Subsisted

The settlers subsisted on bread and water.

We subsisted on what we could find in the forest.

Instead of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed, we should rather be surprised that it had subsisted so long.

Left undisturbed in their secluded habitats, they subsisted by hunting with bows and arrows, fishing and gathering wild fruit. Never large, the tribes' populations have shrunk over the past several decades, in part because of increased contact with outsiders, who carry diseases the tribes can not fend off.