a privileged few? The bulk of the discussion is related to Rome, since this was the largest food market in the Roman world, but the urban food supply outside Rome is also considered. ² The focus is on the grain supply, because cereals formed the majority of the calorific intake in the Roman diet (see Heinrich in this volume). It is divided into two parts: the first considers direct food assistance through grain distributions, alimentary schemes, and public banquets, while the second explores both direct and indirect interventions in the market.