Economy in the Roman Empire

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Amphorae from Bodrum

The economy in the Roman Empire was based mainly on agriculture and trade , and to a lesser extent on handicrafts and services. In agriculture, in particular, production was very labor-intensive and mostly without any significant use of tools or machines. According to more recent estimates, 30 to 40 percent of all gainfully employed people worked in this sector of the economy during the imperial era. An important requirement that enabled a relatively stable economy was peace ( pax romana ) in many areas of the empire.

Historical overview and the road network in the Roman Empire

The epochs of the Roman Empire can be easily divided into four phases:

The rise and fall of the Roman Empire. (Animation of the territories from 510 BC to 530 AD)
  1. Roman royal period : 753 BC BC to 509 BC Chr.
  2. Roman Republic : 509 BC Until 27 BC (Fall of the republic as a result of the civil wars from 133 BC)
  3. Principate or Roman Empire : 27 BC Until the time of the imperial crisis of the 3rd century (235 to 284/285 the time of the soldier emperors )
  4. Dominance or late antiquity : from 284/285 to 6/7. Century.
The road network in the Roman Empire (see also list of Roman roads ) in AD 125 under Emperor Hadrian

Agriculture

farmers

While there were a lot of smaller farms in the early days of the Roman Empire , this changed especially at the end of the republic, but especially after the Second Punic War : In this war, many farmers were killed, and the survivors often did not have the capital, their long to cultivate fallow fields again. Many impoverished farmers moved to the cities and made their way through life there with odd jobs.

The vacant properties were bought cheaply by large landowners or simply occupied. These large estates ( latifundia ) were then cultivated with the help of slaves . The use of slaves offered great advantages for the farm owners: they were cheaper than wage laborers and they were not drafted into the war.

In 133 BC Tiberius Gracchus tried various reforms to restrict large estates : It was planned that no one should own more than 500 yokes (about 250 hectares ) of land, and the land that was freed up as a result was to be leased to farmers in plots of 30 yokes each.

The resistance of the upper class was stronger than expected, and Tiberius Gracchus was murdered that same year. His brother Gaius tried in 123 BC. To reform the land ownership again, but was similar to his brother in 121 BC. Murdered BC. Only under Augustus did the problem ease slightly after he settled farmers in the newly conquered areas.

Economic forms

Foundation walls of a villa rustica in Hartberg

Most of the land of the Roman Empire was cultivated through latifundia, in which a country house ( villa rustica ) was built on the surrounding land. The landowner usually employed a conductor (large tenant) or actor (managing director) who himself farmed part of the land with slaves and migrant workers and, in the case of larger areas of land, leased the rest to small tenants (coloni) . These were mostly impoverished farmers who were dependent on rented land for their livelihood. They paid their rent in kind (usually a fixed percentage of their harvests) or in cash. The rate of levies in the Villa Magna Variana in central Tunisia was one third of the harvests for grain, wine and olives, and one fifth for beans and other pulses, nothing is known about the rates in other latifundia, but they will be of similar dimensions have moved. See Kolonat .

The relationship between the actores and the colonies differed greatly: some did not particularly care about their goods, while others provided the small tenants with equipment, cattle and slaves in order to generate higher income. The leases usually only ran for five years, and in many cases the landowners guaranteed the tenants a somewhat secure situation, following Columella's advice :

"Most profitable is a good that long-established tenants have".

In the case of the Villa Magna Variana, the colons had to do labor in the fields of conductors for six days a year. In the villae rusticae were the equipment such as oil presses, stables and kitchen gardens. Often fruits such as apples, plums, pears, cherries, peaches and sloes were grown and there was usually also a beehive for honey and wax production.

Products and cultivation methods

Main article: Food culture in the Roman Empire

The most widely grown product in the entire Roman Empire was grain. The diet of most of the Romans was heavily vegetable, that is, the main foodstuffs were cereals , pulses , oil and vegetables ; Meat and other animal products were rarely on the table.

Grain

Obolus from Lucania , metapontion with Demeter head and grain ear around 370 BC Chr. (Made of bronze)

Seed wheat , which was mainly used to make flour, was only grown where the soil and climate allowed it (in Gaul and northern Italy ). In the drier areas, the more productive and frugal emmer or durum wheat was usually grown. Spelled was preferred in cold and damp regions ; this also brought higher straw yields. Barley was also often grown, as a follow-up crop to wheat, reducing soil fatigue .

The Romans knew different types of plow for differently heavy soils. In many areas of Italy, the yields have probably been increased in the long term through intensive and deep plowing. Apparently, they followed Cato's recommendation , who considered careful plowing to be a prerequisite for successful agriculture:

What does it mean to cultivate the field well: plow well, second: plow and third: fertilize!

Manure in the form of manure was in short supply in large parts of the Mediterranean area, however, as the cattle were driven to pasture over long distances ( transhumance ) and in many cases there were no large herds of cattle near the farms. The cultivation of nitrogen- storing plants such as legumes was also made more difficult due to the often low rainfall in spring and summer. These two points meant that the soil usually had to lie fallow every two years. Through intensive irrigation (for example in Palestine ) or, as in Egypt, through the Nile mud , the fallow periods could be shortened considerably in some areas, so that in Palestine, for example, the fields were only fallow for two years within seven years.

The yields were very good for the time. Similar successes were not achieved again until the 18th century. The ratio between sowing and yield was mostly 3: 8; in some areas such as Etruria , up to 15 times the yield was achieved. In Palestine, a seven-fold harvest was normal and in Greece a 4.5 to 7-fold harvest was usually achieved.

