Roman Empire

==Economy==
{{Main|Roman economy}}
[[File:Green glass Roman cup unearthed at Eastern Han tomb, Guixian, China.jpg|thumb|right|A green [[Roman glass]] cup unearthed from an [[Eastern Han dynasty]] (25–220 AD) tomb in [[Guangxi]], China]]

The Empire is best thought of as a network of regional economies, based on a form of "political capitalism" in which the state regulated commerce to assure its own revenues.{{Sfnp|Potter|2009|pp=286, 295}} Economic growth, though not comparable to modern economies, was greater than that of most other societies prior to [[Industrial Revolution|industrialization]].{{Sfnp|Potter|2009|p=286}} Territorial conquests permitted a large-scale reorganization of [[land use]] that resulted in agricultural surplus and specialization, particularly in north Africa.{{Sfnp|Potter|2009|p=285}} Some cities were known for particular industries. The scale of urban building indicates a significant construction industry.{{Sfnp|Potter|2009|p=285}} Papyri preserve complex accounting methods that suggest elements of [[economic rationalism]],{{Sfnp|Potter|2009|p=285}} and the Empire was highly monetized.{{Sfnp|Potter|2009|p=292}} Although the means of communication and transport were limited in antiquity, transportation in the 1st and 2nd centuries expanded greatly, and trade routes connected regional economies.{{Sfnp|Potter|2009|pp=285–286, 296ff}} The [[Economics of the Roman army|supply contracts for the army]] drew on local suppliers near the base (''[[castrum]]''), throughout the province, and across provincial borders.{{Sfnp|Potter|2009|p=296}}
[[Economic history|Economic historians]] vary in their calculations of the gross domestic product during the Principate.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Cambridge Economic History of the Greco-Roman World |date=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-78053-7 |editor-last=Scheidel |editor-first=Walter |editor-link=Walter Scheidel |editor-last2=Morris |editor-first2=Ian |editor-link2=Ian Morris (historian) |editor-last3=Saller |editor-first3=Richard}}</ref> In the sample years of 14, 100, and 150 AD, estimates of per capita GDP range from 166 to 380 ''[[Sestertius|HS]]''. The GDP per capita of [[Italia (Roman Empire)|Italy]] is estimated as 40<ref name="Lo Cascio, Malanima 2009, 391–401">{{Cite journal |last1=Lo Cascio |first1=Elio |author-link=Elio Lo Cascio |last2=Malanima |first2=Paolo |author-link2=Paolo Malanima |date=2009 |title=GDP in Pre-Modern Agrarian Economies (1–1820 AD). A Revision of the Estimates |url=http://econpapers.repec.org/article/muljrkmxm/doi_3a10.1410_2f30919_3ay_3a2009_3ai_3a3_3ap_3a391-420.htm |journal=Rivista di Storia Economica |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=391–420 (391–401) |access-date=13 January 2017 |archive-date=16 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116145520/http://econpapers.repec.org/article/muljrkmxm/doi_3a10.1410_2f30919_3ay_3a2009_3ai_3a3_3ap_3a391-420.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> to 66%<ref>{{Cite book |last=Maddison |first=Angus |title=Contours of the World Economy, 1–2030 AD. Essays in Macro-Economic History |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-922721-1 |pages=47–51 |author-link=Angus Maddison}}</ref> higher than in the rest of the Empire, due to tax transfers from the provinces and the concentration of elite income.

Economic dynamism resulted in social mobility. Although aristocratic values permeated traditional elite society, wealth requirements for [[#Census rank|rank]] indicate a strong tendency towards [[plutocracy]]. Prestige could be obtained through investing one's wealth in grand estates or townhouses, luxury items, [[#Spectacles|public entertainments]], funerary monuments, and [[votum|religious dedications]]. Guilds (''[[collegium|collegia]]'') and corporations (''corpora'') provided support for individuals to succeed through networking.<ref name=verb/> "There can be little doubt that the lower classes of ... provincial towns of the Roman Empire enjoyed a high [[standard of living]] not equaled again in Western Europe until the 19th century".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dyson |first=Stephen L. |title=Community and Society in Roman Italy |date=1992 |isbn=0-8018-4175-5 |page=177|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press}} quoting {{Cite book |first=J.E. |last=Packer |title=Middle and Lower Class Housing in Pompeii and Herculaneum: A Preliminary Survey," In Neue Forschung in Pompeji |pages=133–142}}</ref> Households in the top 1.5% of [[income distribution]] captured about 20% of income. The "vast majority" produced more than half of the total income, but lived near [[subsistence]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Scheidel |first1=Walter |author-link=Walter Scheidel |last2=Friesen |first2=Steven J. |date=2010 |title=The Size of the Economy and the Distribution of Income in the Roman Empire |url=https://www.princeton.edu/~pswpc/pdfs/scheidel/010901.pdf |journal=Journal of Roman Studies |volume=99 |doi=10.3815/007543509789745223 |pages=61–91 |s2cid=202968244 |access-date=12 January 2017 |archive-date=13 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113015925/https://www.princeton.edu/~pswpc/pdfs/scheidel/010901.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Currency and banking===

