Food Distribution for the People

doi:10.1017/9781108641166.014

Chapter 7 - Food Distribution for the People

Welfare, Food, and Feasts in Qin/Han China and in Rome

from Part II - The People as Agents and Addressees

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 January 2021

Moonsil Lee Kim

Edited by

Hans Beck and

Griet Vankeerberghen

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Hans Beck: Affiliation:
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany
Griet Vankeerberghen: Affiliation:
McGill University, Montréal

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Summary

Some 2,000 years ago, two “food empires” occupied the eastern and western sides of Eurasia, and sustained themselves on the concrete foundations of the food mechanism: production, collection, and distribution.1 They established and expanded their empires by acquiring more cultivable land and people, by encouraging or enforcing people to yield more agricultural products, and by developing infrastructures and systems to produce and circulate food more effectively. Rulers in both places invested much effort in policies destined to optimize their food systems of sustainability.2

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Type: Chapter
Information: Rulers and Ruled in Ancient Greece, Rome, and China , pp. 225 - 266

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108641166.014 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2021

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