Athens suffers from food shortages from "summary" of The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides
Athens, in consequence of the war, was suffering from a blockade by land and sea, and the population now felt it bitterly. They had depended for their food supply on their land and imported corn. But now with the Peloponnesians ravaging their countryside and the fleet blockading their harbours, they were in a state of distress. The price of corn rose to an enormous height, and the poorer citizens found it difficult to procure the necessaries of life. The number of the people crowded together in the city was now so great that there was a scarcity of food, and prices rose owing to the demand exceeding the supply. The city was also full of people from the country who had been driven into it by the war, and who had no homes of their own. These people had to be fed by the state, and the government was obliged to feed them at the public expense. The corn that was imported was consumed by the wealthy citizens, while the poor had to content themselves with the small quantity of corn that was produced in the city. The poorer citizens were in a state of great distress, and many of them perished from hunger. The government, finding that the distress was increasing daily, made a desperate effort to relieve it. They collected all the corn that was in the city, and distributed it among the people at a fixed price. But this did not suffice to relieve the distress, for the corn was soon consumed, and the people were again in want. The government then took the extreme step of seizing the corn that was in the country, and bringing it into the city. The landowners, who were thus deprived of their corn, complained bitterly, but the government turned a deaf ear to their remonstrances. The distress of the people was so great that they were ready to endure any hardship rather than starve. They were willing to eat anything that could be procured, and many of them subsisted on roots and herbs.
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