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Rome: The Political Economy of a World-Empire

Department History, University of Groningen, The Netherlands & Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies, Princeton University, USA

The vast Roman Empire. stretching from northern England to the Arabian deserts, the only world empire in pre-industrial European history, had a population of at least 60 million in first century A.D. In many parts, population densities were higher than ever until the modern age. An unprecedented proportion of this population was urban. The cities were well built, and well interconnected. Yet, Rome was also a world of misery, squalor and poverty. Life expectancy was in the 20s, and the majority of the population was poor, even if the rich were stupendously rich. For all its technological genius, Rome was the supreme example in European history of how far traditional econ omies may be pushed. Its achievements were due to empire, rather than growth.

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