Pliny's Roman Economy: Natural History, Innovation, and Growth

Pliny the Elder's Natural History provides insights into Roman ideas about economic growth, with some ideas anticipating modern theory and others explaining why Rome produced few major inventions. His reverence for the past contrasts with the attitudes of eighteenth-century encyclopedists and his recognition of the lack of competition from other states suppressed incentives for innovation.

Format: Hardback
Length: 216 pages
Publication date: 15 March 2022
Publisher: Princeton University Press

The first comprehensive study of Pliny the Elder's economic thought—and its implications for understanding the Roman Empire's constrained innovation and economic growth—is presented in this essay. Pliny's Natural History, a remarkable compilation of 20,000 "things worth knowing" that was intended to serve as a repository of ancient Mediterranean knowledge for artisans and farmers, was too expensive, unwieldy, and impractical to be of practical use. However, as Richard Saller demonstrates, the Natural History provides more insights into Roman ideas about economic growth than any other ancient source. Pliny's Roman Economy is the first comprehensive study of Pliny's economic thought and its implications for understanding the economy of the Roman Empire. As Saller reveals, Pliny sometimes anticipates modern economic theory, while at other times his ideas suggest why Rome produced very few major inventions that resulted in sustained economic growth. On the one hand, Pliny believed that new knowledge came by accident or divine intervention, not by human initiative; research and development were foreign concepts. When he lists 136 great inventions, they are mostly prehistoric and don't include a single one from Rome—offering a commentary on Roman innovation and displaying a reverence for the past that contrasts with the attitudes of the eighteenth-century encyclopedists credited with contributing to the Industrial Revolution. On the other hand, Pliny shrewdly recognized that Rome's lack of competition from other states suppressed incentives for innovation. Pliny's understanding should be noted because, as Saller shows, recent efforts to use scientific evidence about the ancient climate to measure the Roman economy are flawed. By exploring these issues, this essay provides a new perspective on Pliny the Elder's economic thought and its implications for understanding the Roman Empire's constrained innovation and economic growth.

The first comprehensive study of Pliny the Elder's economic thought—and its implications for understanding the Roman Empire's constrained innovation and economic growth—is presented in this essay. Pliny's Natural History, a remarkable compilation of 20,000 "things worth knowing" that was intended to serve as a repository of ancient Mediterranean knowledge for artisans and farmers, was too expensive, unwieldy, and impractical to be of practical use. However, as Richard Saller demonstrates, the Natural History provides more insights into Roman ideas about economic growth than any other ancient source. Pliny's Roman Economy is the first comprehensive study of Pliny's economic thought and its implications for understanding the economy of the Roman Empire. As Saller reveals, Pliny sometimes anticipates modern economic theory, while at other times his ideas suggest why Rome produced very few major inventions that resulted in sustained economic growth. On the one hand, Pliny believed that new knowledge came by accident or divine intervention, not by human initiative; research and development were foreign concepts. When he lists 136 great inventions, they are mostly prehistoric and don't include a single one from Rome—offering a commentary on Roman innovation and displaying a reverence for the past that contrasts with the attitudes of the eighteenth-century encyclopedists credited with contributing to the Industrial Revolution. On the other hand, Pliny shrewdly recognized that Rome's lack of competition from other states suppressed incentives for innovation. Pliny's understanding should be noted because, as Saller shows, recent efforts to use scientific evidence about the ancient climate to measure the Roman economy are flawed. By exploring these issues, this essay provides a new perspective on Pliny the Elder's economic thought and its implications for understanding the Roman Empire's constrained innovation and economic growth.

Weight: 424g
Dimension: 282 x 245 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691229546