In this first part, we travel 1,700 years to the Roman Empire. The emperor Diocletian tried to curb inflation and, to this end, issued the Edict on Maximum Prices in AD 301. It was a detailed list, trying to control 1,400 prices and salaries, including products like camel hair, vulture feathers, and loincloths. But there is more: prices of loincloths for first, second, and third quality.  

But why did Diocletian need to be so detailed? Why would a man who claimed to be the son of the god Jupiter be concerned with the price of camel hair? Because inflation was a disease killing the empire.

This is a long eight-part episode covering the three hundred years of the Early Roman Empire, also known as the Principate. Through this series, we will learn in detail how the Roman State worked for the three hundred years of the Early Empire, and how, as public expenses kept increasing and the sources of revenue kept decreasing, debasement and inflation followed. Today, we will see one of the public expenditure programs that led to inflation. We will go into detail today to learn about the free distribution of food in the empire: its origins, some numbers to put in perspective the colossal effort it represented, how it expanded over time to more than just grain and to more than just the city of Rome, and finally, how it all ended.

In the second part in two weeks, we will discuss the imperial expenditure on public spectacles, which was also an important part of daily life in the city of Rome and the empire. In the third part, we will discuss two other imperial expenses: handouts as gifts in cash and public construction works. In the fourth episode, we continue exploring the remaining expenditure items: the state bureaucracy and the largest expense of all, the military. In the fifth part, we will touch on whether the Roman Empire could finance these public expenses through public debt and whether the empire lost or gained money through trade. We will also talk about the short-term or unpredictable sources of revenue to cover these expenses. I am referring to mining, the spoils of war, and confiscations from the wealthy elite. Later, in the sixth and seventh parts, we will see the subjects of taxes and treasuries, respectively, as they were long-term or more predictable sources of revenue. Finally, in the eighth and last part, we will talk about debasement, inflation, Diocletian’s Edict on Maximum Prices, and why it failed.   

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