UNSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: THE ORIGIN OF RUINED LANDSCAPES IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE

We are to day interested in growth, in increased productivity. In the case of agriculture this means making it possible for the same piece of ground to feed more people or at least to make it possible for the same number of people to have a higher standard of living. In a word, to enable two blades of grass to grow where one grew before. How well did the Roman Empire do when judged by this criterion? Wherever the Romans established their rule they created, or stimulated, profound agricultural change, a kind of agricultural revolution¹, which is described