Horticulture

In many areas of the empire vegetables were grown in smaller gardens (horti) near the cities or right next to the houses . These could usually be irrigated very intensively, as the water supply in the cities and their surrounding areas was often very good. In the vicinity of Rome, water pipes were also often drilled in order to illegally steal water.

Pliny the Elder calls horticulture the "field of the poor", as the poorer people could only afford meat on rare festive days and were therefore dependent on legumes such as beans , peas , chickpeas , etc. as a source of protein. Various other vegetables such as cabbage , leek , asparagus and lettuce plants , bulbous vegetables (celery, onions, fennel, radish) and medicinal and aromatic plants (mustard, thyme, mint, caraway, chervil, savory, mallow, henbane and medicinal ) were also grown in the gardens -Hair strand) grown.

The crop rotation was usually designed so that the garden could be cultivated all year round. In some cases, freshwater and saltwater fish, or wild and exotic birds (pheasants, peacocks, chickens and pigeons) were raised in the gardens .

Olive growing

Greek vase with scene of the olive harvest

Olives were mainly used for making edible and lamp oil and for body lotions. In the main growing regions of Istria , Apulia , Tripolitania , central Tunisia and between Córdoba and Seville , the plantings were apparently mostly in the hands of large landowners, as small farmers could not afford the expensive olive trees, irrigation systems and equipment such as oil presses and kilns for the production of amphorae. Cato names viticulture and olive growing as the most profitable, and recent calculations show profit margins of seven to ten percent.

wine growing

The main locations of vines were Italy , Spain and southern France ; The better quality wines came from Greece and Syria . Even more expensive machines such as wine presses, presses and other equipment were needed for wine production than for olive growing. There was also a long wait between planting and the first harvest. Both olives and vines were mostly cultivated on terraces . According to Columella, the yields were very good; with good soil and good care he considered three cullei (1750 l) per iugerum to be normal. Due to the high profitability, viticulture spread more and more, and in the year 90 AD Domitian was forced to issue a viticulture edict, according to which the vine cultures in the provinces were to be reduced by half. From the 2nd century AD, wine also spread more and more on the Moselle and Rhine ; it is still grown there today.

Livestock and pig breeding

Main article: Pig farming in ancient times

Cattle were mainly used as draft animals and meat suppliers , their milk was rarely used. Goats and sheep were mainly used for milk production . Pigs, which were mainly bred in Lazio , Campania and the Po Valley , were particularly popular for their meat . The slender and hairy animals were mostly driven to fattening in acorn forests. Cured meat from Narbonensis and Gaul was also widespread .

Others

In the east of the empire (Egypt and Syria / Palestine) there were large cultures of dates, figs and citrus fruits, the yields of which were traded in many areas of the empire; the oases around Jericho and Damascus were known for their pomegranates , apricots, almonds, dates and their wine.

In southern Spain in particular, garum , a type of fish sauce, was produced for export .

Mining

Annual metal production in t
Annual production comment
iron 82,500 t Based on a “cautious estimate” of iron production at 1.5 kg per capita with an assumed population of 55 million
copper 15,000 t Largest pre-industrial producer
lead 80,000 t Largest pre-industrial producer
silver 11,200 t Peak stock in the middle of the 2nd century AD at an estimated 10,000 t, five to ten times greater than the amount of silver in Europe and the Caliphate around 800 AD combined
gold 11.119 t Production in Asturias , Gallaecia and Lusitania (all Iberian Peninsula ) alone

Wood and, above all, the almost twice as efficient charcoal were the most widely used fuels for smelting and forging activities as well as heating purposes. In addition, coal was used to a large extent in some places. In Roman Britain, for example, all large coal deposits were already being exploited in the late 2nd century AD. Coal finds along the English North Sea coast indicate a lively trade that extended to the Rhineland . There was coal for melting iron ore promoted.

trade

There were several reasons for the trade, which flourished particularly under Augustus and his successors. Relative peace at the borders and within, extensive demographic stability, freedom of movement granted to all citizens, and a generally accepted and widespread monetary system were some of them. Although agriculture was the basis of the Roman economy, trade and handicrafts also played an important role.

Dealer

macellum in Rome, dupondius from the time of Nero

Traders and merchants did not belong to a uniform class: There were small traders (usually called mercatores ) who often also made their own products, such as the saponarius , which made and sold soaps, or the vascularius , a manufacturer and distributor of metal vessels. They mostly sold their goods in small surroundings on the markets of the cities or villages. Many villages were permitted to hold markets several times a month and sometimes also for annual markets ( πανηγύρεις ). In the markets, traders usually charged a stall fee and / or a sales tax. The fees were not too high, however, so as not to weaken trade; in Oxyrhynchos, for example, they amounted to an obolus (obol) per day and stand. The sales tax was one percent, in some areas only half a percent. The markets were mostly held in the open air, but sometimes also in covered buildings - such as the Trajan's Market in Rome - which were often built by wealthy people. In Madauros, for example, a Q. Calpurnius Donatus donated a food market ( macellum ) . An Aristomenes from Aigion also belonged to this group of traders :

“You should also hear what trade I keep alive with. with honey, cheese and such goods for gifts I go back and forth through Thessaly, Aetolia and Boiotia. "

In addition, there were also merchants (negotiatores) who bought large quantities of goods interregionally and sold them in markets or shops. This was often done by sea, and the ships required for this rarely belonged to the traders themselves. Most of the time, several traders rented a ship together to minimize the risks. In contrast to the small traders, these wholesalers often formed professional associations ( collegia or corpora ).

