Impact of introducting new crops to the Roman Empire

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Deleted member 67076

So Ancient Rome didn't really have a very diverse crop package despite its many achievements. So I've been thinking on how might one be able to introduce new crops into the state, and what impacts such a thing might have.

To that end, is there any way we might be able to introduce crops such as rice, citrus fruits, almonds and yams? And (this is probably a huge stretch) but the possibility of introducing Mangos, sugar, and soybeans into the empire at some point?

I figure the yams and (sahelian) rice would require an earlier introduction of the camel to start the trans-saharan trade network centuries earlier, but I'm not sure about the others.

What impacts might we see in this, aside from the obvious population boom that comes with raiding agricultural production? Could one see greater urbanization? Larger field armies as logistics ease up from more transportable food? A shift in the importance of various provinces as new breadbaskets are opened up? A sugar craze? New medicine?

Mostly spitballing here.
 
They already had half of that stuff. Rice, citrus, and almonds were grown locally and sugar was imported as a medicine.
 

Deleted member 67076

They already had half of that stuff. Rice, citrus, and almonds were grown locally and sugar was imported as a medicine.
To my knowledge rice wasn't grown in large quantities in Italy until the Renaissance, mostly being imported.

Similarly, I've read records of the Arabs being the ones to import almonds and citrus fruits to Italy, North Africa and Spain. And of course Al Andalus was a major sugar producer in the middle ages.

Could be completely wrong however.
 

Deleted member 67076

What Rome needs aren't new crops (even if they would be quite useful), but better agriculture technology (like in the Middle Ages).
Well that works hand in hand with better agriculture, but it never hurts to have multiple growing seasons like you get with rice/millet/yams as Medieval Sahelian Africa had.
 
To my knowledge rice wasn't grown in large quantities in Italy until the Renaissance, mostly being imported.

Similarly, I've read records of the Arabs being the ones to import almonds and citrus fruits to Italy, North Africa and Spain. And of course Al Andalus was a major sugar producer in the middle ages.

Could be completely wrong however.
Large deposits of rice were found in 1st century Roman camps in Germany and small amounts of rice were probably grown in Egypt and Greece, though much was probably imported.

Almonds had been grown in the Levant since long before the Romans, while citrons (etrogim) were spread by Jewish diaspora throughout the Roman Mediterranean.
 

Deleted member 67076

Large deposits of rice were found in 1st century Roman camps in Germany and small amounts of rice were probably grown in Egypt and Greece, though much was probably imported.

Almonds had been grown in the Levant since long before the Romans, while citrons (etrogim) were spread by Jewish diaspora throughout the Roman Mediterranean.
Then the question shifts onto how to make rice a major crop on the scale as it was in Renaissance Italy and early modern Mediterranean Europe, if possible? Or like south China if possible.
 
Then the question shifts onto how to make rice a major crop on the scale as it was in Renaissance Italy and early modern Mediterranean Europe, if possible? Or like south China if possible.
The main modern areas in the Mediterranean region that produce rice are the Nile Delta, Mazandaran, and the Po Valley. To increase rice production in the Nile Delta, the Romans will need to settle rice farmers from Persia into Egypt.

So it looks like the much despised solution to all of Rome's problems is once again, conquering Persia.
 

oberdada

Gone Fishin'
Potatos would be great, but getting them to Europe early would be ASB, or Stephen Baxters Northland trilogy...
 

Raunchel

Banned
Through trade, and perhaps a bit of foresight, you might start growing certain nonfood crops, such as cotton. Another good option would be Artemisia annua. At the time, it was sought out for its medicinal properties, but it is possible to cultivate it, to produce it in larger amounts. And that in turn would be very helpful in areas with malaria.

Rice could indeed work very well, and you don't have to import masses of farmers or anything like it. Just a few for locals to follow. And that can be arranged. Of course, it takes some time for rice to become big, but given the timespans of the empire, there is some time.

