Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Book review: The Roman Market Economy , written by Temin, P.

Book review: The Roman Market Economy , written by Temin, P. The Roman Market Economy . Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2013. 320 pp. Pr. $35.00. isbn 9781400845422. This book offers an uncompromisingly optimistic account of Roman economic history, putting the Roman world, roughly, on a par with the most developed economies of early modern Europe—the Netherlands, England and France. Peter Temin uses contemporary economic theory to reassess our understanding of the economy of the Roman Empire, arguing that the economy of the Roman Empire was a well-integrated market economy that was able to enhance living standards to levels that were unknown before and would be unachievable for more than a millennium afterwards. The book takes a very extreme position that will, undoubtedly, attract criticism, but hopefully, particularly because of its use of modern economic theory, also foster debate. After an introductory chapter, which introduces both the debate and some key concepts, the book is divided into three sections. The first of these focuses on prices in the Roman world. In the second chapter, Temin makes a case for the existence of an integrated Roman Mediterranean wheat market on the basis of two series of prices, both of which suggest that there was a correlation between grain price and distance http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Mnemosyne Brill

Book review: The Roman Market Economy , written by Temin, P.

Flohr, Miko
Mnemosyne , Volume 67 (4): 688 – Jul 1, 2014
Download PDF
4 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/brill/book-review-the-roman-market-economy-written-by-temin-p-Of12bu7qdQ

References (2)

Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
Subject
De novis libris iudicia
ISSN
0026-7074
eISSN
1568-525X
DOI
10.1163/1568525X-12341725
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The Roman Market Economy . Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2013. 320 pp. Pr. $35.00. isbn 9781400845422. This book offers an uncompromisingly optimistic account of Roman economic history, putting the Roman world, roughly, on a par with the most developed economies of early modern Europe—the Netherlands, England and France. Peter Temin uses contemporary economic theory to reassess our understanding of the economy of the Roman Empire, arguing that the economy of the Roman Empire was a well-integrated market economy that was able to enhance living standards to levels that were unknown before and would be unachievable for more than a millennium afterwards. The book takes a very extreme position that will, undoubtedly, attract criticism, but hopefully, particularly because of its use of modern economic theory, also foster debate. After an introductory chapter, which introduces both the debate and some key concepts, the book is divided into three sections. The first of these focuses on prices in the Roman world. In the second chapter, Temin makes a case for the existence of an integrated Roman Mediterranean wheat market on the basis of two series of prices, both of which suggest that there was a correlation between grain price and distance

Journal

Mnemosyne – Brill

Published: Jul 1, 2014

There are no references for this article.