Trade within the Roman Empire

Since food such as grain, oil, wine, meat or garum were the most frequently transported goods for supplying large cities in interregional trade , the amphora findings are particularly useful. Of all the amphorae found in Augusta Raurica , 52% came from the Iberian Peninsula (oil, wine, garum), 38% from Gaul (wine, garum and olives), 3% from Italy (oil, wine, garum) and 6% the Eastern Mediterranean (wines from the Aegean Islands, dates and figs). It is also useful to identify the distribution of individual products based on their amphora type. Wines from Crete, for example, were only traded in the types Knossos 1 / AC 1 and Dressel 43 / AC 2. These amphorae were found mainly in North Africa, Italy, Gaul and occasionally in Greece.

Commercial terms

In general, it should be noted that customs sovereignty lay with the province and was to be separated from the federal government. The customs areas were based on the provincial division of the empire, which in turn were subdivided into urban areas. Thus it is possible that adjacent provinces and cities had different customs laws. Natural, geographical and frequent road use were factors influencing the establishment of a customs post. The customs officers had the authority to search the goods. Smuggling was punished with the confiscation of goods that had not been cleared through customs. Seals on the goods with customs clearance prevented double customs clearance for transports that crossed several customs provinces.

Using the example of the province of Lycia, regulations for import / export duties are shown. The import duty flowed to the cities that were administered by tenants. However, a fixed part of the income was transferred to the federal budget. The income from the export duty, however, went entirely to the federal government. Emperor Augustus exempted Italy from customs duties, but certain goods in Rome were still subject to city duties. Spanish and Gallic provinces provide an example of the import duty. Here the duty was 2.5% of the value of the goods.

It is still unclear whether the tariffs were a trade barrier. On the other hand, higher government spending for the establishment of the customs points, as well as the personnel costs for the enforcement of the customs law, are undisputed.

Merchandise

Transport of wine on the Durance

Little is known about the volume of trade, but some examples of transports are documented. Every year, for example, 80,000 tons of grain were shipped to Rome from Alexandria alone. The merchant ships were mostly accompanied by the Roman fleet to protect them from pirates. This was one of the reasons the trade was so widespread. The grain was then stored in huge warehouses (horrea) , as in Ostia , where several halls up to 120 m × 80 m in size were found. In the cities, the goods were mostly sold in market halls, in shops or on the open street.

It is also known that the export of Italian wines to Gaul amounted to 120,000 hectoliters per year during the imperial era  .

Terra Sigillata Bowl

Terra Sigillata was also widespread throughout the empire as upscale tableware. Until the early 1st century AD, it came primarily from Arezzo and other Italian workshops. From the 1st century AD, it was first produced by southern Gaulish manufacturers and later by central and eastern Gaulish manufacturers. The large manufactories of Rheinzabern ( Tabernae ) and on the Pacelliufer in Trier ( Augusta Treverorum ) dominated the market in the northwestern provinces from the middle of the 2nd century and in the 3rd century AD. Eastern sigillata and African goods dominated the Mediterranean area . The relocation of the sigillata manufacturers shows how much profit was dependent on the short transport routes. The main buyers of these goods were the troops on the Rhine and the Limes . Utility and kitchen ceramics were mostly produced and sold locally. In addition, products such as oil lamps have been manufactured and transported millions of times.

Simple oil lamp

More or less valuable building materials, such as marble or granite , were also traded over long distances. This is particularly worth mentioning because the goods involved are very difficult to transport. Egyptian stone was used in London and in Colchester porphyry from West Africa was used in the 1st century AD .

According to the previous sources, the production and sale of textiles or clothing was also carried out in large quantities. For example, the inscription of negotiator (es) vestiariae et lintiariae (traders with linen and clothes) comes from Augsburg , and purple was often transported by purpurarii from Asia Minor. The Igeler pillar is a particularly clear example ; the family grave of the Secundinier near Trier shows everyday scenes of a Roman cloth merchant family on its numerous reliefs.

Foreign trade

Goods were not only transported within the Roman Empire , but also outside of it, for example to China and India or Ireland and southern Russia .

Commercial terms

The outer border of the Roman Empire formed the first customs duty. Customs duties from trade with East Africa, Arabia and India are known.

According to the book Periplus Maris Erythraei, the import duties into the Roman Empire amounted to approx. 25% of the imported goods value. The Roman Empire tried to protect its native products through the high import tariff.

Trade network in the Roman Empire around 180 AD

North trade

Northern trade refers to the exchange of goods along the Rhine, Limes and Danube to Germania and Scandinavia.

Various goods were imported into the Roman Empire from these areas: besides grain and livestock, which, according to Tacitus, were of unsightly size, slaves were also imported . This is indicated by the inscription of the mango (slave trader) C. Aiacius found in Cologne . Germanic slaves were mainly used as bodyguards, litter-bearers and gladiators. In addition, hides and ham were imported , especially in late antiquity . Amber was also of particular importance. It came to Italy as a luxury product via Aquileia and was used to make vessels, jewelry and amulets. Pliny reports of an expedition of a Roman knight to the Baltic Sea in Nero's time in order to procure large quantities of it for the organization of games. For a while, hair dyes and blonde hair were even imported. After Germania and Scandinavia, mainly terra sigillata, most of which came from southern and central Gaul, bronze and glass vessels, silver dishes, weapons, rings and textiles were exported.

