2015/06/30 by Robert I. Curtis · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Business, Management and Accounting · Engineering · #Archaeology and Historical Studies #Law, logistics, and international trade #Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History #Bureaucracy #Port (circuit theory) #Government (linguistics) #Exportation #Roman Empire #Population #Politics #Emperor #Empire #Food supply #Geography #Economy #Business #Political science #Agricultural economics #History #Ancient history #Economics #Engineering #Archaeology #Sociology #Law
paper · doi:10.1002/9781118878255.ch16
openalex publication_date 2015/06/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The population of Rome by the second century AD exceeded one million people for whom the Roman government, in the interest of political and social stability, oversaw the food supply not just for the 200 000 or so who received free grain but for everyone. To ensure a steady and dependable supply of food the Roman government created a vast bureaucracy under the watchful eye of the praefectus annonae to ensure its import, storage, and distribution. Concomitant with the importation of food to Rome was the exportation of those items from Italy and regions located throughout the Roman Empire. Rome possessed nearly 300 warehouses, large and small, known primarily from literary and epigraphic sources. For long-distance trade, access to port facilities and ships would also be a consideration, and movement to a port would probably initially require travel by road or river.