The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization

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agrarian laws and policy

agrarian laws and policy
Allocation of land by the community is attested in the Greek world at the times of new city foundations (colonies; see colonization, Greek), and when land was annexed (so-called cleruchies). There is also some evidence for legislation restricting the disposal of allotments by sale or inheritance, in order to maintain the original land-units which sustained the households. On the other hand, there developed strong resistance to the notion of redividing the city's territory so as to change the proportions of private landholdings: a promise not to propose anything of the kind was included in the oath of the Athenian jurymen. See also Sparta.

At Rome agrarian legislation played a large part in the history of the republic and the struggles between the aristocracy and the plebs. It is hard to know how far we should trust the evidence about the early republic,...

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