In the HBO Series ROME, Italy needs to get its grain from africa and Sicily. Why couldn't they grow their own

Question

In the HBO Series ROME, Italy needs to get its grain from africa and Sicily. Why couldn't they grow their own

Answer 1

They did grow some of their own, but productivity of farming was not so good at that time and the population of Rome was enormous for a city at that time in history.  It would have to import a lot of its food for that reason.

Answer 2

The Romans didn't have the sustainable land for crops of that nature.  Or in the amount they needed to feed the population.

Answer 3

The previous answers are both true.

However, there is something to add: Italy is not a flat land, therefore it is not very very easy to grow cereals like grain, especially in central Italy.

Furthermore, think about it: all colonial empires have been fed by grain grown in their colonies, because it was somehow cheaper.

Answer 4

at the beginning they did. with the growth of the empire the city became the largest in the whole world, and so they werent able to crop enough grain for everyone. and why should they bother to cultivate the land if they had provinces under their rule to give them what they needed? rich landowners had no interest in gaining money from agriculture since it was easier to earn a fortune in the political activities of the capital of the known world