The Grain Market in the Roman Empire
A Social, Political and Economic Study

This book offers a contemporary approach to the crucial issue of the supply of grain in the Roman Empire.

Paul Erdkamp (Author)

9780521117838, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 30 July 2009

380 pages, 5 maps
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.56 kg

"This is an original and important analysis of the grain supply of the Roman empire, methodologically ambitious, thoughtful, thoroughly researched. Erdkamp's work makes intelligent use of comparative evidence from medieval and modern Europe to model the Roman grain market, from production, through regional and international trade, to its sale to the consumer. It ought to be widely read by scholars and students of the Roman grain trade, agriculture, nutrition, and social welfare." -- Phoenix

This book explores the economic, social and political forces that shaped the grain market in the Roman Empire. Examining studies on food supply and the grain market in pre-industrial Europe, it addresses questions of productivity, division of labour, market relations and market integration. The social and political aspects of the Roman grain market are also considered. Dr Erdkamp illustrates how entitlement to food in Roman society was dependent on relations with the emperor, his representatives and the landowning aristocracy, and local rulers controlling the towns and hinterlands. He assesses the response of the Roman authorities to weaknesses in the grain market and looks at the implications of the failure of local harvests. By examining the subject from a contemporary perspective, this book will appeal not only to historians of ancient economies, but to all concerned with the economy of grain markets, a subject which still resonates today.

Introduction
1. Production and productivity in Roman agriculture
2. The world of the smallholder
3. Farmers and their market relations
4. Market integration: connecting supply and demand
5. Rome and the corn provinces
6. Urban food supply and grain market intervention
Conclusions
References
Indexes.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ]