Quantifying the Roman Economy

Alan Bowman is Camden Professor Emeritus of Ancient History and Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford. His research interests focus on papyrology, the Vindolanda Writing tablets, and the social and economic history of Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt and the Roman Empire. Andrew Wilson is Professor of the Archaeology of the Roman Empire and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, and Chairman of the Society for Libyan Studies. He has directed excavations in Italy, Tunisia, and Libya, and is the author of numerous articles on ancient water supply, ancient technology, economy, and trade.

1. Introduction. Quantifying the Roman economy: integration, growth, decline? ; I. URBANIZATION ; 2. Urbanization as a proxy of demographic and economic growth ; 3. Response to Elio Lo Cascio ; II. FIELD SURVEY AND DEMOGRAPHY ; 4. Archaeology, demography, and Roman economic growth ; 5. Peopling the countryside: Roman demography in the Albegna Valley and Jerba ; 6. Peopling ancient landscapes: potential and problems ; III. AGRICULTURE ; 7. Quantifying Egyptian agriculture ; 8. Response to Alan Bowman ; IV. TRADE ; 9. Approaches to quantifying Roman trade ; 10. Approaches to quantifying Roman trade: response ; 11. A comment on Andrew Wilson: 'Approaches to quantifying Roman trade' ; V. COINAGE ; 12. Coinage and metal supply ; 13. Roman silver coinage: mints, metallurgy, and production ; 14. Some numismatic approaches to quantifying the Roman economy ; VI. PRICES, EARNINGS AND STANDARDS OF LIVING ; 15. Earnings and costs: living standards and the Roman economy ; 16. How prosperous were the Romans? ; 17. New ways of studying incomes in the Roman economy