Eastern trade

Trade with Arabia, India and China was better documented and the volume of trade was greater .

Most of the goods imported from these areas can be described as luxurious. Even if some products, such as incense or spices, which were stored for example in horrea piperataria in Rome, this general use did not deprive them of their exclusivity.

Trade was carried out over water and land; after, however, from the 2nd century BC When the monsoon routes were opened up, sea transport increased in importance: From July to August, people sailed along the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden , from where they sailed to the west coast of India using the northeast winds . In February of the following year, the southwest winds drove back again. Goods from China were mostly picked up at West Indian ports, direct contact with China was rare. An exception is the report from Chinese sources that at the time of Marcus Aurelius the Romans advanced to the capital Luoyang , complained about the obstruction of trade by the Parthians and brought rhinoceros horns, ivory and tortoiseshell as gifts.

The Buddhism and the trade routes in the 1st century. AD.

According to historical Roman reports, messages were exchanged between the Indian king of the Pandya dynasty and the Roman Empire . The Pandya dynasty, like its neighbors, profited from the regular trade that ran across the southern tip of India to the Roman Empire. So came z. B. a Pandya embassy around the year 13 AD to Emperor Augustus in Rome. The early Pandya kings kept Roman soldiers as bodyguards, described in Tamil literature as "dumb strangers with long cloaks and weapons and cruel souls". Luxury goods were traded: shells, diamonds and precious stones, gold articles, spices, perfumes and especially pearls.

Coin of the Roman emperor Augustus. She was found in Pudukkottai .

Emperor Julian was also connected to the Pandya dynasty in AD 361. There was a Roman trading center on the coast of Pandya, more precisely at the mouth of the Vaigai River, southeast of Madurai .

Palmyra played a central role in land transport : From there, caravans with up to 100 camels were led several times a year to Seleukeia , Babylon , Vologesias and Spasinou Charax . On successful return, those responsible were often honored with inscriptions and statues.

Eastern trade routes around AD 100
Section of the trade routes on the eastern edge of the Roman province of Syria around 100 AD.

Frankincense , spices, silk , ivory from India and textiles were imported . The Periplus Maris Erythraei provides information about the exported goods : Agricultural products such as oil, olives, wine and grain were regularly transported. Ceramic, metal and glass products have also been proven by archaeological findings. There are only vague ideas about the volume of trade with the East: According to Pliny, 100 million HS were used annually for goods from India and China.

Land transport

In almost all areas of the Roman Empire there was a close-knit road network of state roads, village roads, paths, etc. At that time there were only three ways of transporting goods in the country: A man can carry 50 kg over shorter distances, but the load capacity decreases with longer distances off quickly. Pack animals are better suited for this: donkeys can carry around 90 kg, camels around 180 kg and mules 110 kg over long distances. While donkeys can travel around 45 kilometers a day with this load, a mule can travel around a third of the day. The slowest were teams of oxen, but they could carry much more. They covered 10 to 16 kilometers a day.

Unfortunately, almost nothing is known about the extent of land transport. However, it can be assumed that goods were mainly transported by land within the local framework and only rarely transported further distances.

River and sea transportation

In addition to the numerous roads, the rivers were the main arteries in the imperial era. Some regions benefited from their river systems, such as Gaul / Germania, whose waterways formed an almost perfect transport network. The river system of the southern Spanish province of Baetica (especially over the Guadalquivir ), which made it possible to supply the western half of the empire with olive oil, was also important for the entire Roman Empire . At least as important was the Nile, over which grain was transported from Africa to Alexandria .

The size of the ships varied between small dugout canoes or rafts and large barges. A boat from the Lower Rhine area was 30 m long and could transport up to 100 tons. However, the majority of the boats had smaller capacities, which were mostly 35 tons. The ships in the Nile Valley were also of a great variety of different types. As a rule, only the loading capacities are given there, but the size can be inferred from these: A capacity of 200 Artaben (5 t) indicates a ship length of around ten meters. Especially in the case of smaller ships, the owners were often skippers and traders in one person, as evidenced by the grave inscription of a negotiator et caudicarius (trader and river transporter) from Worms .

Little is known about the costs, but river transport was significantly more profitable than land transport; Transport by sea was even cheaper. From Oxyrhynchos there is evidence that 3400 Artaben grains were transported for 730 drachmas . The distance was 450 km and could therefore be covered in four days.

Large ocean-going ships far exceeded these barges: the freighter used to transport the Vatican obelisk had a loading capacity of 1,300 tons. Such ships were the exception, however, with normal capacities of 100–450 t. From Marc Aurel onwards, ship owners of ships with over 340 tons of loading capacity were able to enjoy the vacatio muneris publici .

Most traders probably did not own a ship, but rented part of the cargo hold. With loans in this area, the interest rates were very high due to the high risk: they usually fluctuated between 30 and 33%.

Craft

The handicrafts increased rapidly in the times of the republic, especially the production for military purposes, which at the same time was of high quality. The army itself needed numerous carpenters, gunsmiths and technicians. Arms production was concentrated in Rome and the rural towns between Rome and Capua. To supply the growing population, new independent professions and trades were created. Since the beginning of the 2nd century, cookshops, contract cooks and bakers have come across; barbers, weavers, dyers, tailors and, in accordance with the growing luxury needs of the upper class, silversmiths, builders, plasterers, interior decorators, etc. The craft was mainly in the hands of poor free men, freedmen and strangers, and to a lesser extent also of specialized slaves. The reputation of the craftsmen was low.

Economic forms

Most of the handicraft products were produced for the local community in small businesses (officina) , in which members of the family and often some wage laborers and slaves worked. These businesses or craftsmen mostly made their goods to order. The workshops ( tabernae ) they ran were mostly located on the ground floor of the tenement blocks ( insulae ) in the cities . In Pompeii alone there are 650 workshops, most of them for the sale of food, but also 25 tanneries and fulling shops , two clothing and one linen dealers, ten metalworking workshops, three pottery shops, including a small lamp factory, and some carpenters, (flick) cobblers and perfume makers. The traders either owned the taberns themselves or they leased the premises and equipment from others, mostly members of the upper class. For example, Cicero owned some tenement houses with tabernae . Not only small workshops were rented out, but entire businesses. From the Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchos a papyrus from 220 to 250 AD has been preserved, in which a quarter of a pottery was leased for a year; During this period the tenant undertook to produce 4115 different containers for wine; he was given the material and received 36 drachmas for 100 vessels each.

Moon-shaped stamp for bricks and roof tiles

Almost all products that were produced in large numbers, i.e. terra sigillata , other ceramics, bricks, including water pipes, were marked with the stamp of the producer or company. Terra Sigillata was mainly produced in Arezzo , Lezoux and La Graufesenque and transported from there to the whole of the Roman Empire. A lot is known about La Graufesenque, as incised inscriptions on ceramics, a total of 43 “order and delivery notes” from the middle of the 1st century AD, were found during excavations there, which mention a total of one million vases made in small businesses. In La Graufesenque, the owners leased their businesses (similar to agriculture) and the tenants ran them with their own staff or leased them to individual potters. The large stoves found were loaded together. The example of the silversmith Demetrios from Ephesus in the New Testament is also interesting : he specialized in the manufacture of devotional objects for the nearby Temple of Artemis , for which he employed workers who themselves had hired labor.

Although there were a few large factories, the main production sites were still the numerous small workshops. For a long time, weapons for the legions also had to be bought from many individual manufacturers; state arms factories (fabricae) of larger dimensions were only established under Diocletian . Supplying the troops was an important factor in many areas of the economy, such as trade and agriculture. Often they also had their own workshops in the camps.

specialization

Most of the professions were very specialized. About 500 Latin expressions for professions are known and over 200 different trades are handed down in grave inscriptions from Rome. However, it is often unclear whether these are professions or just job titles. This is also shown by a graffito from Pompeii :

“After you fail eight times, you have sixteen left to fail. You acted as innkeeper, you acted as a crockery seller, you sold sausage products, you acted as a baker. You were a farmer. You hawked small bronzes and were a junk dealer. Now you make small bottles. "

education

The Pompeian graffito also shows that no training was required for most professions. However, apprenticeship and training positions are also documented for numerous professions. Papyri from Roman Egypt mainly name the profession of weaver, nail smith, flute player, building craftsman, linen weaver, basket maker, coppersmith, undertaker and hairdresser. Latin inscriptions name the following apprenticeship professions: mirror maker, stonemason, walker , roofer, goldsmith, baker, mosaic worker and ornamental gardener. Further papyrological traditions suggest that the success of the training was often checked at the end by the respective professional association (collegia) . A text from the 2nd century mentioned a sum of money that the head of the weavers' association (probably the state) had paid. Not only men operated a craft or were instructed in it: inscriptions by patchcutters, goldworkers, shoemakers and lead pipe manufacturers come from Ostia and Pompeii. It can also be assumed that the women helped in the workshop of their husbands without there being any sources.

A fixed sum (χειρονἀξιον) was required from the state for many professions, which entitles the holder to practice the trade.

Services

Banks

Originally banks (tabernae argentariae) were only exchange offices. In the Roman Empire, however, the area of ​​responsibility of a banker (argentarius) expanded as early as the 4th century BC. In addition, there was now also the deposit business, i.e. the interest-free storage of money for security and for payment to third parties. From the 2nd century BC The credit business gradually emerged, in which not only loans were granted against interest, but the purchase price was also advanced at auctions. The fee for this was usually 1% of the price. The maximum interest rate set by the state was 12.5% ​​for loans. The loans were mostly consumer loans and less often business loans . In addition to the bankers, there were also full-time moneylenders, faeneratores , who granted loans to wealthy private individuals as slaves or freedmen. In addition, the senators and knights acted as donors of large sums; the knights even lent some money and lent it on at a higher rate of interest.

The banks didn't just store the money; against a "check" they also handed over money from an account:

“X (wishes) the Ep [agathos, the banker] joy. Pay to Phibis and Y, the son of Dioskoros, and Z, the 3 donkey drivers who transport the chaff for the boiler rooms of the baths at the grammar school and do the rest according to their wage contract, as they have already been instructed at other times (by check) For the wages of the month of Hathyr, also for so and so many donkeys that belong to them, drachmas sixty-four, that makes (in figures) Dr. 64, and I also receive receipt from them. In the year 3 of the Emperor Caesar Traianus Hadrianus Augustus on the 10th Hathyr. "

- Bremen papyrus from Hermopolis Magna

Payment transactions between two banks were even possible. But it is not known whether the money was actually transported. In addition to the private banks, there were also public banks and temple banks. Famous sanctuaries such as the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus were also often banks.

entertainment

From the republic onwards, the main venues for the public games were arenas and circuses, where mainly gladiators and charioteers, but also actors and musicians performed. In Rome alone there were several major games every year, such as the ludi Apollinares , for which 380,000 sesterces were spent each year , or the ludi Romani with a budget of 760,000 sesterces. The theater business in many cities also devoured high costs. Games were often financed by politicians in order to secure the favor of the voters.

