Notes

Outline

The Phoenicians and Greeks.

The Roman Empire.

The Rise of Rome. Agriculture. Irrigation and servile production. But, unlike Egypt, agriculture private: the Villa system. Organization and law. Military technology. Discipline and large numbers.

Early Roman economic policy. Importance of trade and commerce. Octavian defeats Antony (31 B.C.E.) The pax romana and the Mediterranean “common market.”

The Roman Empire about 117 C. E.

International trade in the Roman era.

The fall of Rome. External causes. Change in military technology? Learning by “barbarians.” Internal causes. End of expansion eliminates source of revenue. Need to “bribe” political challengers. Bread and circuses. Tax exemptions for nobility. â Spiraling fiscal crisis.

Roman fiscal crisis. Emperors raise tax rates to meet revenue demands. Tax base erodes as goods and services flee the money economy. Reduced tax base leads to further increases in the tax rate, etc.

Monetary Policy.

Government controls. Diocletian reforms. Strict wage and price controls. In-kind system of taxation and requisition. Constantine (308-337) ties workers to the land. â “Demonetizing” the economy.

Barbarian invasions. Germanic expansion. Population increase and Huns. Augustulus deposed by barbarians in 476. How dark the “Dark Ages”? Evidence of population decline. From roving bandits to sedentary bandits.