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C Economy
The Augustan Age sparked a major economic revival. The emperor directly
controlled coinage, taxation, and his own enormous estates, but otherwise
allowed the economy to operate freely, with demand dictating prices and
profits. Above all it was the end of civil war that encouraged economic
growth. Roman armies could control piracy and allow maritime trade across
the Mediterranean as never before.
C1 Agriculture
Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii Many wealthy Romans invested in land, which
they used for agriculture as well as recreation. Often the owners lived in
the city and hired an overseer to manage their estates. Many also had
lavish homes or villas which included beautiful works of art like this
fresco from the Villa of the Mysteries outside of Pompeii, Italy.Bridgeman
Art Library, London/New York
Farming was the basis of the Roman economy. Republican senators
traditionally invested their wealth in Italian land, but the imperial peace
also encouraged them to invest abroad. The Romans began to cultivate more
land when they brought Mediterranean plants and more sophisticated farming
methods farther north into Gaul, the Rhine River valley, and the Balkan
Peninsula. Vineyards spread throughout Gaul, and olive groves were planted
in North Africa. The Romans learned new techniques for farming in wet
climates that allowed them to open new lands for agriculture in northern
Gaul and Britain, where increasing demands for timber transformed native
forests into agricultural estates.
Rome imported wheat from Egypt and Africa, wine from Gaul, and oil from
Spain and Africa.
Landowners lived in the cities or, in the case of the truly wealthy, in
Rome itself. A foreman managed each estate separately. Some individual
estates, called villas, were huge operations. One villa, the Boscatrecase,
which was located near the Italian city of Pompeii, had 100,000 jugs of
wine in storage. Large estates in the provinces had lower labor costs,
which gradually undermined traditional Italian agriculture. As a result,
Rome imported wheat from Egypt and Africa, wine from Gaul, and oil from
Spain and Africa.
C2 Industry
Roman industry did not include mass production, and small workshops
manufactured pottery, metalwork, and glass. A successful brickmaker might
have owned dozens of workshops rather than one large factory. Manufacturers
dispersed or decentralized their production because it was expensive to
transport goods. Bricks for construction were made at the building site, or
terra-cotta figurines were fashioned at the temple where they were sold.
Unlike independent artisans who had their own shops, wage laborers were
treated with contempt in the ancient world and worked alongside slaves.
The eastern Mediterranean was initially the manufacturing center of the
Roman world, but under the empire, Gaul also experienced great industrial
growth. A number of factors combined to encourage manufacturing in Gaul,
including the availability of ample raw materials, |