In the entertainment sector, the need for dancers, singers and musicians for private events such as funeral parades, banquets and drinking bouts also plays a role. The dancers (saltatrices) from Gades were particularly popular in Rome , lasciviously circling their luscious hips while playing the flute

prostitution

Spintriae , vouchers for a visit to the brothel

Main article: Prostitution in ancient times

For many women, some men too, prostitution was the only way out of poverty. Often, however, female slaves were also prostituted under duress. Prices for intercourse with prostitutes are known from various regions of the empire, which pimps or brothel keepers certainly also earned. A bill comes from Aesernia in which the landlady demands 8 As for the “girl” . With the numerous graffiti in Pompeii, the prices vary between 2 and 23 As. The state and the municipalities also made money from it, for example Caligula introduced a tax on prostitution.

Education

Relief from Neumagen , a teacher and three students

In the Roman Empire, teaching was not a state responsibility. Wealthy parents sent their children to a private tutor or to the private schools, which were usually held in rented tabernas, courtyards and porticos . Reading, writing and arithmetic were taught there. The teachers mostly had a bad reputation and were accordingly poorly paid. Alongside these elementary schools there were also high-earning grammarians like the one to which Augustus sent his grandchildren; he was rewarded with 100,000 sesterces. There were also teachers of rhetoric, law and philosophy.

doctors

The upper class often kept trained slaves. Sometimes they also had a “practice” where they treated friends and clients of the Lord. Most doctors can be assigned to the upper class. Imperial personal physicians even earned 500,000 sesterces. Even private practices did extraordinarily well; a Q. Stertinius earned 500,000 sesterces per year with one of these. But there were also unsuccessful doctors like Diaulos, who ultimately had to hire himself out as an undertaker.

gross domestic product

Roman GDP and GDP per capita estimates 1)
unit Goldsmith
1984 		Hopkins
1995/6 		Temin
2006 		Maddison
2007 		Bang
2008 		Scheidel / Friesen
2009 		Lo Cascio / Malanima
2009
GDP per capita Sesterces HS 380 HS 225 HS 166 HS 380 HS 229 HS 260 HS 380
Wheat equivalent 843 kg 491 kg 614 kg 843 kg 500 kg 680 kg 855 kg
International dollars 1990 - - - $ 570 - $ 620 $ 940
Population size
(year) 		55 million
(AD 14) 		60 million
(AD 14) 		55 million
(100 AD) 		44 million
(AD 14) 		60 million
(150 AD) 		70 million
(150 AD) 		-
(AD 14)
GDP Sesterces HS 20.9 billion HS 13.5 billion HS 9.2 billion HS 16.7 billion HS 13.7 billion ~ HS 20 billion -
Wheat equivalent 46.4 million tons 29.5 Mt 33.8 Mt 37.1 Mt 30 mt 50 mt -
International dollars 1990 - - - $ 25.1 billion - $ 43.4 billion -

1) Decimal fractions rounded to the first place after a comma. Numbers in italics not provided by authors directly; they can be calculated by multiplying the respective GDP per capita by the estimated population size.

Due to the tax payments from the provinces and the concentration of the high-income rich elite in the heartland, Italy is classified as the wealthiest region; According to estimates, the Italian GDP per capita was 40% to 66% higher than in the rest of the empire.

Changes in late antiquity

From the end of the 3rd century onwards, the economic weight gradually shifted from the cities to large landed property, which displaced the peasantry and transformed it into semi-free colonies . The cultivation methods hardly changed, however, while the demand from the cities increased. The introduction of maximum prices for agricultural products meant that the farmers no longer supplied the cities adequately and the state tried to enforce the hereditary connection of the colonies to the soil.

Since the 4th and 5th centuries, most regions, but more often in the west of the empire, and less pronounced in the rich trading locations in Syria and other eastern provinces, experienced a slow decline in the urban economy. The guild organizations, collegia , which were important for supplying the army , were controlled by the state and provided services for the military. The other branches of handicrafts and trades were coupled with the increasingly self-sufficient large estates in the west of the empire, where natural economic forms prevailed. The money economy continued to dominate in the east. The politically partially disempowered aristocracy now lived more and more often in the country and not only accumulated land, which, however, threw less and less surpluses, but increasingly also capital.

