Integration and Disintegration in the Late Roman Economy: The Role Of Markets, Emperors, and Aristocrats
In: Local Economies?
Author:
Peter Sarris
Peter Sarris
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Abstract
This essay examines the role of state regulation, markets, and social structures in shaping the development of the Roman economy in Late Antiquity. It argues that the recent tendency amongst ancient historians to emphasise the role of markets, represents a welcome corrective to earlier primitivist tendencies. However, it is important that the current focus on markets should not distract attention from the strongly interventionist instincts of the Roman state, its role in fostering and stimulating commodified exchange, and the extent to which markets were managed to serve the interests of the government and the Roman governing classes.