The IIIrd century AD was a traumatic time
for the Roman Empire. They were forced to deal with mass barbarian invasions and
growing internal instability. But one of the most critical problems for the
Empire was the rampant inflation that had been growing unchecked for almost
a century. By the reign of Diocletian, the economy was at the point that it was normal to
combine payments in cash with “payments in kind”. In a desperate response to this, emperor
Diocletian and his colleagues created one of the largest pieces of Roman economic
legislation, and it was to be displayed for everyone to see. It is now known as the Edict on
Maximum Prices, and would read out hundreds of different goods and services, as well as the
maximum prices at which they could be sold. This was in hopes that if there were
universal fixed prices for everything, it would put an end to the constantly
growing prices and profiteering. This attempted remedy might seem simplistic and
totally inefficient to us living in the XXIst century, but even with all our modern knowledge
of advanced economics, we still struggle with controlling and predicting Inflation.
Obviously, the edict was very hard to strictly enforce, especially throughout the
Empire. So, it remained a failed experiment. However, what this surviving list represents
to us today are the vast amount of common goods at that time, as well as their relative
prices in the eyes of the Roman rulership. So today, we decided to have some
fun with this list, and dive into the lives of 3 real individuals who
we found to have lived at that time, and who represented 3 different social
classes. We will examine their income, diet, and the commodities that they could
afford, and hopefully portray to you their quality of life. Be sure to like and
subscribe for more videos like this. The first man on our list is Theodorus, a 30
year old man who lives in the town of Thera, on the island of Santorini. According to the Roman
tax records, Theodorus is married to Euporia, a 20 year old woman with whom he has a 2 year
old daughter named Eudoxia. To make a living, Theodorus works as a tenant farmer, which means
he works on the land of his landowner, to whom all his produce goes to. In exchange, his landowner
pays him a stable salary and covers his taxes. According to the Roman Census, Theodorus
alone works with 8.5 hectares of arable land, 2 hectares of vineyards and 18 olive trees.
According to the Edict, Theodorus’ salary would be 25 denarii per day, plus the daily food
ration he is owed. Assuming he works an average of 6 days a week, let’s see if Theodorus can sustain
his family with the 150 denarii he earns weekly. For the quantities of common goods required for
one adult male, we will use the “mediterranean respectability basket” of historian Robert Allen.
We will also assume that Theodorus’ wife and daughter would together eat like another adult
male. So, the yearly quantities will be divided by 52 weeks, and then multiplied by 2, to get
an average weekly amount for Theodorus’ 3 person family. The most dominant food in the common Roman
diet was bread, it was both their biggest source of protein and their biggest expense. Theodorus’
family needed about 7 kilograms of bread a week. For this, they would need about 4.4 kilograms
of wheat at 8 denarii per kilogram, totalling to a weekly expense of 35.5 denarii. And this
is considering the family baked their own bread. If not, they would have to pay the local baker
to do it for them, which will cost an extra seven denarii. If needed, they could cut the expenses
even more by making barley or rye bread instead, which would cut this expense by half… Olive oil
is another “must” in any Roman family’s diet. Each week they would need about 200 ml. The
price however, ranged from 12 to 40 denarii, depending on the press of the oil. If Theodorus
would buy the budget option, it would come down to 4.8 denarii a week... But a good roman
family cannot exist only on grain and olive oil. Theodorus would need to complement the diet
with everything he can get at an affordable price. Beans and peas are a nutritious supplement, of
which they would need a total of 2 kilograms. The most expensive ones, being broad beans, lentils,
chickpeas, and kidney beans all cost 7.4 denarii a kilogram, and the family could have cycled
between these every day for a more exciting diet. Out of the Vegetables and fruits, some great
options include : cabbage, lettuce, beets, onions, leeks, apples and peaches, which are
all sold at 4 denarii a bundle. For about 20 denarii, Theodorus could get a healthy
