Bread for a Million: Rome's Grain Choices

Use a timeline, a passage and Cicero to weigh scarcity and opportunity cost, then and now.

Answer Key

Feeding Rome

Read the passage and the timeline. Then answer the questions.

Grain for a Giant City

1By the first century BCE, Rome was one of the largest cities in the world. Historians estimate it held close to a million people by about the year 1 CE. Farms near the city could not grow enough wheat for so many people. Most of Rome's wheat came by ship from Sicily, North Africa and, after 30 BCE, Egypt. When storms, wars or poor harvests cut the supply, the price of grain in Rome shot up.

2In 123 BCE, the tribune Gaius Gracchus passed a law that let citizens in Rome buy a monthly ration of wheat at a low price set by the state. The state bought the grain and sold it for less than it cost, so the treasury paid the difference. In 58 BCE, a leader named Clodius made the monthly ration free. Each man on the grain list received about 5 modii of wheat a month, roughly 33 kilograms.

3The list grew long. In 46 BCE, Julius Caesar ordered a count and cut the list from 320,000 to 150,000 men. Under Emperor Augustus, the number was a little more than 200,000. Only adult male citizens living in Rome were on the list, though their grain fed whole families. Enslaved people and foreigners received none.

4Leaders also worked to keep the ships coming. In 22 BCE, during a serious shortage, Augustus took personal charge of the grain supply. In 42 CE, Emperor Claudius began building a large new harbor near Ostia, at the mouth of the Tiber River, so big grain ships could unload safely. He also promised shipowners that the government would pay for their losses if storms sank their ships, so that they would keep sailing in winter, when storms were common.

Timeline: Rome's Grain Supply
Date	Event
123 BCE	Grain sold to citizens at a low price
58 BCE	Monthly grain ration made free
46 BCE	Caesar cuts list from 320,000 to 150,000
30 BCE	Egypt becomes a Roman province
22 BCE	Shortage; Augustus runs grain supply
2 BCE	About 200,000 men get free grain
42 CE	Claudius begins new harbor near Ostia
51 CE	Severe grain shortage in Rome

Based on paragraph 1, why was grain a scarce resource in Rome?

A. Egypt kept its wheat and sold it to no other people.
B. Roman law did not allow wheat to be brought in by sea.
C. The city needed far more than nearby farms could grow.
D. Romans ate mostly meat, so farmers grew little wheat.

After the law of 123 BCE, the treasury paid the difference between what grain cost and what citizens paid. What was the opportunity cost of this choice for the government?

A. Soldiers or public works the money could have paid for
B. The ships from Egypt that brought grain after 30 BCE
C. The low price each citizen paid for his ration
D. The wheat that citizens carried home each month

Use the timeline.

Caesar's count in 46 BCE removed 170000 men from the grain list.

Which statement best describes the trade-off in Caesar's choice to cut the grain list?

A. Women and children joined the list, but men were removed.
B. The state spent less, but many families now had to buy grain.
C. The state spent more, and more families now got free grain.
D. Grain from Egypt arrived sooner, but the harbor was closed.

Sort each choice or event. Did it bring more grain to Rome, or did it decide who got grain and at what price?

Gracchus' law of 123 BCERome taking over Egypt's wheat fieldsClodius' change in 58 BCEClaudius' new harbor near OstiaCaesar's count of 46 BCEPaying shipowners for storm losses

Brought more grain to Rome	Decided who got grain and at what price
Rome taking over Egypt's wheat fields Claudius' new harbor near Ostia Paying shipowners for storm losses	Gracchus' law of 123 BCE Clodius' change in 58 BCE Caesar's count of 46 BCE

A critic of the grain law

Read the note and the excerpt. Then answer the questions.

About the source: Marcus Tullius Cicero was a senator and lawyer. In 56 BCE, about 67 years after Gracchus' law, he gave a speech in court defending a friend. In it, he looked back on leaders who had sought the support of poorer citizens, a group many senators distrusted. Supporters of Gracchus had argued that poor citizens could not afford grain when prices rose. The excerpt is adapted from an English translation.

Adapted from Cicero's speech For Sestius

Gaius Gracchus proposed a grain law. It pleased the common people, because it gave them plenty of food without work. But the leading citizens opposed it, because they thought it would lead the people away from hard work and into idleness. They also saw that it would empty the treasury.

Underline the sentence that names a cost of the grain law to the government.

Gaius Gracchus proposed a grain law.It pleased the common people, because it gave them plenty of food without work.But the leading citizens opposed it, because they thought it would lead the people away from hard work and into idleness.They also saw that it would empty the treasury.

Why should a historian read Cicero's view of the grain law with care?

A. He wrote before the law was passed, so he was guessing.
B. He was a poor citizen who depended on the grain list himself.
C. He was a senator, and many senators distrusted such leaders.
D. He was a tribune who had written the grain law with Gracchus.

Cicero says the law gave people food "without work." Which detail from the passage could a supporter of Gracchus use to answer him?

A. Storms or wars could push grain prices far up in Rome.
B. Enslaved people and foreigners received no grain.
C. Claudius began building a new harbor near Ostia in 42 CE.
D. Each man received about 33 kilograms of wheat a month.

A choice today

Read about the Maple Street Food Pantry, which is made up. Use the table to answer.

The Maple Street Food Pantry has $6,000 to spend this month and can afford only one plan. Its board ranks the plans: first, the shelf-stable boxes; second, the refrigerator; third, the fresh produce boxes.

Maple Street Food Pantry: plans for $6,000 (made-up)
Plan	Cost	What it provides
Shelf-stable boxes	$6,000	300 families get a $20 box
Used refrigerator	$6,000	Stores donated fresh food for years
Fresh produce boxes	$6,000	150 families get a $40 box

The pantry chooses the shelf-stable boxes. What is the opportunity cost of this choice?

A. The $6,000 spent on the shelf-stable boxes
B. The refrigerator and the produce boxes together
C. The fresh produce boxes for 150 families
D. The refrigerator for storing donated food

10.

How is the pantry's choice most like Caesar's choice in 46 BCE?

A. Both let shipowners keep sailing through winter storms.
B. Both weigh how many people a limited food budget can serve.
C. Both decide whether to build a harbor or a storehouse.
D. Both raise the price of food so people will buy less of it.

11.

Claim: was giving free grain to about 200,000 Romans a good use of a scarce resource? Make a claim, use at least one date or number from the timeline and one detail from the passage or Cicero as evidence, and explain the opportunity cost of the choice.

Yes, it was a good use, even though it had a real cost. Rome held close to a million people, and when storms, wars or poor harvests cut the supply, grain prices shot up, so poor families could go hungry. About 200,000 men received free grain by 2 BCE, and their grain fed whole families. The opportunity cost was the treasury money that could have paid for soldiers or public works; Cicero says leading citizens saw that the law would empty the treasury. Caesar's cut in 46 BCE, from 320,000 to 150,000 men, shows leaders tried to limit that cost. Feeding the city kept people alive, which was worth more than the other uses of the money.