McMahon, 'Pan's Travail: Environmental Problems of the Ancient Greeks and Romans', Bryn Mawr Classical Review 9408
URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/stacks/serials/bmcr/bmcr-9408-mcmahon-pans

J. Donald Hughes, <i>Pan's Travail: Environmental Problems of the
Ancient Greeks and Romans.</i> Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1994. Pp. xii, 277. $39.95. ISBN 0-8018-4655-2.
  Reviewed by John McMahon -- Le Moyne College

  <i>Pan's Travail</i> by J. Donald Hughes stands as a
significant contribution to understanding the relationship
between Classical Civilization in the Mediterranean Basin and its
contemporary natural environment during the period from 800 BC to
600 AD. Noting the limitations of current knowledge about the
ancient environmental situation and citing a lack of
acknowledgement of that situation, Hughes shows that the ancients
themselves were aware of the problems in the environment and
commented upon them. Thus establishing a rationale for an
ecologically based re-examination of Greek and Roman history, he
surveys the four major factors (cultural attitudes toward nature,
knowledge of nature, appropriate technology, and social
organization) that determined how human activity led to
environmental degradation and the resultant negative effects on
the societal and economic underpinnings of Classical
Civilization. Indeed, the author's stated purpose (xi) is to
"explore the process and scope of that mistreatment and also
explore how nature exacted revenge." Conceived, as the author
explains (xii), as a more specifically focussed examination of
the environmental impact of ancient civilizations upon the
natural ecological balance which he began in an earlier
work,[[1]] the book incorporates much of Hughes's ongoing
investigations published in journals and essay collections from
disciplines as diverse as religion, forestry, archaeology, and
environmental studies proper (246). By emphasizing the treatment
of the environment by humans and the technologies involved rather
than only the attitudes of the ancients to their environment, and
by drawing on a wide array of source material, Hughes provides
valuable new insights into ways of approaching Greek and Roman
cultures. 

  While those already familiar with Classical Mediterranean
civilizations may stand to gain the most from a work of this
kind, Hughes has written primarily for a general audience. Thus
he has divided up each chapter into subtopics arranged under
individual headings, and except in the first chapter, has
provided a conclusion summarizing the important points. A
complement to the overall organization of the book is Hughes's
effective (but somewhat predictable) method of initially
describing a given situation, then citing evidence for his
interpretation, and concluding with a simple assessment of the
result.[[2]] While he maintains a restrained and detached tone
throughout the work, and while for the most part his prose is
straightforward and spare, this economy of expression belies a
genuine concern for modern environmental problems, and a certain
didactic element is clearly present.[[3]]

  Chapter One ("Introduction: Ecology in the Greek and Roman
Worlds") gives a brief overview of the recent efforts to evaluate
classical history in the Mediterranean from an ecological
standpoint. Hughes concludes that the processes resulting in the
present environmentally degraded landscape were set in motion by
economic, military, and religious factors at work in ancient
Greek and Roman societies; these have since been exacerbated by
stresses to the ecosystem during medieval and modern times. By
introducing Thucydides' assessment (4.108) that the fall of
Amphipolis caused alarm among the Athenians because it meant the
loss of timber resources, he presents his basic premise that an
understanding of ecological factors is indispensable to
understanding historical events.[[4]] Hughes also examines the
relatively recent (1866) origins of the term "ecology" and
advances his working definition of the word. The chapter
concludes with a preview of upcoming chapters and a very brief
discussion of the sources of evidence for the environmental
history of ancient times, including literary and subliterary
material, archaeological findings and surveys, and modern
scientific investigations into the condition of the ancient
environment.

  In Chapter Two ("The Environment: Life, Land, and Sea in the
Mediterranean Region") Hughes defines the Mediterranean Basin as
both a biogeographical region and as an ecosystem which, while
containing smaller and distinct communities of flora and fauna,
shares "enough common characteristics to make it a useful unit of
study." (9) The bulk of the chapter is devoted to a careful
detailing of the region's specific climatic, geographical, and
biological conditions. In all three sections the emphasis is
almost exclusively scientific with appropriate reference made to
ancient testimony. What engages the reader here is the amount and
breadth of information presented by Hughes. For example, the
geographical description of the Mediterranean Sea itself and of
the variety of landforms associated with it (12-15) is
particularly valuable, presenting the kind of scientific
information essential to issues in the rest of the book. The
treatments of floral and faunal communities (16-22) are
remarkable as well for their depiction of the richness of the
natural landscape in ancient times. Hughes concludes that
ecological balance is a resilient and flexible affair adaptable
to change, but that alteration of that balance beyond certain
limits can ultimately have dire results. 