swell

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b R. Duncan Jones: The Economy of the Roman Empire: quantitative studies. Cambridge 1982.
  2. ↑ Lucius Columella: De re rustica , 1,7,3
  3. ↑ Dieter Flach : Römische Agrargeschichte (= Handbook of Ancient Studies . 3rd Department, Part 9). CH Beck, Munich 1990, p. 90 f .; Hans-Joachim Drexhage, Heinrich Konen, Kai Ruffing: The economy of the Roman Empire (1st-3rd century). An introduction. Berlin 2002, p. 86
  4. ↑ MS Spurr: Arable Cultivation in Roman Italy c. 200 BC-c. AD 100 . London 1986, pp. 23-40
  5. ↑ Cato maior, De agri cultura 61.1
  6. ^ KD White: Roman Farming . 1970, pp. 125-144
  7. ^ Joan M. Frayn: Subsistence farming in Roman Italy . 1979, pp. 34-36.
  8. ↑ Arye Ben-David: Talmudic Economy . Georg Olms, Hildesheim 1974, p. 97 f.
  9. ↑ Frank Kolb : The city in antiquity . Munich 1984. p. 244
  10. ↑ Arye Ben-David: Talmudic Economy . Georg Olms, Hildesheim 1974, pp. 103-105
  11. ↑ Auguste Jardé: Les céréales dans l'antiquité grècque . Paris 1925
  12. ^ Sextus Iulius Frontinus : De aquis urbis Romae .
  13. ↑ Frank Kolb: The city in antiquity . Munich 1984, p. 699 note 3
  14. ↑ Lucius Columella: De re rustica 3.3
  15. ^ Paul T. Craddock: Mining and Metallurgy . In: John Peter Oleson, (Eds.): The Oxford Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Classical World , Oxford University Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-19-518731-1 , p. 108
    David Sim, Isabel Ridge: Iron for the Eagles. The Iron Industry of Roman Britain . Tempus, Stroud / Gloucestershire 2002, ISBN 0-7524-1900-5 , p. 23
    John F. Healy: Mining and Metallurgy in the Greek and Roman World . Thames and Hudson, London 1978, ISBN 0-500-40035-0 , p. 196
  16. ↑ Sim, Ridge 2002, p. 23; Healy 1978, p. 196
  17. ↑ World production, the largest part of which is attributed to copper mining and smelting in the Roman Empire, especially in Spain , Cyprus and Central Europe : Sungmin Hong, Jean-Pierre Candelone, Clair C. Patterson , Claude F. Boutron: History of Ancient Copper Smelting Pollution During Roman and Medieval Times Recorded in Greenland Ice . In: Science , Vol. 272, No. 5259, 1996, pp. 246-249 (247)
    François de Callataÿ: The Graeco-Roman Economy in the Super Long-Run: Lead, Copper, and Shipwrecks In: Journal of Roman Archeology , Vol. 18, 2005, pp. 361-372 (366-369)
    cf. also Andrew Wilson: Machines, Power and the Ancient Economy . In: Journal of Roman Studies , Vol. 92, 2002, pp. 1–32 (25–29)
  18. ↑ Hong, Candelone, Patterson, Boutron 1996, p. 247, Figs. 1 & 2; 248, Tab. 1; Callataÿ 2005, pp. 366-369
  19. ↑ World production, the largest part of which is attributed to silver mining and smelting in the Roman Empire (in Central Europe, Britain , the Balkans , in Greece , Asia Minor and especially Spain, whose world share was 40%): Sungmin Hong, Jean-Pierre Candelone, Clair Cameron Patterson , Claude F. Boutron: Greenland Ice Evidence of Hemispheric Lead Pollution Two Millennia Ago by Greek and Roman Civilizations . In: Science , Vol. 265, No. 5180, 1994, pp. 1841-1843
    Callataÿ 2005, pp. 361-365
    Dorothy M. Settle, Clair C. Patterson : Lead in Albacore: Guide to Lead Pollution in Americans In: Science , Vol. 207, No. 4436, 1980, pp. 1167-1176 (1170 f.)
    Cf. also Wilson 2002, pp. 25-29
  20. ↑ Hong, Candelone, Patterson, Boutron 1994, pp. 1841-1843; Settle, Patterson 1980, pp. 1170 f .; Callataÿ 2005, pp. 361–365 follows the aforementioned authors, but does not rule out that the ancient level could have been surpassed at the end of the Middle Ages (p. 365).
  21. ^ Clair Cameron Patterson : Silver Stocks and Losses in Ancient and Medieval Times . In: The Economic History Review , Vol. 25, No. 2, 1972, pp. 205-235 (228, Tab. 6); Callataÿ 2005, p. 365 f .; see. also Wilson 2002, pp. 25-29
  22. ↑ Patterson 1972, p. 216, tab. 2; Callataÿ 2005, p. 365 f.
  23. ↑ Pliny : Naturalis historia , 33.21.78, in: Wilson 2002, p. 27
  24. ↑ Brigitte Cech: Technology in antiquity . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2010, ISBN 978-3-8062-2080-3 , p. 20
  25. ^ AHV Smith: Provenance of Coals from Roman Sites in England and Wales . In: Britannia , Vol. 28, 1997, pp. 297-324 (322-324)
  26. ↑ Stefanie Martin-Kilcher: The Roman amphorae from Augst and Kaiseraugst. A contribution to Roman commercial and cultural history . 3. Archaeological and scientific clay determinations: catalog and tables (groups 2-24). Augst 1994, p. 115
  27. ↑ a b Hans-Ulrich Wiemer: Statehood and political action in the Roman Empire . Ed .: Hans-Ulrich Wiemer. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 2006, p. 31, 108 f .
