- With over 5,000 towns and populations of 50 to 60 million, Rome had lots of commercial activity.
- The emperor directly controlled coinage, taxation, and his own enormous estates, but otherwise allowed demand to control prices and profits.
- Rome’s basis for economy was agriculture, which heavily took place in Italy.
- The Romans brought their advanced farming techniques to all the lands they conquered, setting up farms in Gaul and Britain and planting olive groves in Northern Africa.
- Trade by water was far cheaper than trade by land.
- The Romans shipped food and rare raw materials like colored marble, Egyptian papyrus reeds for paper, purple dye from Syria, glass from Palestine Spanish ironwork, textiles, grain, metals, pottery, jewelry, and luxury items such as silk, ivory, and spices.
- Rome’s monetary system consisted of a uniform currency which was used in all its controlled land.
- The Romans heavily taxed its conquered peoples: Roman citizens had to pay the 5% inheritance tax, a 1% sales tax, an import duty, and a tax on freed slaves.
- Local magistrates, imperial officials, and tax collectors were all employed to gather taxes, and the imperial census became an important tool to identify taxpayers.
- Manufacturers decentralized their production because it was expensive to transport goods, creating goods on on-site basis.
