THE GREEK AND ROMAN ERAS: A SYMBOL OF PROSPERITY AND POWER (800 BC – 500 AD)

If the Phoenicians were the ones who sent olive oil out to sea, the Greeks and Romans were the ones who gave it soul. As we move into the Classical and Imperial ages, olive oil became more than trade. It became tradition. Myth. Identity.

The Greeks: From Athena’s Tree to Olympic Gold

By 800 BC, olive oil had woven itself into the fabric of Greek life. It wasn’t just used — it was venerated.

The olive tree itself was sacred, believed to have been gifted to humanity by the goddess Athena during her legendary contest with Poseidon for the city of Athens. When she struck the ground with her spear and an olive tree grew, the people chose her as their patron — and the tree as their symbol.

From that moment on, olive oil became not just a resource, but a divine inheritance.

In ancient Greece, olive oil was used in religious rituals, applied in medicinal practices, and reserved for athletic glory. Olympic athletes were anointed before competition, not just for appearance or performance, but as a symbol of strength, purity, and discipline. To be oiled was to be prepared — physically, spiritually, mythically.

Homer’s “Liquid Gold”

No one captured the reverence for olive oil better than Homer, who famously referred to it as “liquid gold.” This wasn’t a metaphor born of marketing — it was the truth of its time.

Olive oil was a luxury. A necessity. A household medicine, a light source, a sacred offering, and a daily staple. It was wealth you could eat. To the Greeks, it wasn’t just golden in color. It was golden in worth.

The Romans: Scaling the Olive Empire

Then came the Romans — with roads, records, legions, and ambition.

From 27 BC to 476 AD, olive oil evolved from cultural treasure to imperial infrastructure. The Romans developed sophisticated methods of cultivation and extraction, turning production into an empire of its own. Vast estates known as latifundia stretched across Italy, Spain, and North Africa, filled with groves and presses dedicated to the craft.

They weren’t just producing for locals — they were feeding the empire. Olive oil became central to the Roman diet, yes, but also their medicine, their cosmetics, their lighting, and their economy.

Storage, Roads, and Global Reach

The Romans thought in systems, and olive oil was no exception. They stored it in amphorae and larger dolia — huge clay jars often buried to maintain temperature and reduce spoilage.

And then they built the roads to carry it. Their infrastructure made olive oil a truly pan-European commodity. Roman amphorae have been found in archaeological sites as far away as Britain, Gaul, and the Danube region — evidence of a distribution network that spanned thousands of miles.

Oil in Roman Culture

In the Roman world, olive oil was woven into daily life. It was used in public baths, where citizens would oil their bodies before bathing and scrape the oil clean in ritualistic exfoliation. In gladiatorial arenas, fighters would oil their skin before entering the ring, both for grip and for symbolism. And in literature and art, the olive branch endured as a powerful icon of peace and victory.

To be Roman was to use olive oil — not just to consume it, but to live through it.

What the Ancients Still Teach Us

We talk a lot about terroir and taste and traceability now. And we should. But the ancient Greeks and Romans remind us of something else: that olive oil is cultural. It holds myth and meaning. It connects power to purity, and health to honor. It is both practical and poetic.

And today, 2,000 years later, it’s still gold in a bottle.

– Mazen