5. The Roman monetary system
The Roman monetary system spread over a
large area of the European territory and this
allowed its reliability and perdurance. Also, in a
time when the value of coins was restricted to
the intrinsic value of metal, most of them were
not withdrawn from circulation; new coins were
added to the previous ones, and many of them,
after centuries of use, and being recognized only
by their size or colour of the metal, were used up
to the Middle Ages.
6. The cost of living in Rome
It is not possible to set a CPI of the first century BC in
Rome, but we can compare how hard was life in those
days with current costs, since consumer staples,
overheads, etc., are now the same as they were two
thousand years ago. So, in Rome, there were more or
less fixed wages, and people acquired a house
according to their income, they bought food and clothing,
paid for shows, etc.. However, there are some basic
differences, as charges were more unstable than they
are now, due to their dependence on weather conditions
(crops), natural disasters, wars, etc. Likewise, social
differences were much more outstanding than they are
at present; a few families were very wealthy, while the
vast majority of the population was less prepared for
hard times.
7. Edict of maximum prices (301)
Diocletian
issued the edict
to stabilize the
currency and
temper the
economic crisis.
It fixed
maximum prices
for more than
1,300 products,
and established
the cost of labor
to produce them
8. Prices
1 litre of oil: 3 sesterces
1 litre of wine: 2 ases
1 kg. of meat: 3 ases
1 kg. of turnips: 2 sesterces
1 piece of bread: 2 ases.
1 pound pork = 12 denarii
1 pound beef or lamb = 8 denarii
1 modivm salt = 100 denarii
500 gr. of black olives = 4 denarii
300 gr. of cheese = 12 denarii
1/2 liter of wine falerno = 30 denarii
1/2 liter of common wine = 8 denarii
9. Clothing, housing and services
A tunic: 15 sesterces.
A pair of shoes: 15 sesterces.
A 300m2 house: 12,000 sesterces.
Renting a room in an insula: 4 denarii per year.
Renting a domus: 600 denarii per year.
Price of an average slave: about 1500 denarii,
but “it” could reach twenty thousand sesterces.
A service in the brothel of Pompeii: 2-8 of ases.
10. Staples
The Romans diet was not very different from ours today.
They ate vegetables and fruits, meat (salted to be
preserved), lentils, cheese, milk and bread. The peasants
raised animals both for food and for sacrifice, and pigs,
cattle, chickens, eggs, milk, pigeons and fish could be
found in the markets.
11. Wheat has always been an essential
food.
4 sesterces were paid for a modium
(two bushels, about 8'6 liters), but it
could quadruple its value in times of
famine.
Wine could cost between 12 and
48 sesterces per jar, depending
on the quality and size of the jar.
The wine of Hispania was
cheaper, about eight sesterces
per amphora, which suggests that
it was not very good.
12. In a typical
shopping list we
could find: bread,
flour, wine,
vegetables, some
cheese and fruit.
The ancient
Romans were
frugal, they had two
meals: ientaculum
in the morning,
when they ate
bread, wine, olives,
cheese.
The main meal was taken at six o'clock. The famous puls was popular, a
thick soup of wheat flour and porridge, completed with the consumption
of vegetables, chickpeas and eggs. The average menu for a family of
three would not represent more than 5 or 6 sesterces a day.
13. More expensive food such as meat, milk, fish, meat, poultry, was not
included in the diet of ordinary people and appeared only on the tables
of the rich. And it is not necessary to say that high-income people had
other expenses: luxury goods and travels, houses, and eventually,
when the wealth exceeded five million sesterces a year, appeared the
extravagance, the delicacies and exorbitant prices that generated so
much criticism among the prudent and frugal Romans.
14. The costs of animals were very
different. A hare or a small kid
could cost less than a sesterce
in Hispania. Rabbits, hares and
goats were abundant then in
Hispania (Hispania literally
means "land of rabbits", and
they were very cheap: two or
three sesterces).
In thermopolia (sort of restaurants) meals were served at affordable prices,
about 8, 12 or 20 sesterces.
15. Housing, clothing and accessories
There was a great difference
between what was paid for
housing in urban and remote
areas. In the first century B.C.,
renting a house in Rome could
cost 6000 sesterces, whereas
in the country it did not exceed
150 sesterces. Due to the high
prices, there occurred the
phenomenon of insulae: those
who rented a house sub-rented
a part of it to others and these
ones to others and those to
others… and this way many
families lived crammed into
wooden buildings up to 7
floors, and it was the source of
fire and diseases.
16. As for clothes, a humble woman could
dress herself with about 200 sesterces a
year, while a woman of the upper middle
class could spend 5000 sesterces in a
linen suit. The accessories, hairdressing
and jewelry were most appreciated too.
The average price of slaves varied between 1500 and 6000 sesterces,
though specialized ones could cost much more. A courtesan could cost
over 20,000 sesterces. Moreover, certain debts used to be paid in
slaves and courtesans.
17. Salaries
APPROXIMATE AVERAGE SALARIES (1st century)
Legionnaire 1 sesterces per month
Laborer 120 sesterces a month
Scribe 150 sesterces a month
Craftsman 360 sesterces a month
Centurion 3287 sesterces a month
Professor (top level) (rhetor) 8219 sesterces a month
Doctor 32,876 sesterces a month
Proconsul 82,191 sesterces per month.
