Structure and Scale in the Roman Economy [Paperback]

This book explores central areas of the Roman economy and the ways those areas connect and interact.Duncan-Jones presents a series of studies and debates on interlocking themes which explore central areas of the Roman economy and the ways those areas connect and interact. The studies are grouped into five sections: Time and Distance, Demography and Manpower, Agrarian Patterns, The World of Cities, and Tax-payment and Tax-assessment.Duncan-Jones presents a series of studies and debates on interlocking themes which explore central areas of the Roman economy and the ways those areas connect and interact. The studies are grouped into five sections: Time and Distance, Demography and Manpower, Agrarian Patterns, The World of Cities, and Tax-payment and Tax-assessment.This 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.List of figures; List of tables; Preface; List of abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. Time and Distance: 1. Communication-speed and contact by sea in the Roman empire; 2. Trade, taxes and money; 3. Separation and cohesion in Medls*