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Mercatores
Roman commerce was a major sector of the Roman economy during the later generations of the Roman Republic, Republic and throughout most of the Roman Empire, imperial period. Fashions and trends in historiography and in popular culture have tended to neglect the economic basis of the empire in favor of the lingua franca of Latin and the exploits of the Roman legions. The language and the legions were supported by trade and were part of its backbone. The Romans were businessmen, and the longevity of their empire was caused by their commercial trade. Whereas in theory members of the Roman Senate and their sons were restricted when engaging in trade, the members of the equestrian (Roman), equestrian order were involved in businesses despite their upper-class values, which laid the emphasis on military pursuits and leisure activities. Plebs, Plebeians and freedmen held shop or manned stalls at markets, and vast numbers of slavery in ancient Rome, slaves did most of the hard work. The sl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Economy
The study of the Roman economy, which is, the economies of the ancient city-state of Rome and its empire during the Republican and Imperial periods remains highly speculative. There are no surviving records of business and government accounts, such as detailed reports of tax revenues, and few literary sources regarding economic activity. Instead, the study of this ancient economy is today mainly based on the surviving archeological and literary evidence that allow researchers to form conjectures based on comparisons with other more recent pre-industrial economies. During the early centuries of the Roman Republic, it is conjectured that the economy was largely agrarian and centered on the trading of commodities such as grain and wine.Garnsey, Peter, et al. The Roman Empire: Economy, Society and Culture. 2nd ed., University of California Press, 2015, www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt9qh25h. Financial markets were established through such trade, and financial institutions, which ext ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
