The Romans

DAILY LIFE, WORK, & ENTERTAINMENT

THE ECONOMY & MONEY

“Now that state officials are elected by the senate and the people have no votes to sell, they have lost interest. Those who once had a say in the election to power of everyone from consul to legionary commander have taken back seats, claiming as their rights just bread and circuses” (Juvenal Satires, X. 77 - 81).

Above left, sestertius of c. AD 120, depicting Ceres with ears of corn, which in imperial times people demanded as their right, and many received tokens for free issues. Right, silver denarius of 113/112 BC: the moneyer, T. Didius, promises to mount a public gladiatorial games if he is elected curule aedile. (Photo © Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow)

Coin symbolizing the grain dole (annona), with the goddess Annona holding a cornucopia, Ceres seated with stalks of grain, and between them a modius, the instrument for measuring amounts. (VRoma: British Museum: Barbara McManus)

The economy of ancient Rome was an issue of great complexity. Imports into Italy, especially of wheat, olive oil, and wine were astronomical, as were those of luxury goods from other parts of the Roman world. Consumer spending was restricted in that so many of the population were slaves, and others, especially in Rome itself, were on the dole; while the army, whose presence anywhere had the effect of boosting the local economy, was spread around the provinces. The provinces themselves were meant both to be self-supporting and to provide the fiscal treasury with taxes, as well as to supply Rome with staple goods, including pottery from Gaul and Germany.

Medium sized Roman merchant ship of the end of the third century AD. (Illustration by John Pittaway from Picture Reference Ancient Romans, Brockhampton Press 1970)

Amphora, for transporting or keeping liquids such as wine and olive oil, with a capacity of 20-25 litres. If it had no other cargo, a merchant ship might well carry six thousand amphorae, each weighing 50 kilos, in layers. (Illustration by John Pittaway from Picture Reference Ancient Romans, Brockhampton Press 1970)

Vast sums were expended on public works and entertainments, and on the armed forces. At the end of the day, the emperor was usually blamed for shortages, shortfalls, and anything else to do with the economy.

Abacus with beads. Roman numerals were not designed for easy computation. Calculation was done with the help of an abacus, or by a complex system involving the use of the fingers, finger-joints, and thumbs of both hands. (VRoma: Landesmuseum, Mainz: Barbara McManus)

The emperor always had, however, considerable resources of his own to draw on, particularly from estates which were bequeathed to him or acquired by other means. It is said that Nero confiscated the entire properties of six men who between them owned almost all the corn land in north Africa, and these were still being cultivated as imperial possessions under the rule of Hadrian, sixty years later.

Coin of Alexandria, AD 180 - 192, depicting a ship carrying grain from Egypt to Rome. The whole of Egypt had from the time of Augustus constituted an imperial perquisite, in that he had (in his estimation) acquired it by right, and he passed on to his successors the tradition that the emperor owned the land and those who worked it were his tenants. (VRoma: British Museum: Barbara McManus)

Nerva and his immediate successors, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus, and Marcus Aurelius, inherited from Domitian and his father the habit of moderation in personal expenditure. During their rules, however, there was considerable improvement in the provision of roads and harbours, central government money was granted for new buildings in the provinces, and new public assistance programmes were introduced, particularly for the children of poor families in the municipalities, and increased allowances of wine and olive oil, as well as corn, were made to the public in Rome.

Field with olive trees near Hadrian’s villa. (VRoma: Barbara McManus)

The successful conclusion of Trajan’s invasion of Dacia, begun in AD 101, and especially the output of the Dacian gold and silver mines, boosted the imperial exchequer, but it needed a period of comparative peace, and the careful and dedicated attention of Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius to the levying and collecting of taxes, before comparative liquidity was finally, but only temporarily, achieved.

The basic coinage instituted by Augustus comprised the copper quadrans, brass semis, copper as, brass dupondius and sestertius, silver denarius, and gold aureus. Other coins were introduced from time to time to meet inflation. Constantine replaced the aureus with the gold solidus.

A] quadrans of Nero (reverse), with laurel branch: it is frequently mentioned as the entrance fee to the public baths.

B] semis of Domitian (= 2 quadrantes)

C] as of Vespasian (= 2 semisses)

D] dupondius of Marcus Aurelius (= 2 asses)

E] sestertius of Hadrian (= 2 dupondii)

F] denarius of Julius Caesar (= 4 sestertii)

G] aureus of Augustus (= 25 denarii)

H] solidus of Zeno, emperor in the east during the later empire

(Photos © Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, University of Glasgow)

Overview of this page [Ref: 5.1]

The Roman economy under the empire was made complicated by the insatiable appetite for luxury in Rome, the dole, the prevalence of slavery, the importance of the army and the exploitation of the provinces. Much depended on whether an emperor tended to be a spendthrift or a miser.

Examples of the commoner coins in circulation.

Notes

Welfare benefits

The mass of the population of Rome had welfare benefits of a kind and on a scale never matched before and hardly since. The hard and menial work was done by slaves. Leisure hours were comparatively long and leisure pursuits subsidized. Public holidays were plentiful and public entertainment was free. In the times of Julius Caesar and Augustus, 150,000 of the inhabitants of Rome received free grain.

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