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{{see also|Roman currency|Roman finance}}

[[File:HADRIANUS RIC II 938-789065.jpg|thumb|''Sestertius'' issued under [[Hadrian]] circa AD 134–138]] 
[[File:Solidus Constantine II-heraclea RIC vII 101.jpg|thumb|''Solidus'' issued under [[Constantine II (emperor)|Constantine II]], and on the reverse [[Victoria (mythology)|Victoria]], one of the last deities to appear on Roman coins, gradually transforming into an [[Angel#Christianity|angel]] under Christian rule<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fears |first=J. Rufus |chapter=The Theology of Victory at Rome: Approaches and Problem |date=1981 |title=Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt |volume=II.17.2 |pages=752, 824 |author-link=J. Rufus Fears}}, {{Cite book |last=Fears |first=J. Rufus |date=1981 |chapter=The Cult of Virtues and Roman Imperial Ideology |title=Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt |author-link=J. Rufus Fears |volume=II.17.2 |pages=908}}</ref>]]

The early Empire was monetized to a near-universal extent, using money as a way to express [[price]]s and [[debt]]s.<ref name="Kessler">{{Cite book |last1=Kessler |first1=David |chapter=Money and Prices in the Early Roman Empire |last2=Temin |first2=Peter |date=2010 |title=The Monetary Systems of the Greeks and Romans |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> The ''[[sestertius]]'' (English "sesterces", symbolized as ''HS'') was the basic unit of reckoning value into the 4th century,<ref name="Harl">{{Cite book |last=Harl |first=Kenneth W. |title=Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700 |date=19 June 1996 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-0-8018-5291-6 |pages=125–135}}</ref> though the silver ''[[denarius]]'', worth four sesterces, was also used beginning in the [[Severan dynasty]].{{Sfnp|Bowman|Garnsey|Cameron|2005|p=333}} The smallest coin commonly circulated was the bronze ''[[as (Roman coin)|as]]'', one-tenth ''denarius''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wells |first=Colin |title=The Roman Empire |date=1984 |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=8}}</ref> [[Bullion]] and [[ingot]]s seem not to have counted as ''pecunia'' ("money") and were used only on the frontiers. Romans in the first and second centuries counted coins, rather than weighing them—an indication that the coin was valued on its face. This tendency towards [[fiat money]] led to the [[debasement]] of Roman coinage in the later Empire.{{Sfnp|Harris|2010}} The standardization of money throughout the Empire promoted trade and market integration.<ref name=Kessler/> The high amount of metal coinage in circulation increased the [[money supply]] for trading or saving.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Scheidel |first=Walter |chapter=The Monetary Systems of the Han and Roman Empires |date=2009 |title=Rome and China. Comparative Perspectives on Ancient World Empires |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-533690-0 |editor-last=Scheidel |editor-first=Walter |pages=137–207 (205)}}</ref>
Rome had no [[central bank]], and regulation of the banking system was minimal. Banks of classical antiquity typically kept [[fractional reserve banking|less in reserves]] than the full total of customers' deposits. A typical bank had fairly limited [[Financial capital|capital]], and often only one principal. [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] assumes that anyone involved in [[Roman commerce]] needs access to [[Credit (finance)|credit]].{{Sfnp|Harris|2010}} A professional [[Deposit account|deposit]] banker received and held deposits for a fixed or indefinite term, and lent money to third parties. The senatorial elite were involved heavily in private lending, both as creditors and borrowers.<ref>{{Harvp|Harris|2010}}; {{Cite book |last=Andreau |first=Jean |title=Banking and Business in the Roman World |date=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=2}}</ref> The holder of a debt could use it as a means of payment by transferring it to another party, without cash changing hands. Although it has sometimes been thought that ancient Rome lacked [[negotiable instrument|documentary transactions]], the system of banks throughout the Empire permitted the exchange of large sums without physically transferring coins, in part because of the risks of moving large amounts of cash. Only one serious credit shortage is known to have occurred in the early Empire, in 33 AD;<ref>[[Tacitus]], ''Annales'' 6.17.3.</ref> generally, available capital exceeded the amount needed by borrowers.{{Sfnp|Harris|2010}} The central government itself did not borrow money, and without [[public debt]] had to fund [[Government budget balance|deficits]] from cash reserves.{{Sfnp|Duncan-Jones|1994|pp=3–4}}

