IMP ACT OF EMPIRE (ROMAN EMPIRE) 2 In memory of Thomas Wiedemann (May 14, 1950 - June 28, 2001) THE TRANSFORMATION OF ECONOMIC LIFE UNDER THE ROMAN EMPIRE PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND WORKSHOP OF THE INTERNATIONAL NETWORK IMP ACT OF EMPIRE (ROMAN EMPIRE, c. 200 B.C. - A.D. 476) NOTTINGHAM, JULY 4 - 7, 2001 EDITED BY LUKAS DE BLOIS & JOHN RICH J.C. GIEßEN, PUßLISHER AMSTERDAM 2002 This is an open access title distributed under the terms of the CC-BY-NC 4.0 License, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and r eproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. The workshop was funded by the British Academy, the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, the University ofNottingham and the Netherlands Research School of Classics Oikos We owe thanks to Jasper Oorthuys, the assistant editor of this volume No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher © 2002 by J.C. Gieben ISBN 90 5063 328 5 Printed in The Netherlands CONTENTS Lukas de Blois and John Rich, Preface VII Lukas de Blois, Harry W. Pleket and John Rich, Introduction IX Abbreviations XXI Part 1: The Transfonnation of the Economy under the Roman Empire. General Issues Peter F. Bang, Romans and Mughals. Economic Integration in a Tributary Empire 1 Willem M. Jongman, The Roman Economy: From Cities to Empire 28 Luuk de Ligt, Tax Transfers in the Roman Empire 48 Anne Kolb, Impact and Interaction of State Transport in the Roman Empire 67 Jose Remesal Rodriguez, Military Supply during Wartime 77 Paul P.M. Erdkamp, A Starving Mob has no Respect. Urban Markets and Food Riots in the Roman World, 100 B.C. -A.D. 400 93 Willem J. Zwalve, Callistus' Case. Some Legal Aspects ofRoman Business Activities 116 V Part 2: The Transformation ofEconomic Life under the Roman Empire. Regional Aspects John F. Drinkwater, Prologue and Epilogue. The Socio-Economic Effect of Rome's Arrival in and Departure from Gaul 128 Philippe Leveau, Indicateurs paleoenvironnementaux et economie rurale. Le cas de la Gaule Narbonnaise 141 Jos P.A. van der Vin, Coin Use in and around Military Camps on the Lower Rhine: Nijmegen -Kops Plateau 159 Hugh W. Elton, The Economic Fringe: The Reach ofthe Roman Empire in Rough Cilicia 172 David J. Mattingly, Impacts beyond Empire: Rome and the Garamantes of the Sahara 184 Part 3: The Transformation of Economic Life under the Roman Empire. The Later Empire Lukas de Blois, The Crisis ofthe Third Century A.D. in the Roman Empire: A Modern Myth? 204 Antonio Polichetti, Costo dellavoro e potere d' acquisto neU' Editto dei Prezzi di Diocleziano 218 Wolfg ang Liebeschuetz, Unsustainable Development: The Origin ofRuined Landscapes in the Roman Empire 232 Andrew G. Poulter, Economic Collapse in the Countryside and the Consequent Transformation ofCity into Fortress in Late Antiquity 244 VI PREFACE BY LUKAS DE BLOIS AND JOHN RICH This volume presents the proceedings of the second workshop of the international thematic network 'Impact of Empire', which concentrates on the history of the Roman Empire, c. 200 B.C. - A.D. 476, and, under the chairmanship of Lukas de Blois (University of Nijmegen), brings together ancient historians, archaeologists, classicists and specialists on Roman law from some 26 European and North American universities. The proceedings of the first workshop, held at Leiden, June 28-July 1, 2000, have been published in this series as Administration, Prosopography and Appointment Policies in the Roman Empire (Gieben, Amsterdam 2001). The third workshop, on the representation and perception of Roman imperial power, was held at the Netherlands Institute in Rome on March 20-23,2002, and the proceedings are currently being prepared for publication. Aseries of further annual workshops has been planned: -Leiden, Faculty of Arts, June 25-28, 2003: The locallevel. The impact of the presence and actions of the Roman Empire on the social relations, daily life, and moral attitudes of groups, organisational units and individuals within the local societies that constituted the Empire. - Münster, Seminar für Alte Geschichte, beginning of July 2004: The impact of imperial Rome on religions and religious life in the Empire. -Naples, Faculty of Arts, 2005: The impact of the presence and actions ofRoman armies on different regions ofthe Empire. - Nijmegen, Faculty of Arts, Department of History, end of June/ beginning of July 2006, on crises in the Roman Empire (a comparative study: from the crises in the Roman republic to the confrontation of clergy, bureaucrats and military men at the end of Antiquity). - Heidelberg, Seminar für Alte Geschichte, 2007, on the impact of the Roman Empire on the dynamics of ritual. The second workshop of the network was held in the University of Nottingham, UK, at Lenton and Wortley Hall, on July 4-7,2001, and took as its theme the transformation of economic life in the Mediterranean region and its European hinterland resulting from the Roman presence and Roman imperial rule. All but two of the speakers at the workshop has contributed to the present volume, which also includes papers by two contributors (Polichetti and van der Vin) who were unable to be present at the workshop. VII We are grateful to the British Academy, the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, the University of Nottingham and the Netherlands Research School of Classics Oikos for assistance with the costs of the workshop. John Rich (University of Nottingham) acted as local organiser for the workshop and wishes to thank John Drinkwater, Pasi Loman and Benet Salway for their assistance and also Ann Mills and her staff at Lenton and Wortley Hall. The workshop was overshadowed by the death on 28 June 2001, from cancer, of Thomas Wiedemann, Professor of Latin at the University of Nottingham, and the proceedings were suspended on 6 July to enable delegates to attend the funeral. Wiedemann was not only a distinguished student of the Roman Empire and of Roman society but also a man of cosmopolitan interests and wide friendships who attached the highest importance to European collaboration. He played a leading part in the inception ofthe 'Impact ofEmpire' network, and it was through hirn that its first UK meeting came to be held at Nottingham. We dedicate this volume to his memory. VIII