The economy of ancient cultures, including both Greece and Rome, were based on agriculture. Greeks ideally lived on small self-sufficient wheat-producing farms, but bad agricultural practices made many households incapable of feeding themselves. Big estates took over, producing wine and olive oil, which were also the chief exports of the Romans—not too surprisingly, given their shared geographical conditions and the popularity of these two necessities.
The Romans, who imported their wheat and annexed provinces that could provide them with this all-important staple, also farmed, but they also engaged in trade. (It is thought that the Greeks considered trade degrading.) As Rome developed into an urban center, writers compared the simplicity/boorishness/moral high ground of the country's pastoral/farming life, with the politically charged, trade-based life of a city-center dweller. Both Greece and Rome are Mediterranean countries
