World History › Section F · Life in the Roman Empire › Topic F.3
The Roman economy: trade, taxes, and conquest
Feeding a city of perhaps a million people and paying an army of hundreds of thousands took ships, coins, tax collectors and a steady flow of conquered wealth. This topic follows how the Roman economy worked and why it came under strain.
In this topic
- A farming economy that could grow
- Ships, roads and the goods they carried
- Worked example: a mountain of broken jars
- Beyond the frontiers: the Indian Ocean
- The grain supply of Rome
- Republican taxes and the publicani
- Imperial taxes
- Conquest as an economic engine
- The army: the biggest bill
- Worked example: debasement and the price edict
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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