This paper argues that there was enough buying and selling (emptio venditio) in the early Roman Empire to show that there were markets, and there were enough markets at the time that there was a market economy. I use three examples to make these points, one from my research, one from the...

The quality of life for ordinary Roman citizens at the height of the Roman Empire probably was better than that of any other large group of people living before the Industrial Revolution. The Roman Market Economy uses the tools of modern economics to show how trade, markets, and the Pax Romana...