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How Did The Economy Affect The Roman Economy

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As Rome expanded, its economy expanded and altered with it. The most obvious affect the provinces had on the Roman economy was through the payment of tribute. Additionally, the presence of Roman citizens in the provinces had influenced on their own, and the Roman, economy. Trade and the necessary infrastructure that comes along with it changed the economic landscape as well. All of these items together while seeming like economic growth, may have unintentionally decentralized important factors stabilizing the life of the average Roman citizen. The provinces directly furnishing funds back to Rome allowed the empire to support massive public work projects which bolstered the mining and building aspects of the economy. In addition to money there was the tribute of grain. According to Geraghty (2007), the supply of grain from the provinces depressed the value of grain so much in Italy that wine became the most abundant and influential agricultural product, …show more content…

For example, the import of grain from the provinces essentially shut down Rome’s own grain production ability. This impacted Rome when at one point they lost naval control of the Mediterranean and access to the grain supply from the provinces was cut off, nearly causing a famine (Morey, 1901, para. 8). The provinces allowed Rome to become less concerned with their own ability to support themselves, thinking that they would forever be able to maintain control of the resources coming from all over the empire. This is one of the lessons that we try to pay attention to today regarding trade and controlling what products are produced locally versus externally. The dependence on the provinces made Rome move away from self-sufficiency and their economy became focused around increasing personal wealth and luxury, thus weakening the foundation of production and commerce that is needed to successfully maintain such a

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