The Economic Lives of Roman Frontiers

While both economic history and frontier archaeology have been mainstays of Roman studies for decades, the two fields rarely intersect in their research agendas and methods. In addition, the prevailing model of Roman taxes and trade, which views the Roman world as a core-periphery system that prioritized the economic success of the Mediterranean over the supposed destitution of frontier zones, no longer stands up to archaeological and historical scrutiny. Offering a detailed rebuttal, The Economic Lives of Roman Frontiers unites the two traditions of economic and frontier studies and examines comparatively for the first time the economic lives of Roman frontier zones across the Empire from ca. 30 BC to AD 300.Drawing upon the substantial amount of archaeological and textual data that exist from frontier zones, along with recent theoretical and methodological advances in economic studies, the essays in this volume explore the economic activity of Roman frontier zones to understand how regional variation in practice and experience shaped and contributed to the wider imperial economy. Fourteen chapters covering different regions present different aspects of economic history, using archaeological, epigraphical, and historical evidence to demonstrate that Roman frontiers could have vibrant economies that contributed to both local and Empire-wide patterns of growth and development. The contributors explore central themes like the roles of the Roman military in economic life, the exploitation of natural resources, the variety of economic agents in frontier regions, and the contribution of frontier regions to taxation revenue, especially through customs applied to trans-frontier trade. Taken as a whole, these essays intentionally investigate heterogeneity rather than an all-encompassing model and foreground regional and chronological variation.