Olives and olive oil were not only an important component of the ancient Mediterranean diet but also one of the most successful industries in antiquity. Cultivation of the olive spread with Phoenician and Greek colonization from Asia Minor to Iberia and North Africa and fine olive oil became a great trading commodity right through to the Roman period and beyond. The olive also came to have a wider cultural significance, most famously as a branch of peace and as the victor’s crown in the ancient Olympic Games.

Olive Grove by Mark Cartwright (CC BY-NC-SA)

Geographical Spread

The olive was first cultivated around 5000 BCE, or even earlier, on the Carmel coast of ancient Israel. Here simple olive presses have been excavated at the Neolithic site of Kfar Samir. The success of the industry is attested by records of olive oil exports to Greece and Egypt throughout the 3rd millennium BCE. Greece started to produce its own olives on Minoan Crete and Cyprus in the Late Bronze Age and, thereafter, on the mainland. The Greeks, like the peoples of the Levant, were soon producing a surplus of olives and olive oil so that they built up a lucrative export industry. Such was its importance that it was the only permissible export in the celebrated laws created by Solon (c. 640 – c. 560 BCE). With the process of Phoenician and Greek colonization olive trees (Olea europea) sprang up across the ancient Mediterranean where all that was needed was warm summers and relatively light rainfall for these hardy trees to thrive.

Remove Ads Advertisement

The Athenians considered the olive tree a gift from their patron goddess Athena

Trees were spread to new areas by planting cuttings and ovules (trunk growths), or grafting domesticated trees onto wild ones. The Romans planted their cuttings in dedicated nursery beds to help them on their way. Long-lived and drought-resistant, the tree was a handily low-maintenance form of farming. Olive growers usually planted their trees in amongst fruit trees and reared animals so as to have some income in case of an olive crop failure, and it was an easy way to keep groves grass and weed free. The residue from pressing oil from olives could also be used as feed, especially for pigs.

From the 1st to 3rd centuries CE the Romans spread olive cultivation to more marginal growing areas such as central Tunisia and western Libya, which required extensive irrigation systems to make the farming viable. The Romans’ dependency on olive oil is illustrated by Septimius Severus’ decision to collect it as part of the taxes imposed on provinces and then redistribute it to the populace of Rome. As the Roman Empire expanded, so too did demand for olive oil, with Constantinople becoming one of the biggest importers. Indeed, the establishment of a huge number of olive farms (and vineyards) across Syria and Cilicia to meet this demand are credited with creating a regional economic boom in the 3rd-5th centuries CE.

Trapetum Roman Olive Press by Heinz-Josef LÃ¼cking (CC BY-SA)