In ancient history, a division of labour (or specialisation) was when some people in a city stopped growing crops and took other jobs. This usually happened because of a surplus of food. This means that there was more than enough food for everyone, so some people did not have to grow crops anymore.

Xenophon was a philosopher of the 4th century BC. In his book Cryopedia (The Education of Cyrus) he writes about the division of labour: