Scholarlink

It has become widely acknowledged by ancient history scholarship that the progressive integration of the Mediterranean into the Imperium Romanum had a noticeable and enduring impact on society, institutions, economic trends, and culture. However, the extent and specific elements through which this ‘impact of Empire’ is manifested are still a matter of debate. In particular, the significant economic growth of the first and second centuries AD has sparked interest in the ability of Roman productive structures to standardize products, often associated with growth-enhancing factors such as specialization and division of labor. Following a body of scholarship positing agrarian changes as a prerequisite for intensive economic growth (Braudel, Bairoch), this paper intends to investigate the development and diffusion of Roman standards in the agrarian economy, specifically agricultural production, focusing on the South-Eastern Mediterranean—Greece, Asia Minor, and the Aegean basin. This study relies on an interdisciplinary methodology that combines literary sources (scriptores rei rusticae), inscriptions, and archaeological evidence. In the first part, after discussing the definitions of standardization that best apply to agriculture, the paper will demonstrate why the ‘standard model'—which commonly describes Roman agriculture as rudimentary and yielding low surpluses—needs to be reassessed. The second part of the paper will analyze the extent to which the Roman agrarian economy could be viewed as objectively ‘standardized’, particularly regarding farming practices (e.g., the pastio villatica) and the relative importance of idiosyncrasies. This discussion will then assess what part of this standardization results from Romanization, such as the diffusion of the villae rusticae or the spread of the Patrimonium Caesaris, and what part is influenced by pre-Roman—mostly Greek—practices that actually impacted Roman agrarian production. The study reveals, inter alia, that while instances of pre-Roman standardization exist in the realm of the agrarian economy, the process of Romanization had a limited yet noticeable impact on the standardization of farming practices, mostly at a regional level.

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Seeds of Convergence: Balancing Standardization and Regionalism in the Agrarian Economy of the Roman East

  • 章节

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

查看全文
  • Nicolas Solonakis

摘要

It has become widely acknowledged by ancient history scholarship that the progressive integration of the Mediterranean into the Imperium Romanum had a noticeable and enduring impact on society, institutions, economic trends, and culture. However, the extent and specific elements through which this ‘impact of Empire’ is manifested are still a matter of debate. In particular, the significant economic growth of the first and second centuries AD has sparked interest in the ability of Roman productive structures to standardize products, often associated with growth-enhancing factors such as specialization and division of labor. Following a body of scholarship positing agrarian changes as a prerequisite for intensive economic growth (Braudel, Bairoch), this paper intends to investigate the development and diffusion of Roman standards in the agrarian economy, specifically agricultural production, focusing on the South-Eastern Mediterranean—Greece, Asia Minor, and the Aegean basin. This study relies on an interdisciplinary methodology that combines literary sources (scriptores rei rusticae), inscriptions, and archaeological evidence. In the first part, after discussing the definitions of standardization that best apply to agriculture, the paper will demonstrate why the ‘standard model'—which commonly describes Roman agriculture as rudimentary and yielding low surpluses—needs to be reassessed. The second part of the paper will analyze the extent to which the Roman agrarian economy could be viewed as objectively ‘standardized’, particularly regarding farming practices (e.g., the pastio villatica) and the relative importance of idiosyncrasies. This discussion will then assess what part of this standardization results from Romanization, such as the diffusion of the villae rusticae or the spread of the Patrimonium Caesaris, and what part is influenced by pre-Roman—mostly Greek—practices that actually impacted Roman agrarian production. The study reveals, inter alia, that while instances of pre-Roman standardization exist in the realm of the agrarian economy, the process of Romanization had a limited yet noticeable impact on the standardization of farming practices, mostly at a regional level.