Economy

Despite the importance of Roman trade, especially during the Empire, agriculture was (and always remained) the main productive basis of society.
Obviously it changed with the development of processing techniques and the increasing variety of products. At the beginning, the small estate cultivated by the owner was the fundamental agricultural structure which gave the best soldiers for the army and good citizens for the Republic. After the Punic wars the latifundium, cultivated by the slaves, became the typical agricultural unit of the Empire; because of the increasing tax burden, a greater number of small farmers had to sell their lands to big landowners to receive protection and help.
This change did not foster the progress of agricultural techniques. The plough was often rudimental, crop rotation was not a common practice, and the latifundium favoured the extensive farming rather then intensive. After the first century a great impulse was given to agriculture, when stock - farming became unprofitable and consequently reconversion took place with the work of skilled farmers who introduced great innovations and improvements.