Did long-distance trade in the Roman world operate on a sufficiently big scale to increase the overall size of markets, enabling specialization of labor and thus Smithian growth? Although the Malthusian model represents the dominant view to describe the economic performance of the ancient world,...

Introduction: approaching the imperial Roman economy -- Central aims of the book -- Who will read this? Target audiences -- Lingering questions about imperial Rome -- The many faces of Roman economic history -- From fine-grained to 'big picture': methods and treatment of the evidence -- The...

This paper contributes to the understanding of the long-run consequences of Roman rule on economic development. In ancient times, the area of contemporary Germany was divided into a Roman and non-Roman part. The study uses this division to test whether the formerly Roman part of Germany show a...