Emperors of the [[Antonine dynasty|Antonine]] and [[Severan dynasty|Severan]] dynasties debased the currency, particularly the ''denarius'', under the pressures of meeting military payrolls.<ref name=Harl/> Sudden inflation under [[Commodus]] damaged the credit market.{{Sfnp|Harris|2010}} In the mid-200s, the supply of [[Bullion coin|specie]] contracted sharply.<ref name=Harl/> Conditions during the [[Crisis of the Third Century]]—such as reductions in long-distance trade, disruption of mining operations, and the physical transfer of gold coinage outside the empire by invading enemies—greatly diminished the money supply and the banking sector.<ref name=Harl/>{{Sfnp|Harris|2010}} Although Roman coinage had long been fiat money or [[fiduciary currency]], general economic anxieties came to a head under [[Aurelian]], and bankers lost confidence in coins. Despite [[Diocletian]]'s introduction of the gold ''[[solidus (coin)|solidus]]'' and monetary reforms, the credit market of the Empire never recovered its former robustness.{{Sfnp|Harris|2010}}

===Mining and metallurgy===
{{Main|Mining in ancient Rome|Roman metallurgy}}
[[File:Panorámica de Las Médulas.jpg|thumb|Landscape resulting from the {{Lang|la|[[ruina montium]]}} mining technique at [[Las Médulas]], Spain, one of the most important gold mines in the Roman Empire]]
The main mining regions of the Empire were the Iberian Peninsula (gold, silver, copper, tin, lead); Gaul (gold, silver, iron); Britain (mainly iron, lead, tin), the [[Danubian provinces]] (gold, iron); [[Macedonia (Roman province)|Macedonia]] and [[Thracia|Thrace]] (gold, silver); and Asia Minor (gold, silver, iron, tin).{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}} Intensive large-scale mining—of alluvial deposits, and by means of [[open-cast mining]] and [[underground mining]]—took place from the reign of Augustus up to the early 3rd century, when the instability of the Empire disrupted production.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