combination of 5 of these every week. For drinking, the family would purchase a
liter of ordinary wine and wheat beer at 16 and 8 denarii respectively. Regarding animal
products, the most affordable options are eggs, at 1 denarii a piece (-5), and cheese, at
2 denarii for 200 grams. Meat and fish are luxurious items, as even the cheapest pieces cost
between 6-12 denarii for every 300g. Theodorus and his family would only reserve such expenses for
special occasions or butchering season discounts. With the food covered, Theodorus still has to
pay for other commodities such as clothing, shoes, heating, rent and saving money for taxes. For heating, 136kg of firewood costs 30 denarii,
but this expense would vary with the passing season. It would be wise for Theodorus to
put away some money in the warmer seasons, just in case the winter turns out colder
than expected, and more firewood is needed. Clothes and shoes would have been the most
expensive items Theodorus would have to buy, so he would always take very good care of
them. Unfortunately, he has worn out the sole of his left sandal beyond repair, and needs
a replacement. The cheapest farmer sandals cost 50 denarii a pair, but Theodorus would only
afford to buy one of them, at half the price. This was very common with sandals, as they
didn’t differ left from right. A quality tunic would be out of reach for Theodorus’
family, as they all start at 500 denarii. Instead, they would buy cheap 3rd quality coarse
linen, at 218 denarii per kilogram at the market and weave their own clothes at home. But
even this would be very uncommon for them, and they would stick to repairing their
clothes through the years instead. Most of the spare money the family would have
at this point would be spent on tools for the house and other minor needs. In this case, they
need a new pot, and a sewing needle for repairs. The remaining 15 denarii would be a good
amount to save in case of minor emergencies. Experts and scholars have concluded, as we have
now, that the average Roman in this period was capable of providing his family with an average of
2000 daily calories, clothing, a place to live and even cover some secondary needs of the household.
Therefore, the average Roman in the IIIrd century would live better than most serfs and medieval
peasants that came after, and relatively similar to XVIIIth century workers in Europe or Asia.
Even better, if the Roman pleb was physically fit and capable, he could join the army, like
our next character on the list, and upgrade his standard of living and social class. This was very
desirable not only for the lower class, but also for the military recruiters, who, in the words
of Vegetius, always preferred recruits from the countryside than the city, because they were more
accustomed to cheaper diets and harder labour. Our next character is Aurelius Flavinus, a 36
year old Soldier in the 11th Claudia legion, stationed near modern day Venice. He was born in
Illyricum around 266 AD, and enlisted in the 11th legion at the age of 16. For the next 14 years, he
served faithfully and earned a promotion to Optio, a rank he has held ever since. Now, his detachment
has been sent to Mauretania for an expedition. The official soldier salary in the
IIIrd century was 3.600 denarii, a meager quantity of 69 denarii a week.
Fortunately, the military comes with its benefits. Aurelius receives a food pension
of 600 denarii plus 2 generous donatives of 5.000 denarii each year from the Emperors.
Also, since Aurelius’ detachment is on a foreign expedition, he and his comrades are quartered
among the civilian population, and so don’t need to pay for a roof over their heads. The
law states that his host must provide him with one 3rd of the house as a private residence, as
well as oil, wine, and other minor commodities… The only problem with his official salary is
the incomplete recovery of the monetary economy, which means not all of this amount will
be given to Aurelius in the form of cash. Instead, he could receive it as extra rations,
clothing, or weapons and armor. It is safe to assume that only half this amount will be paid
to him in coin, while the other half he will either keep or trade in to cover his expenses for
basic clothes and a diet similar to Theodorus’. That leaves Aurelius with a
weekly budget of 137 denarii to spend on things other than basic food and
necessities. Let’s see what he can buy ! This week is a special date for the unit, it is
the third anniversary of their victory over the Mauritanians, and the men are all eager for some
celebrations. There is no doubt that the common soldiers will go for a drink at the local taverns.
