Ancient Rome

=== Economy ===
{{Main|Roman agriculture|Roman commerce|Roman finance|Roman currency|Roman metallurgy}}
[[File:Pompeii - Fullonica of Veranius Hypsaeus 1 - MAN.jpg|thumb|Workers at a cloth-processing shop, in a painting from the ''[[fullonica]]'' of Veranius Hypsaeus in Pompeii]]
Ancient Rome commanded a vast area of land, with tremendous natural and human resources. As such, Rome's economy remained focused on [[Farming in ancient Rome|farming]] and trade. Agricultural [[free trade]] changed the Italian landscape, and by the 1st century BC, vast grape and [[olive]] estates had supplanted the [[yeoman]] farmers, who were unable to match the imported grain price. The [[annexation]] of [[Egypt]], Sicily and [[Tunisia]] in North Africa provided a continuous supply of grains. In turn, [[olive oil]] and [[Ancient Rome and wine|wine]] were Italy's main exports. Two-tier [[crop rotation]] was practised, but farm productivity was low, around 1 ton per hectare.

Industrial and manufacturing activities were small. The largest such activities were the mining and [[quarry]]ing of stones, which provided basic construction materials for the buildings of that period. In manufacturing, production was on a relatively small scale, and generally consisted of workshops and small factories that employed at most dozens of workers. However, some brick factories employed hundreds of workers.

The economy of the early Republic was largely based on [[smallholding]] and paid labour. However, foreign wars and conquests made [[slavery in antiquity|slaves]] increasingly cheap and plentiful, and by the late Republic, the economy was largely dependent on [[Slavery|slave labour]] for both skilled and unskilled work. Slaves are estimated to have constituted around 20% of the Roman Empire's population at this time and 40% in the city of Rome. Only in the Roman Empire, when the conquests stopped and the prices of slaves increased, did hired labour become more economical than slave ownership.

[[File:Mercati di Traiano, 2013.jpg|thumb|left|View of [[Trajan's Market]], built by [[Apollodorus of Damascus]]]]
Although [[barter]] was used in ancient Rome, and often used in tax collection, Rome had a very developed [[coin]]age system, with [[Brass instrument|brass]], [[bronze]], and [[precious metal]] coins in circulation throughout the Empire and beyond—some have even been discovered in India. Before the 3rd century BC, copper was traded by weight, measured in unmarked lumps, across [[central Italy]]. The original [[British coinage|copper coins]] (''[[As (Roman coin)|as]]'') had a face value of one [[Pound (weight)#Origins|Roman pound]] of copper, but weighed less. Thus, Roman money's utility as a unit of exchange consistently exceeded its intrinsic value as metal. After [[Nero]] began debasing the silver [[denarius]], its [[legal tender|legal]] value was an estimated one-third greater than its intrinsic value.

Horses were expensive and other [[pack animal]]s were slower. Mass trade on the [[Roman roads]] connected military posts, where Roman markets were centered.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4aX-W6AVNv8C&pg=PA231 |title=The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare |date=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521782746 |editor-last=Sabin |editor-first=Philip |page=231 |editor-last2=van Wees |editor-first2=Hans |editor-last3=Whitby |editor-first3=Michael}}</ref> These roads were designed for wheels.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Heseltine |first=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fm5l000EmoAC |title=Roads to Rome |date=2005 |publisher=J. Paul Getty Museum |isbn=978-0711225527 |page=11}}</ref> As a result, there was transport of [[commodity|commodities]] between Roman regions, but increased with the rise of [[Roman commerce#Sea routes|Roman maritime trade]] in the 2nd century BC. During that period, a trading vessel took less than a month to complete a trip from [[Cádiz|Gades]] to [[Alexandria]] via [[Ostia Antica|Ostia]], spanning the entire length of the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]].{{Sfn| Scarre|1995}} Transport by sea was around 60 times cheaper than by land, so the volume for such trips was much larger.

Some economists consider the Roman Empire a [[market economy]], similar in its degree of capitalistic practices to 17th century Netherlands and 18th century England.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Temin |first=Peter |year=2001 |title=A Market Economy in the Early Roman Empire |url=http://eh.net/abstracts/archive/0370.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615223139/http://eh.net/abstracts/archive/0370.php |archive-date=15 June 2010 |website=Abstract Archives |publisher=Economy History Services}}</ref>