Front Matter

ECONOMIC HISTORY OF ROME

TO THE END OF THE REPUBLIC

AN ECONOMIC HISTORY OF ROME

TO THE END OF THE REPUBLIC

By TENNEY FRANK

Professor of Latin in the Johns Hopkins University

BALTIMORE

The Johns Hopkins Press

1920

Copyright, 1920 By The Johns Hopkins Press

THE NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY LANCASTER, PA.

PREFACE

The reasons why no economic history of Rome has hitherto been available may perhaps not be apparent to those who have not attempted to write one. The lack of easily interpreted data has indeed made the task almost impossible. Roman history, which received little attention until Rome had become a world power, was thereafter for two centuries written chiefly by public men who had devoted their lives to politics and diplomacy. These men naturally had no personal interest in commerce and manufacture; indeed, they were members of a class that held traders and manufacturers in slight esteem. As a consequence, their books, from which of course Livy drew his account, contained only casual remarks regarding the economic conditions of their nation.

Archaeology has recently provided important material, especially for the study of the early period, but it is material that cannot always be precisely interpreted. The inscriptions dating from the Republican period are brief, and unfortunately temple accounts, which have provided many facts for the reconstruction of Greek economic history, were at Rome kept on perishable material. The papyri that have recently been found in large quantities in Egypt provide data in the main only for that kingdom, the economic mechanism of which was so peculiar that the historian cannot apply the inferences drawn from them to conditions prevailing elsewhere. It is for such reasons as these that students of antiquity have hesitated to attempt an account of Rome’s economic development, and that the reader cannot now be supplied with adequate tables of prices, wages, exports, imports, and the like. If the definite facts recorded in the present volume seem not to be commensurate with the space required for the record, the cause lies to some extent at least in the frequent necessity of interpreting the ambiguous material available before using it for historical purposes.

It was my intention to continue this history through the Empire, but new work that cannot be avoided has made this impossible. The book is, however, not a fragment. The Republic shaped most of the ideas and institutions which we associate with the word Rome; the Empire was largely a conglomeration of non-Italic peoples that never quite coalesced and that were directed more or less mechanically by a government which tried with only partial success to impose upon them the institutions created by the Republic. The new ideas that originated in the Empire were in general not of Latin origin nor in accord with the spirit of the old Republic. It is desirable, therefore, to consider the Republic as a unit, and not to confuse its practices with those of the Empire. Where, however, light could be thrown upon the earlier history by reference to methods that demonstrably continued into the Empire, I have not hesitated to draw illustrative material from the later period, and have in fact let the story of several chapters run far into the second century of our era for the purpose of reaching the logical sequel of conditions originating in the Republic.

I wish to thank the editors of the American Historical Review, the American Economic Review, Classical Philology, The Military Historian and Economist, and the Classical Journal for permitting me to use certain paragraphs and summaries of studies which have been printed in their journals, and especially to express my gratitude to my colleague, Professor Wilfred Pirt Mustard, for his kindness in reading and bettering the manuscript.

T. F. February 29, 1920

CONTENTS

CHAPTER — PAGE

I. Agriculture in Early Latium — 1

II. The Early Trade of Latium and Etruria — 13

III. The Rise of the Peasantry — 36

IV. New Lands for Old — 51

V. Roman Coinage — 64

VI. The Establishment of the Plantation — 84

VII. Industry and Commerce — 107

VIII. The Gracchan Revolution — 117

IX. Public Finances — 131

X. The Plebs Urbana — [OCR unclear: ^]

XI. Industry at the End of the Republic — 165

XII. Industry, Continued — 190

XIII. Capital — 219

XIV. Commerce — 241

XV. The Laborer — [OCR unclear: 'J^^^]

XVI. The Exhaustion of the Soil — [OCR unclear: ^'^^^^^^]

ECONOMIC HISTORY OF ROME

TO THE END OF THE REPUBLIC

AN ECONOMIC HISTORY OF ROME

TO THE END OF THE REPUBLIC

By TENNEY FRANK

Professor of Latin at the Johns Hopkins University

BALTIMORE

The Johns Hopkins Press

1920

Copyright, 1920 By The Johns Hopkins Press

The New Era Printing Company Lancaster, Pennsylvania

PREFACE

The reasons no economic history of Rome has previously been available may not be apparent to those who have never attempted to write one. The lack of easily interpreted data has, in fact, made the task almost impossible. Roman history received little attention until Rome had become a world power. For the next two centuries, it was written chiefly by public men who had devoted their lives to politics and diplomacy. Naturally, these men had no personal interest in commerce and manufacturing; indeed, they belonged to a class that held traders and manufacturers in low esteem. Consequently, their books—from which Livy, of course, drew his account—contained only incidental remarks about their nation’s economic conditions.

Archaeology has recently provided important material, especially for the study of the early period, but this material cannot always be interpreted precisely. Inscriptions dating from the Republican period are brief. Unfortunately, temple accounts—which have supplied many facts for reconstructing Greek economic history—were kept at Rome on perishable material. The papyri recently found in large quantities in Egypt provide data mainly for that kingdom. Egypt’s economic system was so distinctive that historians cannot apply conclusions drawn from these papyri to conditions elsewhere.

For such reasons, students of antiquity have hesitated to attempt an account of Rome’s economic development, and readers still cannot be supplied with adequate tables of prices, wages, exports, imports, and similar data. If the definite facts recorded in this volume seem disproportionate to the space required to present them, the reason lies, at least to some extent, in the frequent need to interpret the available ambiguous material before using it for historical purposes.

I had intended to continue this history through the Empire, but unavoidable new work has made that impossible. The book is not, however, a fragment. The Republic shaped most of the ideas and institutions we associate with the word “Rome.” The Empire was largely a conglomeration of non-Italic peoples who never fully coalesced and who were directed more or less mechanically by a government that tried, with only partial success, to impose on them the institutions created by the Republic. The new ideas that originated in the Empire were generally neither Latin in origin nor consistent with the spirit of the old Republic.

It is therefore desirable to consider the Republic as a unit and not to confuse its practices with those of the Empire. Where methods that demonstrably continued into the Empire could shed light on earlier history, however, I have not hesitated to draw illustrative material from the later period. In fact, I have carried the narrative of several chapters well into the second century of our era in order to reach the logical outcome of conditions that originated in the Republic.

I wish to thank the editors of the American Historical Review, the American Economic Review, Classical Philology, The Military Historian and Economist, and the Classical Journal for permitting me to use certain paragraphs and summaries of studies previously printed in their journals. I especially wish to express my gratitude to my colleague, Professor Wilfred Pirt Mustard, for his kindness in reading and improving the manuscript.

T. F.

February 29, 1920

CONTENTS

Chapter I. Agriculture in Early Latium — 1

Chapter II. The Early Trade of Latium and Etruria — 13

Chapter III. The Rise of the Peasantry — 36

Chapter IV. New Lands for Old — 51

Chapter V. Roman Coinage — 64

Chapter VI. The Establishment of the Plantation — 84

Chapter VII. Industry and Commerce — [OCR unclear: L2J]

Chapter VIII. The Gracchan Revolution — [OCR unclear: nj]

Chapter IX. Public Finances — 131

Chapter X. The Plebs Urbana — [OCR unclear: ^]

Chapter XI. Industry at the End of the Republic — 165

Chapter XII. Industry, Continued — 190

Chapter XIII. Capital — 219

Chapter XIV. Commerce — 241

Chapter XV. The Laborer — [OCR unclear: J^^^]

Chapter XVI. The Exhaustion of the Soil — [OCR unclear: ^'^^^^^^]