Roman tools used in agriculture and construction

Roman tools used in agriculture and construction.
The farm life that Cicero has described so eloquently and praised so enthusiastically in his Cato Maior would have scarcely been recognized by Cato himself and, long before Cicero wrote, had become a memory or a dream. The farmer no longer tilled his fields, even with the help of his slaves. The yeoman class had largely disappeared from Italy by the end of the Republic. Many small holdings had been absorbed into the vast estates of the wealthy landowners, and the aims and methods of farming had wholly changed. In Italy, grain was no longer raised for the market, simply because the market could be supplied more cheaply from overseas. Instead, grapes and olives had become the chief sources of wealth. - Harold Whetstone Johnston, The private Life of the Romans, 1903. Read more about it:






Images: A Roman saw found at Trimontium (Newstead) in Scotland. It has been dated to 80-100 CE and was found in excellent condition. The saw is hafted into a split antler handle, held firm by two metal rivets & the blade has both fine and coarse teeth. Image courtesy of the Trimontium Trust. Roman pitchfork and shovel photographed at "Pompeii: The Exhibit" at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in Portland. Relief of a gallic-roman harvester (vallus) found in a wall in Buzenol, Belgium courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

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