Quantifying the Roman Economy Methods and Problems

This collection of essays is the first volume in a new series, Oxford Studies on the Roman Economy. Edited by the series editors, it focuses on the economic performance of the Roman empire, analysing the extent to which Roman political domination of the Mediterranean and north-west Europe created the conditions for the integration of agriculture, production, trade, and commerce across the regions of the empire. Using the evidence of both documents and archaeology, the contributors suggest how we can derive a quantified account of economic growth and contraction in the period of the empire's greatest extent and prosperity.

1 - Introduction. Quantifying the Roman economy: integration, growth, decline?
2 - Urbanization as a proxy of demographic and economic growth
3 - Response to Elio Lo Cascio
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
7 - Quantifying Egyptian agriculture
8 - Response to Alan Bowman
9 - Approaches to quantifying Roman trade
10 - Approaches to quantifying Roman trade: response
11 - A comment on Andrew Wilson: 'Approaches to quantifying Roman trade'
12 - Coinage and metal supply
13 - Roman silver coinage: mints, metallurgy, and production
14 - Some numismatic approaches to quantifying the Roman economy
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

Alan Bowman is Camden Professor of Ancient History, University of Oxford. Andrew Wilson is Professor of the Archaeology of the Roman Empire, Universiy of Oxford.