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+--- Thread: Grain harvest time in ancient Greece (/showthread.php?tid=22036)
Grain harvest time in ancient Greece - Epictetus - 01-22-2013
When was wheat harvested in ancient Greece? I found this in Hesiod:
Quote:When the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas, are rising (10), begin your harvest, and your ploughing when they are going to set (11). Forty nights and days they are hidden and appear again as the year moves round, when first you sharpen your sickle. This is the law of the plains, and of those who live near the sea, and who inhabit rich country, the glens and dingles far from the tossing sea…
Translator’s notes:
(10) Early in May.
(11) In November.
Hesiod, Works and Days, 383+
And this:
Quote: Set your slaves to winnow Demeter's holy grain, when strong Orion (28) first appears, on a smooth threshing-floor in an airy place.
Translator’s note:
(28) July.
Hesiod, Works and Days, 597+
So according to the translator’s notes, grain was harvested during May, dries for a couple of months, and threshed in July. Does this sound right?
Edit: And what did this mean for the days of the citizen soldier? I had been under the impression that campaigning season was until the harvest, but if that is the case the campaign must have ended in May. This certainly doesn't seem right to me.
Grain harvest time in ancient Greece - Marja - 01-22-2013
Well, according to Dondlinger 1908, in The Book of Wheat, p. 77, the modern harvest time is in June. He lists that for several countries, all as of 1908. I think Pliny or Columela mentions that different varieties of wheat take longer growing seasons before harvest, and that the higher-yield varieties, by ancient standards, take longer than lower-yield ones.
Grain harvest time in ancient Greece - M. Demetrius - 01-22-2013
And of course, the season to plant and harvest will vary with the farm's latitude. Wheat of a given species will take a certain number of days to mature, but that number may vary depending on local climate. Here, at 30 degrees N. latitude, the wheat grows through the winter and is harvested in May or June, usually, depending on winter rains and temperatures.
This might help, although it's not for Greece. Perhaps their ministry of agriculture can provide some dates?
http://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Usual_Planting_and_Harvesting_Dates/uph97.pdf
Grain harvest time in ancient Greece - Epictetus - 01-23-2013
Thanks! So I would guess Hesiod is more-or-less right.
Grain harvest time in ancient Greece - Titvs Statilivs Castvs - 01-23-2013
Hi there!
In his "The economy of the Greek cities" (English translation, 2009) Léopold Migeotte says: "Harvesting took place at the start of the dry season, barley in April and May (at least in warmer regions) and wheat in May and June. After the harvest came flailing, winnowing, and storage of the grain."
Just another confirmation.