Other crops could also work, but take more in the way of trade. But the main thing is agricultural techniques, where there is a lot of room for some things to just be invented a little bit earlier.
 
It would be interesting to see the Romans cultivate rice in the north of Gaul, turning the swamps into massive rice paddies. I just don't know how they could get around the cold, perhaps by making sure they harvest before the frost season, and then package the seed for next year like with other crops. If they could get that to work, then the food supply in the north of the Empire would be much higher. Plus, if they can get it working in the north of Gaul, it could be later adapted to the south of Britain. (Although we don't do that now without some sort of covering, which would make this less plausible than some approaches).

Most of these would make Spain and Africa much wealthier if emphasized more than IOTL. Mining and Agriculture? Yes please.

An option that would be much more practical would be Millet, for the more arid areas of the Empire - Africa, Syria and Egypt have more crop varieties to grow.

But G.Washington has it down - if the northern, colder soils can be easily plowed, all the northern crops can propagate and do as much if not more than importing other varieties.
 
What if you could get sugar more established in Europe before Islam? The Romans would obviously like it, and it would improve the local economies in the Southern Mediterranean/North Africa. It also might lead to Roman conquests of the Canary Islands as well as deeper into Mauretania to get more sugar producing lands.
 
I think the best crops to introduce earlier is a lot less sexy.

The Romans need more focus on forage crops together with the mouldboard plough. If they had spread alfalfa and red clover (which existed in the eastern Mediterranean), they could have revolutionised their agriculture with the introduction of the three-field system.
 

Deleted member 67076

What if you could get sugar more established in Europe before Islam? The Romans would obviously like it, and it would improve the local economies in the Southern Mediterranean/North Africa. It also might lead to Roman conquests of the Canary Islands as well as deeper into Mauretania to get more sugar producing lands.
Actually I don't think it would lead to much conquest. You can just grow the sugar in Spain, Africa and Egypt. Sugar also works well with Latifunda, which you don't get immediately after conquest.
 
Actually I don't think it would lead to much conquest. You can just grow the sugar in Spain, Africa and Egypt. Sugar also works well with Latifunda, which you don't get immediately after conquest.

The land to grow sugar in is pretty limited, though, and if introduced early enough (no later than the early 2nd century AD), the Romans might as well go for Mauretania if they need a place to conquer for more sugar growing land.
 
The main modern areas in the Mediterranean region that produce rice are the Nile Delta, Mazandaran, and the Po Valley. To increase rice production in the Nile Delta, the Romans will need to settle rice farmers from Persia into Egypt.

So it looks like the much despised solution to all of Rome's problems is once again, conquering Persia.



Didn't Rome trade with the Persians? They should be able to buy rice farmers on the slave market, or offer land to farmers willing to move to Roman areas.
 
Didn't Rome trade with the Persians? They should be able to buy rice farmers on the slave market, or offer land to farmers willing to move to Roman areas.

Who is buying these rice farming slaves from Persia? Who is offering these free Persian farmers free land in the Roman Empire?

I just don't see that happening. There was no mass transfer of people between Persia and Rome in the period and artificially starting one requires a combinaton of resources and willpower that I doubt the elites of Rome would really have.
 
The main modern areas in the Mediterranean region that produce rice are the Nile Delta, Mazandaran, and the Po Valley. To increase rice production in the Nile Delta, the Romans will need to settle rice farmers from Persia into Egypt.

So it looks like the much despised solution to all of Rome's problems is once again, conquering Persia.

In southern France along the Rhone and in the delta, there was very large rice fields in the 70ties. I think if the Romans can get some skilled rice farmers, it along with the Po valley would be excellent places for rice agriculture.
 
The main modern areas in the Mediterranean region that produce rice are the Nile Delta, Mazandaran, and the Po Valley. To increase rice production in the Nile Delta, the Romans will need to settle rice farmers from Persia into Egypt.

So it looks like the much despised solution to all of Rome's problems is once again, conquering Persia.
Found Cato the Elder's evil twin.
 
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