  Chapter Three ("Ecological Crises in Earlier Societies")
follows naturally from such observations. In tracing the
relationship between humans and the natural world in the
Mediterranean up to the time of Greece and Rome, Hughes
establishes the importance of tradition in Palaeolithic times as
a force that encouraged respect for and conservation of
resources. Ecological crises rooted in overhunting, the
domestication of animals, and the use of fire occurred
nonetheless, but in general hunters and gatherers of the
Palaeolithic succeeded in maintaining a balance with ecosystems.
The increase of human numbers and the change to agriculture and
pastoralism in the Neolithic led to more serious problems
including soil depletion, desertification, and erosion, though
pasturing animals did replenish nutrients in grazing areas in the
form of manure. Interestingly, Hughes reports (30), human health
degenerated despite the technological advances. The urban
cultures that developed in the Fertile Crescent made further
demands upon natural systems and adopted a confrontational
approach to nature, in which the sense of order and organization
of the city itself was (is) an alternative to the perceived chaos
of a wilderness suited only for subjugation and ordering by man.
The results of this approach led ultimately to the degradation of
the water supply, a decline in agricultural fertility, and the
fragmentation of Sumerian civilization (35). Hughes sees Egypt as
more successful in integrating urbanization with its dependence
on ecologically sound agricultural practice in part because of
the regularity of the region's environmental cycles, Egyptian
society's sacred view of nature, and the perceived divine
character of science and knowledge. Nevertheless, population
pressures, famine, deforestation, and habitat destruction (with
the eventual depletion of wildlife) occurred. 

  Chapter Four ("Concepts of the Natural World") surveys the
complex pattern of ideas about and attitudes toward nature among
the Greeks and Romans. Relying on primary literary sources Hughes
demonstrates how "various ethical systems either provided strong
motives for conservation, or left humans free to exploit the
environment." (45) Thus he first (46-56) examines the Classical
view of nature from a religious perspective, including the highly
refined tenets of Orphism and Pythagoreanism, comparing them to
some current ecological models (54-56). A brief treatment of the
aesthetics and enjoyment of natural beauty among the Greeks and
Romans (56-58) follows. The remainder of the chapter treats the
"scientific" models of nature developed by philosophers, the
ecological perspective of ancient writers, and ancient theories
of the influence of environment on human society. In this regard
Hughes contends that while for the most part the ancients viewed
human impact upon the environment in a positive light, and
despite religious, philosophical, and scientific concerns, "the
natural environment incurred considerable damage at the hands of
the Greeks and Romans." (70-72).

  The causes, technologies, and impact of forest removal are the
subjects of Chapter Five ("Deforestation, Overgrazing, and
Erosion"). Hughes details the reasons for wood consumption among
the ancients, with fuel leading the list by far (up to 90% of
total consumption). Lumber for building was also a major article
of trade among the ancients, and circumstances similar to those
today existed whereby "it was a recurrent policy of governments
to encourage private exploitation of forests by leasing the right
to cut trees on public land, which was a source of revenue, or by
sale or grant of public forestland to private entrepreneurs or
consortiums."(87) Shipbuilding and military exploitation, linked
closely to political and economic forces, also contributed to
deforestation. Overgrazing of previously disturbed forestland was
(and still is) a significant cause of environmental degradation
contributing to flooding, erosion, and siltation of waterways.
Hughes also discusses the processes of deforestation and
reforestation, citing palaeobotanical evidence that social and
political stresses resulting in population movements greatly
determined whether forests were able to regenerate themselves. On
the positive side, there is ample evidence that both private and
public efforts were made to mitigate the effects of forest loss
to the point of state regulation of forest harvesting on private
land. 