[[Hydraulic mining]] allowed [[base metal|base]] and [[precious metal]]s to be extracted on a proto-industrial scale.<ref name="wilson">{{Cite journal |last=Wilson |first=Andrew |date=2002 |title=Machines, Power and the Ancient Economy |journal=The Journal of Roman Studies |volume=92 |doi=10.2307/3184857 |pages=1–32 |jstor=3184857 |s2cid=154629776}}</ref> The total annual iron output is estimated at 82,500&nbsp;[[tonnes]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Craddock |first=Paul T. |chapter=Mining and Metallurgy |date=2008 |title=The Oxford Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Classical World |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-518731-1 |editor-last=Oleson |editor-first=John Peter |editor-link=John Peter Oleson |page=108}}; {{Cite book |last1=Sim |first1=David |title=Iron for the Eagles. The Iron Industry of Roman Britain |last2=Ridge |first2=Isabel |date=2002 |publisher=Tempus |isbn=0-7524-1900-5 |page=23}}; {{Cite book |last=Healy |first=John F. |title=Mining and Metallurgy in the Greek and Roman World |date=1978 |publisher=Thames and Hudson |isbn=0-500-40035-0 |page=196}} Assumes a productive capacity of c. 1.5&nbsp;kg per capita.</ref> Copper and lead production levels were unmatched until the [[Industrial Revolution]].<ref name="hong">{{Cite journal |last1=Hong |first1=S. |last2=Candelone |first2=J.-P. |last3=Patterson |first3=C. C. |last4=Boutron |first4=C. F. |date=1996 |title=History of Ancient Copper Smelting Pollution During Roman and Medieval Times Recorded in Greenland Ice |journal=Science |volume=272 |issue=5259 |doi=10.1126/science.272.5259.246 |page=246 |bibcode=1996Sci...272..246H |s2cid=176767223}}</ref><ref name="hong2">{{Cite journal |last1=Hong |first1=S |last2=Candelone |first2=J. P. |last3=Patterson |first3=C. C. |last4=Boutron |first4=C. F. |date=1994 |title=Greenland ice evidence of hemispheric lead pollution two millennia ago by greek and roman civilizations |url=http://www.precaution.org/lib/greenland_ice_evidence_of_ancient_lead_pollution.19940923.pdf |journal=Science |volume=265 |issue=5180 |doi=10.1126/science.265.5180.1841 |pmid=17797222 |pages=1841–1843 |bibcode=1994Sci...265.1841H |s2cid=45080402 |access-date=12 January 2017 |archive-date=29 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190429105450/http://www.precaution.org/lib/greenland_ice_evidence_of_ancient_lead_pollution.19940923.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="tay">{{Cite journal |last=De Callataÿ |first=François |date=2015 |title=The Graeco-Roman economy in the super long-run: Lead, copper, and shipwrecks |journal=Journal of Roman Archaeology |volume=18 |doi=10.1017/S104775940000742X |pages=361–372 |s2cid=232346123}}</ref><ref name="Settle">{{Cite journal |last1=Settle |first1=D. M. |last2=Patterson |first2=C. C. |date=1980 |title=Lead in albacore: Guide to lead pollution in Americans |journal=Science |volume=207 |issue=4436 |doi=10.1126/science.6986654 |pmid=6986654 |pages=1167–1176|bibcode=1980Sci...207.1167S }}</ref> At its peak around the mid-2nd century, the Roman silver stock is estimated at 10,000&nbsp;t, five to ten times larger than the combined silver mass of [[Early Middle Ages|medieval Europe]] and the [[Abbasid Caliphate|Caliphate]] around 800&nbsp;AD.<ref name=tay/><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Patterson |first=C. C. |date=1972 |title=Silver Stocks and Losses in Ancient and Medieval Times |journal=The Economic History Review |volume=25 |issue=2 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-0289.1972.tb02173.x |pages=205–235 (tables 2, 6)}}</ref> As an indication of the scale of Roman metal production, lead pollution in the [[Greenland ice sheet]] quadrupled over prehistoric levels during the Imperial era and dropped thereafter.{{Sfnp|Morris|Scheidel|2009|p=197}}

===Transportation and communication===
{{further|Cursus publicus}}
[[File:TabulaPeutingeriana Roma.jpg|thumb|The [[Tabula Peutingeriana]] ([[Latin]] for "The Peutinger Map") an ''[[Itinerarium]]'', often assumed to be based on the Roman ''cursus publicus'']]
The Empire completely encircled the Mediterranean, which they called "our sea" (''[[Mare Nostrum]]'').<ref>{{Cite book |last=Greene |first=Kevin |title=The Archaeology of the Roman Economy |date=1990 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-07401-9 |page=17}}</ref> Roman sailing vessels navigated the Mediterranean as well as major rivers.{{Sfnp|Boardman|2000|p=721}} Transport by water was preferred where possible, as moving commodities by land was more difficult.{{Sfnp|Boardman|2000|p=714}} Vehicles, wheels, and ships indicate the existence of a great number of skilled woodworkers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ulrich |first=Roger Bradley |url=https://archive.org/details/RomanWoodworking |title=Roman Woodworking |date=2007 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0300103410 |pages=1–2}}</ref>

Land transport utilized the advanced system of [[Roman roads]], called "''viae''". These roads were primarily built for military purposes,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Van Tilburg |first=Cornelis |title=Traffic and Congestion in the Roman Empire |date=2007 |publisher=Routledge |page=33}}</ref> but also served commercial ends. The in-kind taxes paid by communities included the provision of personnel, animals, or vehicles for the ''[[cursus publicus]]'', the state mail and transport service established by Augustus.{{Sfnp|Potter|2009|p=188}} Relay stations were located along the roads every seven to twelve [[Roman mile]]s, and tended to grow into villages or trading posts.{{Sfnp|Stambaugh|1988|p=253}} A ''[[mansio]]'' (plural ''mansiones'') was a privately run service station franchised by the imperial bureaucracy for the ''cursus publicus''. The distance between ''mansiones'' was determined by how far a wagon could travel in a day.{{Sfnp|Stambaugh|1988|p=253}} Carts were usually pulled by mules, travelling about 4&nbsp;mph.<ref>[[Ray Laurence]], "Land Transport in Roman Italy: Costs, Practice and the Economy", in ''Trade, Traders and the Ancient City'' (Routledge, 1998), p. 129.</ref>

