In the Graeco-Roman world land was the source of subsistence and of wealth. Land was looked to primarily for food. This chapter begins with an assessment of the food-producing capacities of the territories making up the Roman empire and the manner in which they were tapped, against the background of the opportunities offered and constraints imposed by the physical environment. Consideration is given to developments in the agrarian economy in our period; expansion of the area under cultivation and the issue of technological progress; patterns of land-holding and methods of managing and working the land; and, finally, agricultural productivity. The period of the Principate witnessed the expansion of agriculture, especially in the provinces of the West. Crop performance and productivity levels, were governed by a number of variables. For convenience two groups of four are divided: on the one hand, weather, seed quality, soil and technology: on the other, the supply of land, labour and seed-corn, and proprietorial attitudes.