But those days are long gone for Aurelius, he is now an Optio and has learnt to enjoy the
virtues of a little private reunion with some of his officers. Sharing the expense with 5 of
his colleagues, he has bought a pair of chickens for 60 denarii, 1 kg of beef for 24 denarii,
and 700 grams of boar meat for 32 denarii. This menu will be supplemented by 20 oysters
at a denarii each, a kilogram of sardines for 48 denarii, and 4 liters of wheat beer for
72 denarii. Olive oil and bread will be used from their own daily rations. Finally, they
will need wine for toasts and drinking. The soldiers chose to spoil themselves with 1
liter of first quality wine from Picenum, which costs nothing less than 90 denarii, an
appropriate choice to toast for fallen brethren. But spending everything on just
feasts is the fastest way to ruin, as there must be enough money saved for
emergencies. In this case, Aurelius’ cloak is in unacceptable condition, its color has almost faded
and some parts of the seams are getting undone. The centurion has already noticed and warned him
about its appearance, so he cannot be seen with it again. Getting a new cloak is out of the
question, as even the cheapest Italian made hooded cloaks cost 4.000 denarii. Therefore, he
must visit the tailor for repairs. They charged him 6 denarii for dying the cloak and another
4 denarii for stitching back the undone seams. Aurelius has also been saving up a long
time to buy a formal tunic for official celebrations and parades. He is now an Optio,
and as the centurion’s second in command, must look more presentable than the common
soldiers. Luckily for him, his city’s market is full of cloth merchants and he is able to find
a tunic with purple bands for 2.000 denarii, almost 15 times his weekly income. A plain
tunic without the bands costs a whopping 750 denarii cheaper. The reason for such a price
difference is because purple was a highly expensive and tedious dye to produce, and was
reserved mostly for nobility and aristocrats. A brighter pigment of purple indicated
multiple dying processes and a higher quality look. So the price of purple also
varied exponentially depending on its tone. For Aurelius, even light purple bands will
suffice in impressing his colleagues and everyone watching him at parades. Aurelius was
able to save up for the tunic quite comfortably, as all his basic expenses of food and drink
are covered by the other half of his salary, and he only needed to save up and
live off them for the past 15 weeks, an achievable thing for one
with a military discipline. He also needs a new pair of military boots, as
the campaigning seasons were very rough on his footwear and he hasn’t received any new ones
in the form of pay. A pair of quality military boots are worth 100 denarii, almost all his weekly
income, so he will have to wait until next week to buy them, if he wants to stick to his weekly
budget. He also needs to buy a new cup, as his old one broke during the celebrations. At the
local market he is able to find a glass cup from Alexandria worth 24 denarii and also purchases
a leather container for another 25 denarii. Lastly, attention must be paid to his personal
hygiene and there is no better place for that than the public baths. A good bath session
will cost him 5 denarii, from which 2 go to the superintendent, 2 for the guard tasked with
watching the clothes and one more for the bath’s maintenance. As you can see, joining the army
led to a better than average quality of life. Thrifty soldiers like Aurelius could amass small
fortunes to spend on minor luxuries like good clothing, quality wine, and large parties,
all the while being covered for food, rent, and medical treatment by the other half of their
payment. Upon retirement, it was all supplemented by a large cash bonus or a land grant, plus fiscal
immunity for him and 4 members of his household. We have found that upon Aurelius’ death at the age
of 40, he was able to boast a funerary monument worth 10,000 denarii, almost a full year's
pay, all from his own pocket. This is proof of the comfortable economic position some soldiers
enjoyed after their service with the eagles. But despite his comfortable position, higher end
commodities like golden cups, fancy clothes or exotic foods were all out of Aurelius’ reach. For
these, we will have to visit our last character. Our final man is Tatianus, a local aristocrat
and city council member of the city of Tralles in Asia Minor. According to the Roman records,
Tatianus was a rich man, owning 14 properties of first quality arable land totalling at least 285
hectares, and distributed around the surrounding villages and countryside. In total, he has 7
slaves and around 30 tenant farmers plus their families to work his lands on a daily basis.
To get an idea of his wealth, we must first estimate Tatianus’ expenses. Firstly, he must
pay the land and liability taxes for his tenants, which amounts to a yearly sum of 206.700 denarii,
or about 4000 denarii a week. He would also have to pay for the upkeep of his slaves and salaries
to his tenant farmers, amounting to 5.550 denarii. This totals to a weekly expense of 9525 denarii.
