It was always the farmers who tirelessly created the conditions for the intellectual and urban development of ancient Rome. Without the harvest yields from the Italian fields, even the emergence of craft professions in Rome would not have been possible. The successes of the Roman army and the Romanization of the vast empire were only achievable because thousands and thousands of farmers supplied the legions. Werner Tietz has erected a well-deserved monument to them in his work. The author presents the most important plants and animals that formed the basis of Roman supply and vividly describes the life and economy on the small farms of ordinary farmers as well as on the large estates of senators during the days of the Republic, but also the industrial production on the vast state domains of the imperial era. He reports on the often miserable existence.