===Trade and commodities===
{{See also|Roman commerce|Indo-Roman trade relations|Sino-Roman relations}}

Roman provinces traded among themselves, but trade extended outside the frontiers to regions as far away as [[Ancient China|China]] and [[Gupta Empire|India]].{{Sfnp|Boardman|2000|p=713}} Chinese trade was mostly conducted overland through middle men along the [[Silk Road]]; Indian trade also occurred by sea from [[Roman Egypt|Egyptian]] ports. The main [[commodity]] was grain.{{Sfnp|Boardman|2000|p=710}} Also traded were olive oil, foodstuffs, ''[[garum]]'' ([[fish sauce]]), slaves, ore and manufactured metal objects, fibres and textiles, timber, [[ancient Roman pottery|pottery]], [[Roman glass|glassware]], marble, [[papyrus]], spices and ''[[materia medica]]'', ivory, pearls, and gemstones.{{Sfnp|Boardman|2000|pp=717–729}} Though most provinces could produce wine, [[Ancient Rome and wine|regional varietals]] were desirable and wine was a central trade good.<ref>{{Harvp|Bowman|Garnsey|Cameron|2005|p=404}}; {{Harvp|Boardman|2000|p=719}}</ref>

===Labour and occupations===
[[File:Pompeii - Fullonica of Veranius Hypsaeus 1 - MAN.jpg|thumb|right|Workers at a cloth-processing shop, in a painting from the ''[[fullonica]]'' of Veranius Hypsaeus in Pompeii]]
Inscriptions record 268 different occupations in Rome and 85 in Pompeii.{{Sfnp|Morris|Scheidel|2009|p=196}} Professional associations or trade guilds (''collegia'') are attested for a wide range of occupations, some quite specialized.<ref name=verb/>

Work performed by slaves falls into five general categories: domestic, with epitaphs recording at least 55 different household jobs; [[Slavery in ancient Rome#Servus publicus|imperial or public service]]; urban crafts and services; agriculture; and mining. Convicts provided much of the labour in the mines or quarries, where conditions were notoriously brutal.{{Sfnp|Gagarin|2010|p=323}} In practice, there was little division of labour between slave and free,<ref name=Garnsey/> and most workers were illiterate and without special skills.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Temin |first=Peter |date=2004 |title=The Labor Market of the Early Roman Empire |journal=Journal of Interdisciplinary History |volume=34 |issue=4 |doi=10.1162/002219504773512525 |pages=513–538 |s2cid=33380115 }}</ref> The greatest number of common labourers were employed in agriculture: in Italian industrial farming (''[[latifundia]]''), these may have been mostly slaves, but elsewhere slave farm labour was probably less important.<ref name=Garnsey/>

Textile and clothing production was a major source of employment. Both textiles and finished garments were traded and products were often named for peoples or towns, like a [[fashion brand|fashion "label"]].{{Sfnp|Jones|1960|pp=184–185}} Better ready-to-wear was exported by local businessmen (''negotiatores'' or ''mercatores'').{{Sfnp|Jones|1960|p=192}} Finished garments might be retailed by their sales agents, by ''vestiarii'' (clothing dealers), or peddled by itinerant merchants.{{Sfnp|Jones|1960|p=192}} The [[fulling|fullers]] (''[[fullonica|fullones]]'') and dye workers (''coloratores'') had their own guilds.{{Sfnp|Jones|1960|pp=190–191}} ''Centonarii'' were guild workers who specialized in textile production and the recycling of old clothes into [[patchwork|pieced goods]].{{Efn|The college of ''centonarii'' is an elusive topic in scholarship, since they are also widely attested as urban firefighters.{{Sfnp|Vout|2009|p=212}}<ref name="Liu">{{Cite book |last=Liu |first=Jinyu |title=Collegia Centonariorum: The Guilds of Textile Dealers in the Roman West |date=2009 |publisher=Brill |author-link=Jinyu Liu}}</ref> Historian [[Jinyu Liu]] sees them as "primarily tradesmen and/or manufacturers engaged in the production and distribution of low- or medium-quality woolen textiles and clothing, including felt and its products".<ref name=Liu/>}}

[[File:Cacera Centcelles panoràmica.jpg|thumb|upright=3|center|Recreation of a deer hunt inspired by hunting scenes represented in Roman art.]]