Test #3 Flashcards
What are the two major scholarly positions regarding the nature of the ancient economy?
One emphasizes peasant agriculture, upper-class antipathy toward trade, and no concern for markets in ancient agricultural writing. The other emphasizes the material evidence for large scale international trade at Rome and the use of money for transactions.
How did wealthy landowners maintain their vast estates, and how did their labor force change seasonally?
Many slaves were used, but so were free men who hired themselves out as laborers, as well as tenant farmers. The labor demands during harvest time and vintage time increased dramatically, so hired hands probably must have been used in great supply during these times (because it was not economical to keep slaves year-round in anticipation of these times).
What is a subsistence economy and why is this term the best description for Roman peasant farmers?
The farmer’s primary aim was making enough food to get by (either through consumption or through trade for things he would then consume). The peasant farmer would not really try to produce more than his goal for the growing season was, so if he looked like he would have a big surplus, he stopped working as hard in the fields—he saw no reason to earn more than subsistence.
How did the Roman government respond to the every-couple-generations pressure from the plebeians for more land?
They would annex land won through conquest (at first in Italy, then later throughout the empire) and either parcel it out to individual applicants (remember the Gracchi brothers’ land commission) or settle full colonies of Roman citizens somewhere.
What were the two things that Roman aristocrats cared about regarding their estates, and since these two things were inseparable, what was the real ultimate goal of the elites?
They cared about both profit and pleasure, but ultimately the goal was social prestige.
Why didn’t wealthy elites normally turn their estates into vast profit-making enterprises, according to our textbook?
Romans were extremely unwilling to make big up-front investments and take on short-term losses even if they could expect to see large gains in the future; plus, there were major social consequences to losing huge sums of family wealth and few Romans were willing to risk that in the pursuit of huge profits.
What went on at markets and where were they held?
The markets were where farmers sold their surplus goods or specialty items; they were held in most cities of any size but also in some rural areas (where it was convenient for the local farmers to assemble) and also on the estates of the wealthy (unless that would compete directly against a civic market).
Why did the availability of good quality coined money vary from place to place and time to time?
Since the Romans had no coherent economic policies, they would mint coins mainly just to pay the government’s bills (such as funding the army) and didn’t realize the effect that this would have on the money supply (such as with inflation).
What two things did ancient moneylenders (argentarii) do?
They acted as intermediaries between wholesale sellers and buyers, and they offered credit (banking services).
What were negotiatores, and why were they important to the estates of the wealthy?
Negotiatores were the investors who conducted large business deals, especially involving international trade. Elites’ estates would rarely conduct their own business of selling their surplus crops but would sell contracts to negotiatores for the rights to deal in what the estate was producing—with the responsibilities of collecting, selling, and shipping those goods in their hands, not the estate owners’ hands.
What does the popularity of Massic wine demonstrate about the ancient Mediterranean economy?
Certain specialty items or luxury goods sometimes had a “vogue” period of high popularity that led to large-scale production which eventually ended (resulting in decreased production); the negotiatores facilitated the exporting not only of the Massic wine itself but also of the production system that made it an international success—thus, what worked for this one product was deployed for many other products.
How does the phenomenon of Arretine pottery reflect the same trends as Massic wine?
It got popular, was produced at high scale, spread throughout the Mediterranean, then lost popularity/production as its production system/craftsmen spread abroad.
What is our textbook’s point about the use of slave labor in the ancient economy?
Slavery was just one of several ways to obtain the use of human labor and nonetheless had costs that needed to be factored into the ultimate economic decisions of Roman businessmen and estate owners; slavery operated at every level of the ancient economy and in every realm, but not in equal numbers throughout all the places and times of ancient Rome.
How is the Roman attitude (esp. among aristocratic elites) toward wealthy equestrians more understandable in light of our textbook’s claims about the Roman “subsistence economy” and the elites’ management of, and goals for, their estates?
Roman aristocrats just didn’t consider wealth to be a worthwhile goal - wealth was only a means to prestige risking wealth and prestige to make a profit was just silly. Thus the Romans view of the equestrians was understandable.
How did the aristocratic ideology toward moneymaking go hand in hand with (hard to say which is the Cause and which is the Effect) the existence of negotiatores at Rome?
The elite were not concerned with making a big profit they just wanted a reliable stream of income so allowing the negotiatores to take care of actually doing the hard parts of selling and transporting the goods allowed the elite to spend their time trying to earn prestige and not governing their estates or making a profit - it didn’t really matter that much that the negotiatores were making a profit off their goods.
What sort of picture of a typical Roman marriage is suggested by the examples in our textbook?
marriage was a rather informal arrangement merely living with someone constituted marriage and divorce was as simple as wife get out of the house. The book notes that it seems that divorce and remarriage were common.
How did Roman labor arrangements work during the harvest time when extra labor was needed
most estates did not keep enough labor year round for the harvest time many temporary laborers were hired at this time to make up for the short coming
What was a Roman familia?
It was a legal term which included those under the head of the household including slaves but may not include the wife or emancipated citizens.
What did elite Romans have in the front room of their homes?
The atrium this is where they kept portraits of their deceased family members to show the importance of their lineage.
What were the two kinds of marriages in Rome?
cum manu – under legal authority
sine manu – not under husbands legal authority
What controversial legislation did Augustus push through regarding marriage?
He pushed through legislation that encouraged people to get married and have kids and discouraged extra martial sex and adultury
In the ideal Roman house, what were the sites of otium and negotium?
The otium - a square pleasure area with nature and columns
negotium - a work atrium a place to show off wealth power prestige and family lineage.
What is our textbook’s ultimate conclusion about the nature of Roman marriages, with regard to emotional love?
That even though they were legalistic that ultimately it was stony ground that still often found love how much can’t be said though
What factors does the textbook give for why Roman parents might have had distant relationships with their children?
May have been raised by slaves, high infant mortality, authoritarian structure, short life expectancy parents may die when you are still young, and a high number of relatives in the same household.
What is the stereotype of the apartment complex in ancient Rome?
That they were noisy and dangerous
What do the (exaggerated) descriptions of the city by Juvenal and Martial reveal about its workings?
That it was crowded and busy and full of trade activity at many hours of the day and night.
What sorts of things do we have to consider with skepticism whenever we encounter a piece of evidence about sexuality in the culture of ancient Rome?
The Romans often used sexuality as a means to slander their political opponents and any deviant behavior may very well have been suppressed. The moralizing tales of the “cinaedus” and “tribad” are good examples of this
