The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Economy

2012 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Roman Economy

Capital, Investment, and Innovation in the Roman World

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Capital Investment ◽  
Roman History ◽  
Roman Economy ◽  
Roman World ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Modern Economic Growth ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Modern Economic ◽  
Agriculture Water

Investment in capital, both physical and financial, and innovation in its uses are often considered the linchpins of modern economic growth, while credit and credit markets now seem to determine the wealth—as well as the fate—of nations. This book asks whether it always thus, and whether the Roman economy—large, complex, and sophisticated as it was— looked anything like today’s economies in terms of its structural properties. Through consideration of the allocation and uses of capital and credit and the role of innovation in the Roman world, the contributors to this volume go to the heart of the matter. How was capital in its various forms generated, allocated, and employed in the Roman economy? Did the Romans have markets for capital goods and credit? Did investment in capital lead to innovation and productivity growth? The authors consider multiple aspects of capital use in agriculture, water management, trade, and urban production, and of credit provision, finance, and human capital in different periods of Roman history, in Italy and elsewhere in the Roman world. Using many different types of written and archaeological evidence, and employing a range of modern theoretical perspectives and methodologies, the contributors, an international team of historians and archaeologists, have produced the first book-length contribution to focus exclusively on (physical and financial) capital in the Roman world, a volume that is aimed at experts in the field as well as at economic historians and archaeologists specializing in other periods and places.

Recycling and Reuse in the Roman Economy

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Building Materials ◽  
Computational Modelling ◽  
Late Antique ◽  
Roman Economy ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Status ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
First Time ◽  
Site Types

The recycling and reuse of materials and objects were extensive in the past, but have rarely been embedded into models of the economy; even more rarely has any attempt been made to assess the scale of these practices. Recent developments, including the use of large datasets, computational modelling, and high-resolution analytical chemistry, are increasingly offering the means to reconstruct recycling and reuse, and even to approach the thorny matter of quantification. Growing scholarly interest in the topic has also led to an increasing recognition of these practices from those employing more traditional methodological approaches, which are sometimes coupled with innovative archaeological theory. Thanks to these efforts, it has been possible for the first time in this volume to draw together archaeological case studies on the recycling and reuse of a wide range of materials, from papyri and textiles, to amphorae, metals and glass, building materials and statuary. Recycling and reuse occur at a range of site types, and often in contexts which cross-cut material categories, or move from one object category to another. The volume focuses principally on the Roman Imperial and late antique world, over a broad geographical span ranging from Britain to North Africa and the East Mediterranean. Last, but not least, the volume is unique in focusing upon these activities as a part of the status quo, and not just as a response to crisis.

Structure and Scale in the Roman Economy

1992 ◽  
Vol 85 (6) ◽  
pp. 745
Author(s):  
Phyllis Culham ◽  
Richard Duncan-Jones
Keyword(s):  
Roman Economy

The impact of the German frontier on the economic development of the countryside of Roman Gaul

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 131-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Reddé
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Rural Settlements ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Roman Economy ◽  
Agricultural Yield ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
European Programme ◽  
Population Numbers

In a series of studies about settlement density in the Rhine area from protohistoric to modern times, K.-P. Wendt and A. Zimmermann try their hand at the difficult task of evaluating the palaeodemography of a region. Their task is all the more complex because these are times and spaces for which written sources are lacking, as a result of which reasoning relies very broadly on interpretation of the archaeological record. The two researchers also attempt to characterize the density of rural settlements and their spatial distribution. I shall not dally on the methods employed, which involve quite complex statistics and geomatics (anyway, they lie outside my area of scientific competence), and shall take the figures at face value, even if I might question some of them. I shall contemplate the economic impact of population growth on the countryside of Gaul in Imperial times. It is a subject that has often been addressed, but one which I intend to reconsider in the context of a European programme on this issue. The relationship between population numbers, agricultural yield, gross domestic product and taxation has certainly been one key to our understanding of the Roman economy ever since the model suggested by K. Hopkins. Here, however, I do not wish to proceed in terms of theory, but intend to review critically the archaeological sources, which, for want of written evidence, are our mainspring for evaluating the key components of economic development on the regional scale of NE Gaul.

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