  28. ↑ Hans-Joachim Drexhage, Heinrich Konen, Kau Ruffing: The economy of the Roman Empire (1st-3rd century). An introduction. Berlin 2002, p. 268 f.
  29. ^ A b c d Hans-Joachim Drexhage, Heinrich Konen, Kau Ruffing: The economy of the Roman Empire (1st-3rd century): An introduction. Berlin 2002, p. 145.
  30. ↑ Hans-Ulrich Wiemer: Statehood and Political Action in the Roman Empire - Introductory Remarks. In the S. (Ed.): Statehood and Political Action in the Roman Empire. Berlin 2006, pp. 1–39, here: p. 31.
  31. ^ Helmuth Schneider: Introduction to the ancient history of technology . Darmstadt 1992, ISBN 3-534-08335-0 , 148; Habermann: Ostia, the grain trading port of Rome . Munst. Contribution Ant. Handelsgeschichte 1, 1982, 35-59.
  32. ^ A b Jacobsen: Primitive Exchange or Free Market? Studies of trade in the Gallic-Germanic provinces during the Roman Empire . St. Katharinen 1995
  33. ↑ CIL 03, 05800 (p 1853) .
  34. ^ Lionel Casson: The Periplus Maris Erythraei: Text with Introduction, Translation, and Commentary . Ed .: Lionel Casson. Princeton University Press, 1989, pp. 36 .
  35. ↑ Tacitus: Annals 4,72,2
  36. ↑ CIL 13, 08348
  37. ↑ K. Tausend: The Importance of Imports from Germania for the Roman Market . Tyche 2, 1987, pp. 224-226
  38. ↑ K. Tausend: The Importance of Imports from Germania for the Roman Market . Tyche 2, 1987, pp. 220-222
  39. ↑ Pliny: Naturalis historia 37, 43-45
  40. ↑ K. Tausend: The Importance of Imports from Germania for the Roman Market . Tyche 2, 1987, p. 222 f.
  41. ↑ Müller 1978, Weihrauch, RE Suppl. 15 (1978), 700-777
  42. ↑ Hou Hanshu
  43. ^ Ferguson: China and Rome . ANRW II 9.2, 1978, 594 f.
  44. ↑ Kandadai Vaidyanatha Subrahmanya Aiyer; Kandadai Subrahmanya Vaidyanathan: Historical sketches of ancient Dekhan. Madras 1917, p. 82
  45. ↑ Begley, DePuma: Rome and India: the ancient sea trade . University of Wisconsin Press, 1991.
  46. ↑ Genaro Chic Garcia: La Navegación Por el Guadalquivir Entre Córdoba y Sevilla en Épocaq Romana . Gráficas Sol., Écija, España 1990, ISBN 84-87165-18-4
  47. ↑ Julia Obladen-Kauder: A Carolingian river barge from Kalkar-Niedermörmter . Archeology in the Rhineland , 1994
  48. ↑ Poll 1996 131-133
  49. ↑ CIL 13.06250 ; Walburg Boppert: Military grave monuments from Mainz and the surrounding area. Mainz 1992, ISBN 3-88467-029-8
  50. ↑ Oxyrhynchus Papyri Volume III 522 clp.classics.ox.ac.uk  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / clp.classics.ox.ac.uk  
  51. ↑ Pliny Nat. 16, 201; f. Helmuth Schneider: Introduction to the ancient history of technology . Darmstadt 1992, ISBN 3-534-08335-0 , 147 f.
  52. ↑ Dig. 50.5.3
  53. ^ Rougé: Recherches sur l'organization du commerce maritime en Mediterranee sous l'Empire romain. Paris 1966, pp. 345-360.
  54. ↑ Oliver Gassner: Shops in Pompeii . Diss. Vienna 1986, pp. 21-23.
  55. ↑ Cicero: epistulae ad Atticum , 14,9,1
  56. ↑ The Oxyrhynchus Papyri. Volume 50, No. 3596
  57. ↑ August Oxé : The pottery bills of the Graufesenque. In: Bonner Jahrbücher 130, 1925, pp. 38–99.
  58. ↑ Barbara horse shepherd : The Roman terra sigillata pottery in southern Gaul. Society for Prehistory and Early History in Württemberg and Hohenzollern, Stuttgart 1978 (Small Writings on Knowledge of the Roman Occupation History of Southwest Germany 18) , p. 16 f.
  59. ↑ Acts 19 : 23-28
  60. ↑ CIL 4, 10150 : [Cum] de [d] uxisti octies tibi super <e = A> (s) t ut (h) abeas sedecies coponium fecisti cretaria
    fecisti salsamentaria fecisti pistorium fexisti agricola fuisti aere minutaria fecisti
    propola fuisti languncularia nunc faculty si cunnu (m) linx {s} e {e} ris consummaris omnia     .
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  63. ^ Suetonius : Augustus. 39
  64. ^ Translation by Ulrich Wilcken : Die Bremer Papyri (= Treatises of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, Philosophical-Historical Class. 1936,2). Verlag der Akademie der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1936, p. 112 ( digitized version ).
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  66. ↑ Martial 1.47
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  69. ^ Peter Temin: Estimating GDP in the Early Roman Empire . In: Lo Cascio, Elio (ed.): Innovazione tecnica e progresso economico nel mondo romano , Edipuglia, Bari 2006, ISBN 978-88-7228-405-6 , pp. 31-54
  70. ^ Angus Maddison: Contours of the World Economy, 1-2030 AD. Essays in Macro-Economic History . Oxford University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-922721-1 , pp. 43-47; 50, plate 1.10; 54, plate 1.12
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  75. ^ Franz Georg Maier : The transformation of the Mediterranean world. Fischer Weltgeschichte Volume 9, Frankfurt 1968, p. 85 f.