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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Drusus, post: 554809, member: 6370&quot;]I own it and have read it, and I thought it was a great read but my wife says I read extremely boring books <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> I am not saying coinage wasn&#039;t available and used extensively in the roman world, I am saying that I still believe that certain sections of the Roman world were NOT monetized...this would be based less on where you lived (although I DO think rural was far less monetized than urban) but on status and how much the area was market based. I would also like to recommend a book that looks at (among other things) the LATER Roman economy...which seemed to me to be quite different than the earlier empire...the book is called &#039;The Later Roman Empire&#039; by Averil Cameron</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>This book is a good read, a little less dry, but still rather extensive. It relies heavily on the sparse sources to lay out as clear a picture as I have yet read of the economy, society, and government of the later Roman Empire...Starting in earnest with Diocletian&#039;s sweeping social and economic reorganization and policy changes and the further debasement of the money which caused...among other things...hording and far less confidence in the monetary system. It also clearly illustrates that the Roman world operated on 2 (and maybe even 3) economies. One for the very wealthy, and one for the rest of the population and possibly one for the poorest that was less monetized. From records and surviving last wills we know there were, still at this time, people so wealthy that they owned uninterrupted estates that stretched far across the empire and we know they had slaves who were unpaid and workers who were paid in goods....as well as other skilled labor that who were probably paid...either in money or a mixture of money and goods...there is little doubt that by the Later Roman Empire, the Annonae was probably becoming more valuable to the soldier than the Stipendii.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>From this book I was compelled to read other source material including the surviving works of Julian II. It gives what I feel to be a fair presentation of surviving source material and the best picture of what life might have been like for all classes, society and the economy. The best thing about this book IMO is the source material that it drove me to read.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>It isnt very relevant to this conversation but it introduced me one of the most interesting views into a Roman Emperors mind, IMO, besides possibly &#039;Meditations&#039; (which I personally found far less interesting). That would be Julian&#039;s surviving works...among others</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&quot;The Caesars&quot;</p><p><a href="http://www.attalus.org/translate/caesars.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.attalus.org/translate/caesars.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.attalus.org/translate/caesars.html</a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>and the even more Interesting: &quot;Misopogon&quot; (The Beard Hater)</p><p><a href="http://www.attalus.org/translate/misopogon.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.attalus.org/translate/misopogon.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.attalus.org/translate/misopogon.html</a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The later being Julian&#039;s satirical and IMO very bitter answer to the people of Antioch who had publicly mocked him.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Oh...and if you think Constantine should be a figure of reverence because of his involvement with Christianity...this book is not for you as it treats him like any other emperor and its not with reverence...lets not forget the man killed his own son and wife. <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I am not sure if we might disagree quite as much as you think as I DO think money was widely used in the Roman Empire. I still DO believe that there were sections of society (especially in the later empire) who operated on a system that was not based on money (or far less so than others)[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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