Agriculture in a troubled age 1 19 



no sign of an advance on the conditions of an earlier time in the way 

 of afforestation : nor indeed was such a policy likely. 



But food had to be found somehow. Agriculture therefore had to 

 go on. Outside the commercial centres, where food-stuffs could be 

 imported by sea, there was no alternative: the population had to 

 depend on the products of local tillage and pasturage. A few cities 

 celebrated as art-centres might contrive to live by the sale of their 

 works, but this hardly affects the general situation. We should there- 

 fore very much like to know how things stood on the land. Was the 

 tendency towards large landed estates, or was the small-farm system 

 reviving? Was farm-labour chiefly that of freemen, or that of slaves? 

 If of freemen, was it chiefly that of small owners, or that of wage- 

 earners? In default of any authoritative statement, we have to draw 

 what inferences we can from slight casual indications. That the 

 career of Alexander was directly and indirectly the cause of great 

 disturbances in Greek life, is certain. Of the ways in which it operated, 

 two are of special importance. The compulsory restoration of exiles 1 

 whose properties had been confiscated led to claims for restitution; 

 and in the matter of real estate the particular land in question was 

 easily identified and made the subject of a bitter contest. Now un- 

 certainty of tenure is notoriously a check on improvement, and the 

 effect of the restorations was to make tenures uncertain. At the same 

 time the prospects of professional soldiering in the East were a strong 

 temptation to able-bodied husbandmen who were not very prosperous. 

 From the rural parts of Greece a swarm of mercenaries went forth to 

 join the host of Alexander, and the movement continued long. In the 

 stead of one Alexander, there arose the rival Successor-kings, who 

 competed in the military market for the intelligent Greeks. It was 

 worth their while, and they paid well for a good article. So all through 

 the third century there was a draining away of some of the best blood 

 of Greece. Some of these men had no doubt parted with farms before 

 setting out on the great venture. Of those who survived the wars, 

 some settled down abroad as favoured citizens in some of the new 

 cities founded by the kings. The few who returned to Greece with 

 money saved did not come home to labour on a small farm : they settled 

 in some city where they could see life and enjoy the ministrations of 

 male and female slaves. Now it is not likely that all lands disposed 

 of by these men were taken up by husbandmen exposed to the same 

 temptations. Probably the greater part were bought up by the 

 wealthier residents at home, and so went to increase large hold- 

 ings. 



How far do stray notices bear out this conclusion? At Athens in 



1 This topic is well treated by Mahaffy Greek Life and Thought chapter I. 



