Publisher's Synopsis
The studies in this volume concern the society and economy of the Roman Empire up to the 4th century AD. Having begun with the populace of Rome itself and the way in which the poor were controlled by the rich, the author's perspective has widened to include the cities and lands of Italy and then the provinces of the Empire. The subjects studied are the organizations of labour, the relationship between town and country and the importance of trade.;Throughout, there is evident a strong opposition to the notion of any extensive capital investment, commercial exchange or economic development; it is argued, rather, that the economy of the Empire changed only slowly, remained essentially rural, and there arose no powerful urban commercial class to challenge the domination of the rich landowners. Two of the studies appear here in English for the first time.
