The Roman Economy Flashcards
Modernists
E.g. Mikhail Rostovtoff
Ancient economy worked like the modern economy, just on a much smaller scale
Substantivists
Economy ‘embedded’
Ancients had little conception of the ‘economy’ as a separate intellectual category
Lack of economic rationalisation
E.g. Karl Polanyi
Primitivists
Most production was local and small scale
Completely different to modern economy
E.g. Moses Finley
Agriculture is king
Vast bulk of empire were involved in agriculture
‘Under development’ common
Technologically stagnant
Firmly a ‘pre-industrial’ world
Hero of Alexandria
1st century scientist who devised a steam engine
Social attitudes towards wealth and profit
Landed gentlemen as the ideal for aristocracy
Trading morally dubious
Our sources by and large are written by this class
Possible sources of income
Trade Revenue from estates Money lending War spoils Taxation
Taxation
Tributum soli - land tax
Tributum capitas - poll tax
Portoria - customs duties
Inheritance tax
Hopkins ‘taxation and trade in the Roman world’
Taxes generated in provinces - exported elsewhere
To get wealth back, provinces sell things to Rome
Production per capita rose in the period in agriculture and other spheres as a result of stimuli such as slavery, peace, technology led developments, taxation
Stimuli for trade
Pax Romana - can move around freely
Monetisation - nearly universal currency
Money
Value by weight - coinage can be manipulated
Augustus - the emperor as a guarantor
Constitutional settlement of 23 and coinage reform
Tiberius - the emperor as a banker
Provides an interest free loan of 25 million denarii to restore liquidity to the capital’s money market, ending the financial panic of 33
Hadrian - the emperor as communicator
Rationalisation and consolidation of empire symbolised by visits to provinces
