Periodic markets are institutions of crucial importance in all pre-industrial economies. Yet the subject has been given little atten-tion by Roman historians. The aim of this book is to remedy this state of affairs through an empire-wide study of annual, bi-annual, monthly and 'weekly' markets. The method used involves the interpretation of the ancient evidence in terms of economic and anthropo-logical theory and against the background of comparative data. Dr de Ligt starts by demonstrat-ing the continued importance of local and regional fairs throughout the im-perial period. Special attention is devoted to the role of both annual fairs and high-frequency periodic markets in the rural economy. In the second half of the book the scope of the discussion is extended to social and political aspects. Finally, the book addresses such topics as urban resistance towards neighbouring rural markets and the widespread practice of waiving customs duties for the duration of largescale religious festivals.

The book describes commercial activity in the Jewish community in Roman Palestine and the interactions between these different components of a controlled system. The book also discusses methods for determining prices and price enforcement, the views of the different marketors, and the status of the synagogue as center of commercial activity.

The quality of life for ordinary Roman citizens at the height of the Roman Empire probably was better than that of any other large group of people living before the Industrial Revolution. The Roman Market Economy uses the tools of modern economics to show how trade, markets, and the Pax Romana were critical to ancient Rome's prosperity.Peter Temin, one of the world's foremost economic historians, argues that markets dominated the Roman economy. He traces how the Pax Romana encouraged trade around the Mediterranean, and how Roman law promoted commerce and banking. Temin shows that a reasonably vibrant market for wheat extended throughout the empire, and suggests that the Antonine Plague may have been responsible for turning the stable prices of the early empire into the persistent inflation of the late. He vividly describes how various markets operated in Roman times, from commodities and slaves to the buying and selling of land. Applying modern methods for evaluating economic growth to data culled from historical sources, Temin argues that Roman Italy in the second century was as prosperous as the Dutch Republic in its golden age of the seventeenth century.The Roman Market Economy reveals how economics can help us understand how the Roman Empire could have ruled seventy million people and endured for centuries.

Did a Roman imperial economy exist under the Late Republic, the Roman Principate and the Later Roman Empire? And if so, what type of economy was it? Another equally important question is: did the Roman Empire, by specific actions, the creation of infrastructures, or its very existence, trigger a transformation of economic life in the regions which it dominated? Or was the Empire a marginal affair in the regions that belonged to it, and did economic developments take their own course, independently of the Empire? Questions like these, which are of great consequence to any student of Roman history, archaeology, and Roman law, are treated in this volume, which in its successive parts focuses on: 1. The character of the Roman economy. 2. Economic life in particular regions of the Roman Empire. 3. The economy of the Later Roman Empire.

This fourth installment of Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century resumes the previous volume's discussion of the Ghassanids by examining their economic, social, and cultural history. First, Irfan Shahîd focuses on the economy of the Ghassanids and presents information on various trade routes and fairs. Second, the author reconstructs Ghassanid daily life by discussing topics as varied as music, food, medicine, the role of women, and horse racing. Shahîd concludes the volume with an examination of cultural life, including descriptions of urbanization, Arabic script, chivalry, and poetry. Throughout the volume, the author reveals the history of a fully developed and unique Christian-Arab culture. Shahîd exhaustively describes the society of the Ghassanids, and their contributions to the cultural environment that persisted in Oriens during the sixth century and continued into the period of the Umayyad caliphate.

This volume provides the first comprehensive account of the retail network in ancient Rome and investigates the diverse means by which goods were sold to consumers in the city. Holleran places Roman retail trade within the wider context of its urban economy and explores the critical relationship between retail and broader environmental factors.