Warfare, weather, and the politics of grain shortage in the early 2^nd c. BC Achaian League

This article examines the Achaian League’s imposition of a grain export embargo c. 191-188 BC. This was a response to a reduction in the availability of grain in its territory due to Roman campaigning in Greece, restricted agricultural exports from the eastern and central Mediterranean, and perhaps extreme weather. The embargo was aimed primarily at ensuring the Eleans, Messenians, and Spartans exported their grain within rather than beyond its borders. This demonstrates how ancient federations could engender resilience in the face of hardship, although by altering the food entitlement of different groups they unevenly distributed the social burden of that resilience.