Structure and Scale in the Roman EconomyThis book by the author of The Economy of the Roman Empire: Quantitative Studies considers important interlocking themes. Did the Roman Empire have a single 'national' economy, or was its economy localised and fragmented? Can coin and pottery survivals demonstrate the importance of long-distance trade? How fast did essential news travel by sea, and what does that imply about Mediterranean sailing-patterns? Further subjects considered include taxation, commodity-prices, demography, and army pay and manpower. The book is very wide-ranging in its geographical coverage and in the evidence that it explores. By analysing specific features of the economy the contrasting discussions examine important questions about its character and limitations, and about how surviving evidence should be interpreted. The book throws new and significant light on the economic life of Europe and the Mediterranean in antiquity, and will be valuable to ancient historians and students of European economic history. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - barlow304 - LibraryThingMore a aseries of essays and specialist articles than a book, Duncan-Jones's Structure and Scale nonetheless contains many fascinating insights into the economy of the Roman empire. This book is not suitable for general readers. Read full review
Contents
Communicationspeed and contact by sea in the Roman empire | 7 |
Trade taxes and money | 30 |
Separation and cohesion in Mediterranean trade | 48 |
Stability and change | 59 |
DEMOGRAPHY AND MANPOWER | 77 |
Ageawareness in the Roman world | 79 |
Roman lifeexpectancy | 93 |
Pay and numbers in Diocletians army | 105 |
Who paid for public building? | 174 |
TAXPAYMENT AND TAXASSESSMENT | 185 |
Taxation in money and taxation in kind | 187 |
Land taxes and labour implications of the iugum | 199 |
APPENDICES | 211 |
DATED BUILDING EVIDENCE | 213 |
TOTALS OF DATED PAPYRI BY REGNAL YEAR | 214 |
EXISTING INTERPRETATIONS OF THE BEATTY FIGURES | 220 |
AGRARIAN PATTERNS | 119 |
Land and landed wealth | 121 |
The price of wheat in Roman Egypt | 143 |
THE WORLD OF CITIES | 157 |
The social cost of urbanisation | 159 |
THE IUGUM IN EPIPHANIUS | 222 |
223 | |
234 | |
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Common terms and phrases
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