As in the days of the republic, the rest of the population consisted of all those who did not belong to the upper classes. They included the artisans, the farmers and farm labourers, the masses who could not earn a living and the slaves. But this group too underwent some changes during the principate. First of all, this group no longer consisted solely of citizens who were originally Roman; many of the innumerable slaves who had been brought to Italy during the late republic had in the meantime been manumitted by their owners and had thereby acquired Roman citizenship. Some of them succeeded in holding down reasonably well-paid jobs, and they and their descendants became respectable Roman citizens. Secondly, the number of people who could not earn their own living rose considerably; they moved to the large towns and became part of the urban proletariat. Because these people constituted a potential threat to political stability, food was distributed regularly and games and impressive spectacles were organised. This ‘bread and games’ treatment was meted out to the urban proletariat in Rome as well as in the other large towns of the empire.7
7.4. ECONOMY
In the first two centuries of the principate the Romans experienced a period of great prosperity. Agriculture and industry flourished and as a result a great deal of trading went on. Now that the entire Mediterranean area and a large part of western and central Europe were under Roman rule there was nothing to prevent a free exchange of products.8
In about 50 BC much of the large-scale landownership which had been a feature of Italy under the late republic came to an end:
large numbers of the latifundia were confiscated and split up into medium-sized farms. A certain amount of large-scale landownership continued, but mainly in the provinces. At that time Egypt was the granary of the Roman empire, the main
THE PRINCIPATE (27 BC–284)
products of Italy being wine and olive oil. Initially, these were exported in large quantities to Spain, Gaul and Africa. However, in the second half of the first century the Roman colonists in these provinces began to produce and export wine and oil themselves.
As a result these countries were no longer a market for Italy.
Because the countries in the eastern Mediterranean had long been self-supporting in wine and oil there was no demand for Italian products there either. During the first two centuries of the principate agriculture brought prosperity to the provinces but not to Italy itself.
Because fewer countries were conquered, the supply of slaves dwindled. As a result the price of slaves increased and slave labour became expensive. Consequently large landowners preferred to lease parts of their estates to tenants. A tenant was given a farm and land and sometimes also tools and equipment. The tenancy was usually granted for a period of five years, the rent being paid annually. From the second century onwards the tenant was not required to pay rent that year if there was a poor harvest or the harvest failed due to circumstances beyond his control; in such cases the tenant could be exempted from rent by or on behalf of the emperor. Because a tenant therefore no longer had to run great risks those small farmers who were still independent found it attractive to rent a farm. As a result the number of independent farmers, both in Italy and in the provinces, declined still further.
Artefacts had been manufactured in Italy since the beginning of the second century BC. At the beginning of the principate, there was an enormous increase in the production of artefacts;
terracotta pottery (the famous terra sigillata), metal pots and pans, glass, woollen materials and toilet requisites were produced in large quantities and exported to all parts of the empire.
Nevertheless, Italy was unable to compete with similar products originating in countries in the eastern Mediterranean; the glass from Syria was better, Alexandria supplied the whole known world with papyrus, linen, perfume and similar goods, and finer woollen goods were made in Asia Minor than in Italy. In the second century Italy lost its lead in the west as well: there Gaul, followed by Germany, took over the production of pottery, glass and bronze utensils. In Italy only small workshops survived which supplied goods exclusively for the local market.
As under the republic, most of these goods were transported by sea, and only a few went overland. The land route received a boost
when the Roman emperors extended the network of roads. By the end of the second century it covered the whole empire; the tracks and sometimes even the roads themselves are still visible today.
Trade relations extended even beyond the frontiers of the empire;
in the second century there must have been well-used trading routes via the North Sea, the Danube and the Vistula.
Furthermore, in those days Greek and Syrian merchants even had regular trading contacts with China; of the two routes involved, one being a land route, the other a sea route, it was the one over the Indian Ocean that remained important because ships could use the trade-winds. This sea route led to close contacts with the west coast of India where Roman products were traded for spices, precious stones, etc.
During the republic a number of governmental tasks such as the collection of taxes in the provinces, the construction of roads and the organisation of transport were ‘farmed out’ to private persons, the hated publicani and their companies. But by the beginning of the principate the situation had begun to change. In the provinces like Egypt and Gaul, which were under the direct authority of Augustus, the land tax (the most important form of tax) was levied directly by the local administrators supervised by an imperial official; the other tasks were put in the hands of the urban administrators. This system, which had operated long before the Romans arrived in Egypt, was gradually introduced into other provinces and finally into the whole empire. Indirect taxes, however, continued to be collected by tax-farmers well into the third century.9
THE PRINCIPATE (27 BC–284)
THE PRINCIPATE:
THE STATE
The political structure of the Roman empire had changed fundamentally as a result of the civil wars that had swept the country in the last 100 years of the republic. Real power was now in the hands of the emperor. The elements that had formed the political structure during the republic—the senate, the magistrates and the assembly—acquired a different function or they disappeared. The senate, whose experience in administration was almost indispensable, retained its administrative function—
though it was far less prominent than before—and acquired an additional task in the field of legislation and the administration of justice. The functions of the magistrates were gradually eroded.
The assembly, which had lost its original function since the extension of the empire, hardly convened at all. The administrative tasks that these organs had traditionally performed were gradually taken over by imperial officials. Under the principate the army began to constitute an important element in the political structure of the Roman empire.
8.1. THE EMPEROR