ORIGIN

Even though the olive is a typical Mediterranean plant, its origin come from East, between Pamir and Turkestan. In the Mediterranean regions, though, it found better climate conditions that helped an excellent colture from 5000 years ago to today. Probably the Fenice where the first to bring this plant in Italy, in an area colonised by the Greek, Magna Greece. So it was first the classic world than the Christian world to give the olive and oil the centre place in agriculture, in alimentary and in religious rites that was conserved in the whole Mediterranean world: protected cultivation in Athens as Rome, fundamental seasoning and food, cosmetic and ointment. Victorious and honour symbols, signed a big difference with population that used butter, so considered barbar, to the point that Plutarco, to give an idea about his conquerors, said about Cesar that "he had provided at the roman power enough land to extract 3 million litres of oil!" The Romans proposed the first classifications of the oil depending on the type of olive this oil came from, says Catone in this agriculture opera, they bettered their processing technique of the olives for oil, inventing a particular type of millstone (trapetum) trying to exclude the nuts from the squeeze.

MEANINGS GIVEN TO OLIVE AND TO OIL

There are numerous meanings given to olive and oil. For the Greek it was the god of wisdom, Athena, to gift men, with the olive branch was sign of victory and oil was a cosmetic for the athletes, Romans crowned good citizens with olives, bride and grooms, the dead at their burial, considering them all winners during life struggle. A symbol of wisdom and eternity which is Christ, "Anointed by God", symbol of spiritual gift, would have overwhelmed. Nowadays olive cultivation has gained a wide range of land spreading in Australia, South Africa, India, Japan, Russia, Argentina, United States; but the Mediterranean lands remain number wise and quality wise the greatest olive producers.