Roman Economy and Trade

From the bustling farmlands of Gaul to the glittering markets of Alexandria, Roman Economy and Trade reveals how an empire built on grain, gold, and governance created the world's first truly global marketplace—and then saw it unravel. With sweeping narrative flair, this book uncovers the hidden networks of roads, ports, and legal codes that bound Europe, Africa, and Asia into a single economic organism. You'll meet the magnates whose latifundia fed Rome's million-strong capital, the silver-minting emperors whose coinage fueled conquest and decadence alike, and the daring merchants who braved pirate-infested seas to bring silk, spices, and ivory from the edge of civilization. Drawing on gripping primary sources—from Pliny's vivid Natural History to the dusty tablets of the Lex Irnitana—it combines vivid storytelling with rigorous scholarship. Discover how shipping innovations made the Mediterranean "our sea," why tariff laws could make or break a provincial governor, and how the empire's reliance on slave labor sowed the seeds of its own decline. Along the way, you'll travel mile by sunburned mile on the Appian Way, feel the clink of sestertii in a busy port warehouse, and witness the dramatic collapse of trade that heralded Rome's fall.