An Analysis of Feeding Rome, or Feeding Mars?

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The distribution of food in Rome was an important issue for the population during the early and late republic. In Feeding Rome, or Feeding Mars? Erdkamp’s main argument is that the distribution of corn should not be regarded as a primary task of the government in Antiquity. For instance, Erdkamp believes that instead of the government being involved in the population’s food supply, “incidental imports in times of shortage were most likely managed through social networks of leading families” . Another crucial reason why Erdkamp believes that food distribution to the populace was not a primary concern for the government is that during the mid-republic feeding the military was the main focus. To effectively prove his point, Erdkamp uses primary sources such as Livy and Dionysius, and relates to secondary sources. The author uses his primary sources to support his main argument. It seems that when Erdkamp uses these sources, he disagrees with their statements. When he mentions a quote by Cato the Elder, Erdkamp “makes it clear that we should not attach too much value to the pontifical tables” because the information is “limited to the basic fact that shortages had arisen and that they were sometimes accompanied by drought or epidemics” . Livy and Dionysius are other people who Erdkamp disagrees with. Since Livy and Dionysius elaborated in their narratives, Erdkamp felt that their works “offer no secure basis for the assumption that in the early republic Roman policy was motivated by a structural and deliberate attempt to intervene in the civilian food supply” . While Erdkamp did not agree with his primary sources, he uses them by analyzing their views in order to support his argument. Erdkamp’s main reason for writing this article was to “provide further insight in the origins of direct Roman governmental involvement in civilian food supply” . Similar

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