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 the eighteenth-century encyclopedists contributing to the Industrial Revolution, and his recognition of the lack of competition from other states suppressed incentives for innovation.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 216 pages
Publication date: 05 December 2023
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 here. The elder Pliny's Natural History (77 CE), an astonishing compilation of 20,000 "things worth knowing," was avowedly intended to be a repository of ancient Mediterranean knowledge for the use of craftsmen and farmers. However, this 37-book, 400,000-word work was too expensive, unwieldy, and impractically organized to be of utilitarian value. Yet, as Richard Saller shows, the Natural History offers 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 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 Pliny's Natural History, Saller demonstrates how it provides valuable insights into Roman ideas about economic growth and innovation. He highlights how Pliny's work offers a unique perspective on the Roman Empire's economic challenges and the factors that contributed to its constrained development. Through his analysis, Saller sheds light on the complex interplay between cultural attitudes, technological advancements, and political structures that shaped the Roman economy and its ability to innovate.

In conclusion, Pliny the Elder's Natural History is a rich source of information about the economic thought and practices of the Roman Empire. Saller's study of this work provides a valuable contribution to our understanding of the Roman Empire's economic history and its implications for contemporary economic theory and policy. By examining Pliny's ideas and perspectives, we can gain a deeper appreciation of the challenges and opportunities faced by ancient societies in pursuing economic growth and innovation.

Weight: 290g
Dimension: 139 x 216 x 17 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691229560