Editing Olive (section)

==== Expansion and propagation ====
In the 16th century BC, the [[Phoenicia|Phoenicians]]—a seafaring people native to the Levantine heartland where olives likely were first cultivated—started disseminating the olive throughout the Mediterranean. Owing to their dominance as traders, merchants, and mariners, they succeeded in spreading the olive to the [[Greek isles]], particularly Crete, later introducing it to the Greek mainland between the 14th and 12th centuries BC. Olive cultivation increased and gained great importance among the Greeks; Athenian statesman [[Solon]] (c. 630 – c. 560 BC) issued decrees regulating olive planting and encouraging its cultivation, particularly for export.<ref>Plutarch ''Solon'' 1 [[wikisource:Lives_(Dryden_translation)/Solon#1|s:Lives (Dryden translation)/Solon#1]], [[wikisource:Lives_(Dryden_translation)/Solon#24|24.1]]</ref> Greek literature and mythology reflected the privileged and even sacred position of the olive, while leading thinkers and figures like Hippocrates, Homer, and [[Theophrastus]] observed its various positive properties and benefits.

While there is no evidence of olive cultivation in [[Mesopotamia]], olive wood appears as early as the mid [[3rd millennium BC|third millennium BC]], while the site of [[Emar]] in present-day Syria has olive wood and olive pits dating to the Middle [[Bronze Age]] (2000–1600 BC).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Deckers |first1=Katleen |last2=Riehl |first2=Simone |last3=Meadows |first3=Joseph |last4=Tumolo |first4=Valentina |last5=Hinojosa-Baliño |first5=Israel |last6=Lawrence |first6=Dan |date=2024 |title=A history of olive and grape cultivation in Southwest Asia using charcoal and seed remains |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=19 |issue=6 |pages=e0303578 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0303578 |doi-access=free |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=11189204 |pmid=38900727|bibcode=2024PLoSO..1903578D }}</ref> The [[Code of Hammurabi]], a compilation of laws and edicts made by the sixth king of the [[Old Babylonian Empire]], [[Hammurabi]] (reigning from <abbr>c.</abbr> 1792 to <abbr>c.</abbr> 1750 BC), makes repeated references to olive oil as a key commodity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Avalon Project : Code of Hammurabi |url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/hamframe.asp |access-date=2025-05-16 |website=avalon.law.yale.edu}}</ref> The [[Assyria|Assyrian Empire]] (858–627 BC) may have expanded into the southern Levant partly to secure control over lucrative olive oil production in the region.<ref>Van de Mieroop M. A history of the ancient Near East ca. ca. 3000 323 BC. Chichester: Blackwell Publishing; 2016.</ref>

From the sixth century BC onwards, the olive continued spreading toward the central and western Mediterranean through colonization and commerce, reaching Sicily, Libya, and Tunisia.  From there, it expanded into southern Italy among the various Etruscan, Sabine, and Italic peoples. The introduction of the olive tree to mainland Italy allegedly occurred during the reign of [[Lucius Tarquinius Priscus]] (616 – 578 BC), possibly from Tripoli (Libya) or Gabes (Tunisia). Cultivation moved as far upwards as [[Liguria]] near the border with France. When the Romans arrived in North Africa beginning in the second half of the first century BC, the native [[Berbers]] knew how to [[Grafting|graft]] wild olives and had highly developed its cultivation throughout the region.
[[File:Architrave with Frieze Adorned with Olive Branches & Tragic Mask (49350864306).jpg|thumb|276x276px|Roman [[architrave]] with [[frieze]] adorned with olive branches (c. first century AD).]]
The olive's expansion and cultivation reached its greatest extent through Rome's gradual conquest and settlement across virtually the entire Mediterranean; the Romans continued propagating the olive for commercial and agricultural purposes, as well as to assimilate local populations. It was introduced in present-day Marseille around 600 BC and spread from there to the whole of [[Gaul]] (modern France). The olive tree made its appearance in [[Sardinia]] following Roman conquest in the third century BC, though it may not have reached nearby Corsica until after the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire|fall of the western Roman Empire]] in the fifth century AD.

Although olive growing was introduced to Spain by the Phoenicians some time in 1050 BC, it did not reach a larger scale until the arrival of [[Scipio Africanus|Scipio]] (212 BC) during the Second Punic War against Carthage. After the [[Third Punic War]] (149 – 146 BC), olives occupied a large stretch of the [[Hispania Baetica|Baetica]] valley in southwest Spain and spread towards the central and Mediterranean coastal areas of the Iberian Peninsula, including Portugal. Through the second century AD, this region would become the largest source of olives and olive oil within the empire.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |title=Olives and Olive Oil in Ancient Rome {{!}} UNRV Roman History |url=https://www.unrv.com/economy/olives-and-olive-oil.php |access-date=2025-04-26 |website=www.unrv.com}}</ref> Olive became a core part of the Roman diet, and by extension a major economic pillar; the cultivation, harvesting, and trade in olives and their derived goods sustained many livelihoods and regions. The emperor [[Hadrian]] (117 – 138 AD) passed laws prompting olive cultivation by exempting individuals who grew olive trees from rent payments on their land for ten years.<ref name=":8" />

The degree to which the olive benefited from the Romans is demonstrated by the significant decline in olive planting and olive oil production that followed the collapse of the Roman Empire.<ref>Julie Angus, Olive Odyssey: searching for the secrets of the fruit that seduced the world. ISBN 9781553655145. '''P. 80.'''</ref> Beginning in the early eighth century AD, Muslim Arabs and North Africans brought their own varieties of olives during their [[Al-Andalus|conquest of Iberia]], reinvigorating and expanding olive growing throughout the peninsula. The spread and importance of olives during subsequent Islamic rule is reflected in the [[Arabic language influence on the Spanish language|Arabic roots of the Spanish words]] for olive (''aceituna''), oil (''aceite''), and wild olive tree (''acebuche'') and the Portuguese words for olive (''azeitona'') and olive oil (''azeite'').