In the 4th century BC Athens was beginning one of the most important and magnificent chapters in the history of mankind. Yet the problems connected with domestic demographic growth compelled Athens, like other Greek cities, to make profound economic changes internally and to promote greater export development to meet the grain requirements.
According to legend all Athens olive trees were born from the first tree that the goddess Athena had caused to sprout on the Acropolis during the dispute with the god Poseidon in order to gain control of the city. Anyone who dared to fell even a single sacred olive tree, direct descendants of Athena, would be sentenced to death or, later on, to exile and confiscation of goods.
Solon, one of the Seven Wise Men of ancient Greece, had given the city a code of laws that enhanced the role of the Athens olive growers. According to these laws it was absolutely forbidden to cut down the olive trees, except for the service of a sanctuary or of the community, and in any case no more than two trees a year; it was likewise forbidden to export from the city any product except olive oil.
|
Strict rules established in great detail even concrete aspects of cultivation, such as the alignment of the rows of olive trees and the distance between them.
Olive oil was one of the goods very much in demand in the ancient Mediterranean trade. Oil amphorae from Athens, Corinth and other cities have been found in the Greek colonial centres, from the Black Sea to Africa and Spain, in Etruscan markets, and Phoenician cities, and even in "uncouth" settlements where olive oil arrived as an exotic and precious product.
Aryballos and strigile - Corinth, 5th century BC
The photograph shows a Corinthian aryballos and a strigile.
These items were part of the athletic equipment in the gymnasium (respectively, a receptacle for oil and an instrument to scrape moisture and oil off the skin after a bath or exercise).
Every city manufactured amphorae of different shapes to make the contents immediately recognizable, this convention made it possible to trace the expansion of the oil trade.
The oil from Athens was traded in an amphora called "SOS", that guaranteed buyers as to the quality and quantity of the product.
It has been estimated that every adult citizen going to the gymnasium used as much as 55 litres (14.3 gallons) of oil annually, as follows:
for personal hygiene : 3O liters (7.8 gal)
for diet : 2O liters (5.2 gal)
as a lubricant or for lighting : 3 liters (3.2 qt)
for ritual uses : 2 liters (2.1 qt)
as a medicament : 0,5 liters (1.1 pt)
Consumption was far greater in cities than in the country, and adult citizens consumed more than slaves.
Death sentence for who ever cuts down olive trees in Attica
"Anyone who has uprooted or felled an olive tree, either property of the State or private citizens, will be judged in court and, if found guilty, sentenced to death."
Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians
|