Additionally, large taxes would have been imposed on him periodically, as contributions to the
army, which would have greatly increased the sum of money he would have to pay. But Tatianus
would have been more than able to pay these costs, and it is safe to assume that his weekly
budget might have been at least five times larger, at about 47 000 denarii. Now, let
us see how Tatianus would have lived ! Being a member of the local aristocracy
and city council, Tatianus was expected to perform a wide set of compulsory obligations
for the Roman State and local community. Some of these obligations included tax collection,
maintenance of public buildings and roads, the purchase and distribution of free oil
and grain for the poor, and even providing transportation, quarters and supplies to visiting
units of the Roman Army or Imperial bureaucracy. And worst of all, in the case of any shortcomings
or failure, he will have to answer with his property and wealth as compensation. And so,
his first expense this week is 2000 denarii to fulfill his civilian obligations. It will
be used to feed the poor across the province. Next, he must see to maintaining his land.
The life of a landlord is not a quiet one, and managing his states and main villa would make
Tatianus a very busy man. This week, an unexpected event took place in one of his minor farms. Dizus,
the slave entrusted with farming the land has died of feve. The situation presents a huge dilemma to
Tatianus, who must take a decision now in order to not jeopardize this week's harvest. On the one
hand, a new healthy male slave capable of farming costs 30.000 denarii, plus his maintenance, a very
expensive and risky investment. On the other hand, hiring a new tenant farmer to replace the slave
is much cheaper, but it comes at the downside of having to sign a contract detailing
the obligations and status of the farmer, plus his salary and the increase in taxation
if he has a family to take care of. There is also the possibility of him being conscripted
into the army in case of a military emergency. Tatianus will go for the second option,
and pay the man his new weekly salary. When it comes to slaves at this time in
Rome, they were a very expensive investment, with some educated an skilled individuals costing
up to 60,000 denarii, and it would be a great loss if something was to happen to them. As such,
most Roman households, including Tatianus, could not afford to have them mistreated or abused.
Instead, they would likely be treated as members of the family, with some accounts of owners
even freeing and marrying them as free people. But the death of a slave and finding his
replacement is nothing compared to the magnitude of work the harvesting season will
require. Extra hands will be needed from among the local free peasants, and the workforce needs
to grow from 37 to 64. Tatianus will have to spend some coin for the seasonal laborers and pay
for their salaries at 25, and food pensions at 8 denarii a day. In total, paying them for 6 days
of work will cost him 5,346 denarii per week. But the expenses don’t stop there, extra wagons,
spare parts, and draught animals will be needed to transport the produce to wherever it’s
needed. Thankfully, Tatianus has a lot of oxen, which are enough for the job, and we won't have
to buy a new ox for 5,000, or a strong horse for 36,000 denarii. He could use extra wagons though,
so he hires a wagon blacksmith for 50 denarii, and new axles for 200 denarii to repair his
old wagon, but he also choses to purchase a new one. The cheapest four wheeled wagon costs
1.500 denarii, but Tatianus will buy a larger freight wagon for 3,500 denarii. Now he can
rest assured the harvest will be taken care of. But to poor Tatianus’ dismay,
his duties don’t end there. Census officers at the capital have found the
records of the region of Tralles rather suspicious and a member of the provincial administration is
already on his way with his entourage of scribes, assistants, and a military escort to conduct an
investigation. There is no doubt that the imperial officials are looking for tax evaders among the
local aristocracy, evident by the military escort. Regardless, it is the solemn responsibility of the
town’s council to assist the envoy in his endeavor and to provide lodgings, food, and any commodities
the envoy’s 100 men retinue might need. The town council has decided that each of the hundred
counselors must contribute 3.000 denarii per month out of their own pockets as a tax to provide
for the welfare of the retinue, for as long as they need to stay in the city. For Tatianus,
this is another weekly expense of 750 denarii. It may seem as a small quantity, but it adds to
the thousands of denarii he already pays each month as part of his civilian obligations. The
imperial authority loves squeezing the local councils of every spare denarii, be it in taxes,
donatives for the army, or forceful requisitions. Fortunately for Tatianus’, he has nothing
to hide and his taxes are up to date. Now, he can finally focus on his own household
expenses. This week his wife is turning 38, and he must plan a great feast for all their guests.
