Lecture 3 Europe in Classical Mediterranean Civilization

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Lecture 3Europe in Classical Mediterranean
Civilization

• A Mediterranean Civilization
• Mediterranean Agroecosystems
• Thinking about Nature in Greco-Roman Antiquity
• Urbanization and Romanization in Ecological
  Perspective

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A Mediterranean Civilization

• Classical Greece (C6BCE-) and Rome (C5BCE-C4/5CE)
• frogs . . . around a pond, Mare Nostrum
• Self-governing polis / civitas (city state)
• Roman Empire C1BCE-C5CE
• 50-60 million people lived from advanced solar
  agriculture

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Mediterranean Agroecosystems

• agroecosystem natural ecosystem modifed by
  humans to meet human wants
• Mediterranean climate, soils, relief set
  preconditions
• Production features and connections
• Dry farming of grain, olives, and vines
• General subsistence and specialized market crops
• Animals summer forage problem ? transhumance
• Energy and technology
• Human and animal labour
• Mechanical technologies mills, presses
• Environmental modification terraces, drainage,
  some irrigation

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Thinking about Nature in Greco-Roman Antiquity

• Part of general religious-philosophical-scientific
  speculation.
• Physis/Natura NOT culture (nomos/cultura)
• Nature as sphere of gods superhuman powers
• Philosophic religion and thinking
• Platonic idealism devalued material world
• Aristotelian empiricism
• Ordered plan of Nature
• Earth for humans. Human development improve
  Nature
• Negative and positive assessments of human action

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Urbanization and Romanization in Ecological
Perspective

• Urban centres a new anthropogenic form
• Ancient cities more cult administrative than
  commercial/manufacturing
• Urban environments distinctive
• Urban metabolism consumption and waste
• Romans spread urban life across whole empire
• Romanization physical spread of Latins and
  their cultural norms plus adoption by local
  elites around and beyond Mediterranean
• Tastes, values, objects
• Lower Rhone valley as case
• Widening pressures for environmental change