Agricultural History Review, Volume 56 Part 1 (2008), p. 120

It is a commonplace that the olive was one of the pillars of Mediterranean agriculture, one part of a celebrated triad with cereals and the grapevine. Yet it is surprising how little serious scholarship exists in English on the economic and social history of this remarkable tree. Now at last we have a detailed and up-to-date account of the olive in the ancient Greek world, pulling together the threads of 30 years of scholarly research in which Foxhall has been a world leader. This book is a real gem and a rare delight to read. It surely will be hailed an instant classic and is a fine example of what all academics should strive for – being beautifully written, clearly structured, well illustrated and cogently argued.

The book is based on a series of key themes that allow the reader to understand the botanical characteristics of the plant, its place in the Mediterranean farming calendar, its economic and social significance in the Greek world and some of the fundamental differences between that world and the Roman empire that succeeded it (when the nature and scale of olive cultivation and trade seems to have changed considerably). Readers of the Review will find the introductory chapter on the nature of the olive and chapters 5 and 6 on cultivating the olive and processing its fruit of particular interest. The argument is liberally peppered with fascinating facts and examples from the ancient texts, archaeological discoveries and modern ethnographic observations of traditional practices. In chapter 7 Foxhall explores the evidence of arboriculture more broadly in ornamental gardens in Greece, debunking a commonly held view that the Greeks did not go in for pleasure gardens. Here she gathers in textual and iconographic data to supplement a comparatively meagre archaeological record of excavated garden features.

There is also some excellent discussion about the relative level of economic sophistication of Greek farming economies and particular emphasis on the centrality of households in Greek productive industry (chapters 2–4 and 8). Domestic production and domestic consumption of olive oil was far more prevalent than large-scale surpluses passing out of factory-like pressing facilities and on to long-range trading networks (as seems to have evolved in some regions in Roman times). Indeed, I particularly liked the way Foxhall has made this a book about the ancient economy in general through the careful exploration of so many different aspects of the olive in Greek society. This case study of the olive can be seen in the end as a characterization of the economy overall. A key conclusion of the book is that to understand the true importance of the olive we must first grasp the closeness of fit of the olive with both the cultural and the agricultural spheres of Greek society. Foxhall makes an unanswerable case for the integration of study of Greek farming with a profound examination of social structure and social context of economic activity. The products and practices of farming simply cannot be studied in isolation. Many decisions about what and how to cultivate, what products to produce and how to use and dispose of them were founded on social or cultural desiderata, not market-driven economic motivations.

This is an outstanding and transcendent piece of research. It is also a fascinating work to read and engage with. It is going to be very influential in the fields of ancient history and archaeology, at which it is primarily aimed, but it will also find a receptive and enthusiastic readership beyond those core constituencies.