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The Roman state existed in practice for XIII centuries, being the power which was impacting the history. Therefore, I decided that I would tell the history of ancient Rome in the articles below, which will not necessarily cover only the Eternal City.
I encourage you to send articles and point out any corrections or inaccuracies.
Inflation is not a problem today. The falling value of money is one of the factors adversely affecting the progressive increase in prices, which in turn leads to destabilization of the economy and social unrest. As it turns out, ancient Romans had to face similar problems.
With the growth of the Roman state and the emergence of real money, the Romans began to see the importance of coins aside from the payment function. The possibility of placing initials and images/symbols on the obverse or reverse allowed politicians and emperors to influence the social masses. After all, every inhabitant of the Roman state wanted money, which was also indirectly a carrier of information and a means of propaganda.
The civil war of 193-197 was presented by ancient writers very one-sidedly. The main focus was on the figure of its winner, Septimius Severus. The other participants of this conflict, i.e. Pescennius Niger, Clodius Albinus and Didius Julianus, did not receive such interest from ancient historiographers. Unfortunately, the number of resources available to help recreate their political agendas is very limited. The basis for this type of consideration is, above all, the coins minted by individual purple candidates. The aforementioned Clodius Albinus stood out in this field.
The Edict of Diocletian on Maximum Prices from 301 CE, known as Edictum Diocletiani et Collegarum de Pretiis Rerum Venalium, was intended to combat the progressive inflation in the Roman Empire by setting maximum prices on more than 1,400 products, slaves or services. The edict has survived to our times partly due to fragments of inscriptions (in Greek and Latin) on stone slabs found mainly in the eastern territories of the Empire, in 42 places.
The social inequalities prevailing in ancient Rome have always been large and only strengthened with the progressive territorial expansion of the Empire. Based on the preserved sources, we are able to collect information about how large disproportions prevailed in Roman society, and how much wealth or earnings could be obtained by citizens. I will try to present selected professional groups and their “outstanding” representatives. The property or earnings will ideally be compared with the earnings of an ordinary Roman soldier, slave prices and selected goods.