18. In first-century Rome, during
Augustus reign, people main
occupation was in primary
activities. Labourers could
be both smallholders and
employees of wealthy
Romans’ large plantations.
Their salary ranged between
3 and 5 sesterces a day
(they were usually paid
daily).
During the empire, holidays increased; they even spread during a third
of the year. Also, the labourers were seasonal workers and they were
unemployed in winter. Their working hours were reduced and
therefore their income. So a labourer, farmer, peasant, employee, etc.,
worked an average of 200-250 days a year and had an average
income of 800-1000 sesterces a year.
19. The case of legionnaires seems even more dramatic, because their pay did
not exceed two sesterces a day. But let’s keep in mind that since Mario’s
reform the legionnaire is a professional soldier and his support is provided by
the state, so that the legionary does not survive necessarily on his pay. Many
of them also had family responsibilities and were employed the whole year.
And yet, we must consider their shares in the spoils of war. Pillaging and looting
were not infrequent because of Rome’s large capacity of war, and legionaries
could make huge profits that way. They even had retirement aids and land
distributions which formed colonies such as Emerita Augusta.
20. Moreover, as we see, a
centurion, who was in
charge of 100 men, could
earn ten times more than a
legionary.
This is easily explained by
the need to provide a
greater financial capacity to
commanding officers. The
army leadership was very
important in Rome, and the
centurions not only carried
out control and
organization, which
required a higher salary, but
also needed to highlight
their range among their
subordinates.
21. Artisans, instead, had a higher income because they were
engaged in technical activities of transformation and their market
was no longer the simple maintenance. They could be cobblers,
potters, jewelers, metalworkers, dealers, builders, and agricultural
workers, i.e. cheese, leather, oil, sausages or flour makers.
22. Other urban workers
could be: bakers, tailors,
fullers, innkeepers,
carriers, etc.
It is understood that these
activities had higher
incomes because they
are activities that require
advanced technology and
those services are offered
to people in town who
had a greater purchasing
power.
However, their income,
not being very large,
allowed them to survive
well.
23. With regard to liberal professions, there are
many ranges. Among teachers, for example,
there were notable differences. A grammaticus,
a basic-level teacher, had a salary as paltry as
that of a labourer. Some could have twenty
children in charge in small schools set up by
themselves. The payment was agreed,
individual and sometimes very delayed
Although the state did not
take charge of the citizens
education, Roman literacy
level was very high for the
time, because families
were responsible of
ensuring the children's
attendance at schools.
24. In contrast, higher-level teachers had much higher salaries, because
that was a type of education to which most citizens could not have
access and was received by politicians’, noble families’, equites’ or
publicans’ children. Oratory, politics, philosophy were specialized
subjects and those who taught them received generous payments. A
rhetor lived very comfortably, with over eight thousand sesterces
monthly, unlike his basic-level colleagues, who barely reached one
thousand.
25. Well-paid professionals were artists, comedians, dancers and actors,
who could earn between 80 and 150 sesterces a day plus food and
travel expenses, having also the security of a number of annual
performances. Of course, most reputable artists could get quite more.
Professional gladiators also
perceived large sums of money
for their victories in public games
26. The medical profession has always been accompanied by great
public distinction and remarkable incomes, because very few
became doctors and it was an art on which lives of people
depended.
Of course, only the wealthy had access
to a doctor or drugs in that time and
because of the exclusivity of the
profession, the doctors were rich indeed,
with incomes easily exceeding 30,000
sesterces per month.
27. Proconsuls’ case is different. This was an administrative charge rather
than political, they were the provincial governors, and received a salary
for administration, maintenance, expenses, travelling, etc.. Because
they were at the head of a province, that income was high, between
50,000 and 100,000 sesterces a month. Many of them were former
consuls or generals or came from senatorial families and illicit
enrichment was not unusual, so real income could be much higher than
the official.
28. Roman magistrates, i.e. those who held political office, did not perceive
any salary. It was an honor being a magistrate: completing the cursus
honorum, which ended in the consulate, was the highest honor to which a
Roman could aspire; many even paid large sums of money to access
charges and they spent fortunes on public works, military campaigns or in
shows and charities to gain favor and recognition –and votes- of their
fellow citizens.
29. A couple of country labourers or urban working parents with two
children, that is a typical family, barely got a total income of two
thousand sesterces, and their maintenance expenses consumed 80%
of these resources. Also, clothing, footwear, education… should be
added to this. Hence most popular classes had only a tunic and a pair
of shoes and used them until they were torn out; their children did not
have an access to education, even basic. City workers, migrated from
the countryside, should also add the extremely expensive cost of
housing. So, soon overcrowded insulae emerged, wooden buildings
many levels high, sub-rented to poor workers, who lived there on
minimum health conditions.
When Rome gathered around half a million people in Emperor Nero’s
time, the government increased public support to avoid social conflicts
and to keep the crowd calm. And so there was food distribution, the
annona, gladiatorial games, summarized it all in the famous
expression: panem et circenses: keeping the idles’ stomach full and
their leisure entertained the authorities avoided any reaction and
opposition to imperial policies.
