Economic Dynamics of the Early Roman Empire
Insights from Lead Pollution, Coinage, Weather, and War
Dados Bibliográficos
| ID | 19214239 |
|---|---|
| Autores | Luigi Oddo (0000-0003-3955-1443, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, autor correspondente), Silvio Traverso (0000-0003-1128-1402, Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro”), Koenraad Verboven (0000-0002-5124-422X, Ghent University Hospital) |
| Ano | 2024 |
| Volume | 101 |
| Páginas | 101765-101765 |
| Data de publicação | 2024-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Sim |
| Open Access | Sim |
| Tipo | ARTICLE |
| Periódico | Explorations in Economic History (JOURNAL) |
| Identificadores do periódico | ISSN: 0014-4983 • E-ISSN: 1090-2457 |
| Editora | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.eeh.2026.101765 |
| OpenAlex | W4401534565 |
| Idioma | EN |
| Referências citadas | 49 |
This study examines the relationship between anthropogenic lead pollution recorded in Greenland ice cores and economic dynamics during the Pax Romana (27 BC–180 AD), a period of relative political, institutional and technological stability in the Early Roman Empire. Our findings reveal that approximately one-fourth of the annual variability in lead pollution during this period can be explained by summer temperatures, silver coin output, and warfare – three factors plausibly linked to fluctuations of the Empire’s economy. Using annual time-series analysis, we integrate high-resolution paleoclimatic, paleoenvironmental, and cliometric data to investigate short-run economic dynamics in an ancient society. Specifically, our results suggest that warmer summers, which likely boosted agricultural yields, were positively associated with increased economic activity. In contrast, higher production of silver coins and periods of warfare were associated with lower levels of lead emissions, suggesting that these factors were associated with periods of weaker aggregate economic activity. Our analysis also provides formal statistical support for the hypothesis that historical lead pollution levels contain valuable information about economic activity in ancient Europe, thereby corroborating a highly debated claim in the literature
Ancient history · Economic history · Economics · Economy · Empire · Lead (geology) · Lead pollution · Natural resource economics · Roman Empire · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeology and Historical Studies · Classical Antiquity Studies · Ecology · Environmental Science · Eurasian Exchange Networks · Geology · History · Pollution
The Grain Trade under the Roman Empire
Greenland Ice Evidence of Hemispheric Lead Pollution Two Millennia Ago by Greek and Roman Civilizations
Lead from Carthaginian and Roman Spanish Mines Isotopically Identified in Greenland Ice Dated from 600 B.C. to 300 A.D.
Lead pollution recorded in Greenland ice indicates European emissions tracked plagues, wars, and imperial expansion during antiquity
Years of European Climate Variability and Human Susceptibility
The significance of climate variability on early modern European grain prices
The Supply and Use of Money in the Roman World 200 B.C. to A.D. 300
Taxes and Trade in the Roman Empire (200 B.C.–A.D. 400)
Climate and Conflict
European summer temperatures since Roman times
Climate and society in European history
Environmental Impact of Roman Mining and Metallurgy and Its Correlation with the Archaeological Evidence
The Graeco-Roman economy in the super long-run
Lead pollution and the Roman economy
State Finance in the Middle Roman Republic
Indicators for Roman economic growth
Machines, Power and the Ancient Economy
The Ancient Economy and New Institutional Economics
Landscape Change and Trade in Ancient Greece
Roman technological progress in comparative context
Political institutions, resources, and war
Economic growth in the Roman Mediterranean world
The premium for skilled labor in the Roman world
Weather Shocks, Sweet Potatoes and Peasant Revolts in Historical China
Jewish Persecutions and Weather Shocks
In search of Roman economic growth
The Size of the Economy and the Distribution of Income in the Roman Empire
Geological constraints on the use of lead isotopes for provenance in archaeometallurgy
Nature as historical protagonist
The Roman Hinterland Project
People, Plagues, and Prices in the Roman World
Tracing Roman lead sources using lead isotope analyses in conjunction with archaeological and epigraphic evidence-a case study from Augustan/Tiberian Germania
The Economy of the Early Roman Empire
Financial Intermediation in the Early Roman Empire
| Velocidade de citação | historical |
|---|---|
| Altamente citado | Não |