Editing Olive (section)

===Ancient Rome===
[[File:Roman fresco of a woman wearing a garland of olives, from Herculaneum.jpg|thumb|Woman with red hair wearing a [[garland]] of olives, from the Roman city of [[Herculaneum]], sometime before the city's destruction in 79{{Nbsp}}AD]]

Like the Greeks, the Romans held olives in high regard for various purposes, both practical and symbolic. Roman mythology held that [[Hercules]] introduced the olive tree to Italy from North Africa, while the goddess of wisdom, [[Minerva]], taught the art of cultivation and oil extraction.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Consortium |first=Olio di Roma PGI Protection |title=Romans spread the olive tree in all the conquered territories |url=https://www.olioromaigp.it/eng/territory/history#:~:text=A%20millennial%20plant,%20in%20ancient,of%20cultivation%20and%20oil%20extraction. |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=Olio di Roma PGI |language=en}}</ref> Numerous archaeological finds indicate the presence of the olive tree in [[Lazio]], the region around Rome, as early as the 7th century BC; however, rudimentary olive production has also been traced back to earlier Etruscan and Sabine settlements in the area.<ref name=":6" />

The olive tree was subject to many treatises and agronomic works by the Romans. [[Pliny the Elder]], in his first century AD encyclopedia, ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Naturalis Historia]],'' describes at least 22 different varieties and qualities of olive trees, detailing their respective techniques for cultivation and production. Pliny also observes that an olive tree is one of only three plants—along with a vine and [[Ficus|fig tree]]—growing in the middle of the [[Roman Forum]], which served as the center of daily life in the city; the olive was purportedly planted to provide shade. (The garden was recreated in the 20th century).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/romanforum/ficus.html|title=Ficus Ruminalis|website=uchicago.edu}}</ref> 

Roman poet [[Horace]] mentions the olive in reference to his own diet, which he describes as very simple: "As for me, olives, [[endive]]s, and smooth [[Althaea (plant)|mallow]]s provide sustenance."<ref>"''Me pascunt olivae, me cichorea levesque malvae.''" Horace, ''Odes 1.31.15'', c. 30 BC</ref> Roman architect and engineer [[Vitruvius]] describes of the use of charred olive wood in tying together walls and foundations in his ''[[wikiquote:Vitruvius#De architectura (The Ten Books On Architecture) (~ 15BC)|De Architectura]]''.<ref>Pollio, Vitruvius (1914). [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_La4aAAAAYAAJ ''The Ten Books on Architecture'']. Harvard University Press, Book 1, Ch. V, Sec. 3, p. 22</ref> Olive cultivation and production was also recognized for its commercial and economic importance; according to Cato the Younger, among the various tasks of the ''[[pater familias]]'' (the family patriarch and head of household) was that of keeping an account of the olive oil. The city of Rome designated a special area for negotiating and selling olive oil that was managed by ''negotiaroes oleari'', who were analogous to stockbrokers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Consortium |first=Olio di Roma PGI Protection |title=Romans spread the olive tree in all the conquered territories |url=https://www.olioromaigp.it/eng/territory/history#:~:text=A%20millennial%20plant,%20in%20ancient,of%20cultivation%20and%20oil%20extraction. |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=Olio di Roma PGI |language=en}}</ref>