  Chapter Six ("Wildlife Depletion: Hunting, Fishing, and the
Arena") demonstrates how wildlife in Greco-Roman times suffered a
reduction in numbers (and in some cases extinction) as a result
of both "habitat alteration and killing for various purposes."
(111) Beginning with the concept of divine protection for animals
and proceeding through the technology and uses of hunting
(subsistence, commerce, sport, and entertainment) and the extent
and effects of domestication, Hughes concludes that the
destruction of habitat had "the most damaging effect on all forms
of wildlife." (107) 

  The role of machinery in exacerbating ecological degradation
is the subject of Chapter Seven ("Industrial Technology and
Environmental Damage"). Hughes here emphasizes that many of the
admired engineering achievements of the Greeks and Romans also
directly or indirectly caused severe and lasting negative effects
on the environment. His historical summary of the basic
technological advances also makes it clear how slow and unsteady
were both the invention and the acceptance of mechanical
innovation. The author details the extractive industries of
mining and quarrying, noting how such activities polluted air,
soil, and water and left scars on both the land and the workers
(116-124). Metallurgy and the ceramic industry in particular
demanded large amounts of wood and charcoal as fuel, worsening
deforestation and causing the Romans especially to seek new
sources for metals and glass in areas like Northern Europe where
fuel supplies were still plentiful. Hughes also points to the
increase in airborne lead pollution from the second century B.C
onward documented from Greenland ice samples (125-128). The
testimony from Pliny, Vitruvius and others makes for especially
lively reading.

  Chapter Eight ("Agricultural Decline") documents the methods
and the impact of farming practices on the ecological balance.
Hughes ascribes the eventual loss of productivity in the region
to a number of factors, not the least of which were a taxation
system that relied predominantly on agriculture for revenues,
thereby promoting depletion of the land and its fertility, and
those socio-economic forces that led to the privileging of large
profit-oriented ranching estates over smaller self-sustaining
agricultural units. These latter were substantially better suited
to the topography of the region and in the long run upset the
natural balance much less than the former.

  Urban problems come under scrutiny in Chapter Nine with much
of the material familiar territory to readers of Horace, Martial,
and Juvenal. Nevertheless, Hughes goes beyond the litany of
complaints to emphasize site selection and city planning (or lack
thereof) as important factors in the environmental quality of
urban life. His brief outline (154-155) of how the ancients
viewed urban and rural landscapes ("according to the ways in
which they were used, or not used, by human beings") reveals an
anthropocentric ethic still much in evidence today. And while the
descriptions of urban problems ranging from noise pollution to
burial of the dead and rural nostalgia are fascinating reading,
Hughes's most important observation appears in the chapter's
conclusion where he rejects current sociological models of the
city in favor of seeing the urban landscape "as a series of
ecological relationships."(167)

  Chapter Ten ("Groves and Gardens, Parks and Paradises")
examines the issue of the restriction of natural places for
religious, aesthetic, or economic purposes. Hughes contends that
despite the motivation for such protection, this was a positive
development. The regulation and protection of designated sacred
space, preserves, and parkland was difficult, however, because
private self-interest often circumvented prohibitions. And the
delimitation of sacred space as hallowed ground, moreover, "by
implication unhallowed the land outside" (176), thereby providing
for unrestricted and destructive overuse of unprotected land.

  The final chapter ("Environmental Problems as Factors in the
Decline of the Greek and Roman Civilizations") serves as a
summation of the previous chapters by examining as an integrated
whole those circumstances of ecological imbalance that led to the
decay of Classical Civilization. Hughes identifies two types of
environmental factors implicated in the decline of ancient
political, social, and economic systems: those external to
mankind (non-anthropogenic) and those which originate with the
activities of mankind (anthropogenic). Of the former the author
cites climatic change and epidemic disease, although human
activities worsened the effects of both by interfering with
natural conditions. 