Most importantly, he must think of a gift for his wife. Clothing is a great luxurious option, with
some quality garments like a silk dalmatica with purple bands costing 135,000 denarii.. Probably
a great option for her 40th birthday. For the one this week, it will be more meaningful to gift
her a custom made palla, a woman's garment worn over the shoulder. For 12,000 denarii he will
buy 330 grams of wool which has been dyed twice in the best Milesian purple. Then, he will take
it to a skilled weaver of wool and turn it into a garment for 40 denarii. For the finishing touch,
he will take it to a gold embroiderer, who for 600 denarii, will stitch beautiful patterns into the
garment out of 90 grams of gold thread. The final product will surely be stunning, which Tatianus’
wife will proudly wear in front of the guests. For the feast itself, there will have to be a big
expense. For wealthy Roman families, feasts were largely an expression of wealth and status, and
Tatianus would have to uphold this social norm. Therefore, his food must have as much variety as
possible, the more exotic, the better. So he sends out his slaves to buy 2 kg of pork, 2 fattened
hen pheasants, 3 kg of beef sausage, 2 kg of boar meat, 3kg of lamb, 4kg of gazelle meat, 2kg of pig
liver, 8 pigeons, 10 quails, 10 figpecker birds, 3 fattened geese, 3 hare, 20 dormice, 3kg of first
quality river fish, 3k of sea fish, 300 oysters, 100 sea urchins, and to top it off as the main
exotic dish, a full peackock for 300 denarii. Now that the meat menu is out of the way,
the feast will need complimentary items, like 3 kilograms of spiced salt, 2 liters of
best quality honey, 2 liters of first quality virgin olive oil, 3 liters of first quality fish
sauce, 200 olives from Tarsus, 5 kg of cheese, 50kg of various fresh fruits and
vegetables. And to top it all off, 40 liters of best quality wine from Picenum
for 2,400 denarii. Tatianus would also have to hire about 4 cooks and 5 water carriers for
325 denarii to cook and service the entire event. For entertaining the guests and his 2 children,
Tatianus decided to purchase a live wild animal. Large predators are the most
expensive, with a bear costing 25,000, and a male lion costing 150,000. But for the
purpose of safe entertainment, buying an ostrich for 5,000 denarii will do the trick. It is safe
to say, the birthday will be one to remember. Another expense on Tatianus’ list this week
will go towards educating his children. For his younger daughter, he will hire a teacher
of Greek literature for 200 denarii a month, and for his older son, a teacher of rhetoric
and public speaking for 250 denarii. Now Tatianus can enjoy a more personal expense.
He is planning to decorate the hall of his main villa, and add something that will impress all
future guests with his wealth and taste for style. He has managed to secure marble shipments from
Alexandria, Nicomedia and Thessalonica, by paying a huge sum to the imperial administration, because
all marble and the quarries they come from are property of the Emperor. With the marble, he hopes
to erect three beautiful columns in his villa, one of red porphyry from Egypt, one of
serpentine marble from Thessaly and one of white marble from Phrygia. They will cost
him 2500, 1500, and 2000 denarii respectively, and will be about 3 meters high and 30 cm thick.
Transporting the stone by sea from Alexandria to the nearest port at Ephesus will cost 119
denarii, while the shipments from Thessalonica and Nicomedia will cost 120 and 90 denarii
respectively. Once in port, arranging the transportation for the 64km long trip to
his villa will cost him 2,362 denarii more, for the two days work of the drivers of wagons.
Finally, having a group of 4 stonemasons work on the marble for 10 days and install them in place
will cost another 2,000. In total, the whole project has cost Tatianus 10,691 denarii, almost
a quarter of his weekly income. But the pillars will prove a beautiful addition to his villa,
and stand as an example of his taste and style. We hope this video gave you a good insight into
the quality of life of different societies in ancient Rome. For more videos, be sure
to subscribe and consider joining our generous Patreon supporters that make these videos
possible. We will see you all, in the next one !
