There are no choices here but the reason why it is the duty
of the state government to protect public health is because it starts at the
grass-roots level where municipalities as well as city and state officials are
the ones responsible for directly monitoring and implementing preventive
measures to stop the spread of diseases.
First, they imported a LOT of food from other parts of the empire. Rome is now built on the remains of Roman food packaging material: broken up pottery. Romans mainly lived on what is know as the mediterranean triangle: Wheat, wine and olive oil. Bread made up 70 to 80% of most of the Romans diet. Three kinds of food that are pretty easy to transport over longer distances. There were huge imports of grain from north Africa and Egypt. Rome lived on that grain. Wine and olive oil came from almost everywhere.
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https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1z8xck/how_was_ancient_rome_able_to_support_a_population/
The majority of Populist Party members were "farmers," since the Populist Party made an effort to defend the rights of the "common man", as opposed to the rich.