  Yet neither climate change nor disease alone can account in
any significant way for the widespread deterioration of
conditions that led to the end of Classical Civilization, and
Hughes clearly regards the anthropogenic factors as the more
significant. With this as his working thesis, he carefully
reiterates the salient points of the previous chapters and
emphasizes the cumulative effect of such deterioration on people
and resources. He then outlines the four factors that determine
how well a society can successfully integrate itself into the
natural balance: the attitude toward nature and resources and the
actions that result from that attitude; the knowledge that a
society possesses about the workings of nature and the
implications of its actions in the natural world; the development
and use of an appropriate technology; and a social organization
that can encourage positive interaction with the natural world
and can control activity destructive to the natural balance and,
ultimately, to the society itself. Unfortunately, Hughes
concludes, Greco-Roman civilization failed to reconcile its
attitudes and activities with the Mediterranean ecosystem, and
ecological deterioration "was the result of the unwise actions of
the Greeks and Romans themselves, unwitting as they may have
been." (199)

  Hughes's book, although of more specifically ecological focus
than similar treatments of other historical periods,[[5]] in
re-analyzing and re-organizing information often already familiar
to classicists and historians, introduces an ecological paradigm
as its unifying element to the study of the Classical World. For
this alone it is a valuable tool in looking at Greco-Roman
society anew and as a starting point for further research. In
addition, its organization and clarity of expression and the
self-contained nature of individual chapters make it a good
candidate for the undergraduate classroom either as a reading
list work in culture courses or as the basic text in a course
specifically concerned with ecological matters in the
Mediterranean Basin. 

  Despite these positive aspects, however, the work is flawed in
a number of ways. For one, although Hughes is writing for a
general audience, he still might have provided more accurate
citation of primary sources. For instance, at least one example
to support the claim that Pausanias "gives the impression that
over much of Greece, sacred groves were isolated forests in a
generally denuded landscape" (176) would be appropriate.
Similarly, some conclusions would be strengthened if better
documented, as in the case of inscriptional evidence of penalties
imposed for hunting in sacred groves (94) or the contention that
"the conversion of arable land into pasturage was punishable by
Roman law" (146). In places more precision is in order:
Augustus's protective firewall (behind the Temple of Mars Ultor)
was not simply "around the forum" (158) but rather around the
Forum Augusti; and Theocritus was a native of Sicily not Cos
(155). Some editorial matters need attention as well. In the
footnotes the phrase <i>numen inest</i> is incorrectly assigned
to Vergil <i>Aen</i>. 8.351-52 (230, n. 2), and the final
citation of Chapter 11 (#46) has no corresponding endnote (197,
233). There is an agreement error ("a society . . . they
possess") on page 196.

  A number of general improvements can be suggested to make this
useful work even more so. For example, although he does concede a
socially stratified awareness of and concern for the impact of
human activity on the environment for the existing written record
(70), Hughes's introductory discussion of literary evidence (6)
makes no mention of the relative appropriateness of the various
sources he cites; for a general audience this would be especially
helpful. Similarly, a citation index would make the book more
readily useful as a reference work for those working in other
fields. The inclusion of Linnaean names for the plants and
animals, most notably those discussed in Chapter Two's extensive
treatment of flora and fauna, would give those interested (like
myself) a much more specific picture of the regional variations
involved. In this sense, too, a glossary of terms would
facilitate understanding scientific or ecological terms. Perhaps
a second edition will address these matters, but for now <i>Pan's
Travail </i>is worthwhile and thought-provoking reading.


NOTES

1.   J. D. Hughes, <i>Ecology in Ancient Civilizations</i>
(Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1975).

2.   Exemplary are Ch. 10's discussions of the management,
leasing, and reforestation of sacred groves (175-176).

3.   E. g., Chapter 8, p. 147: "But one may ask whether the
present energy budget of Mediterranean agriculture is
sustainable, with its high inputs of chemical fertilizers and
insecticides and high outputs of air, water, and soil pollution."
Chapter 9, p. 168 (of exploitation of resources): "The same
forces are at work in analogous ways in the modern world, and
societies are unfortunately relying on attitudes derived from
ancient antecedents that have already demonstrated their
failure."

4.   Page 5: "Environmental history . . . gives perspective to
the more traditional concerns of historians: war, diplomacy,
politics, law, economics, technology, science, philosophy, art
and literature."

5.   E. g., Carolyn Merchant, <i>The Death of Nature: Women,
Ecology, and the Scientific Revolution</i> (San Francisco: Harper
and Row, 1980).