annona (grain)
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Level 5 by design analogy; narrative historical overview without primary empirical or quantitative datasets.
OpenAlex W4248913379 · doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.8000
What was done
This historical overview describes the development, administration, and decline of the Roman food supply system (*annona*). Based on historical synthesis, it tracks state intervention from the mid-Republican period and Gaius Gracchus's introduction of grain distribution (*frumentatio*) in 123 BCE through Augustan administrative reforms (*praefectus annonae*), provincial taxation networks (Sicily, Sardinia, Africa, and Egypt), and the system's eventual collapse in Late Antiquity.
What was found
The abstract reports historical timelines and administrative structures rather than quantitative experimental data. Key reported details include an estimated population of approximately one million in imperial Rome, the role of public grain taxation from overseas provinces, and key terminal points: the loss of Egyptian grain to Constantinople, the end of the Western system following the Vandal conquest of Africa in 429 CE, and the Eastern disruption following the Persian conquest of Egypt in 617 CE.
Why it matters
It provides a concise summary of the logistical, legal, and political mechanisms the Roman state used to maintain urban food security and imperial stability over several centuries.
Limits
The work is a qualitative historical summary without quantitative econometric analysis, archaeological data presentation, or systematic source evaluation provided in the abstract. Numerical estimates (such as the population of one million) represent broad historical consensus figures rather than precisely measured data.
Cited by
- supports Egyptian grain shipments were diverted to supply Constantinople instead of Rome, while Rome was fed from North Africa and Sicily.