How did war lead to economic growth for ancient Rome?

Answer 1

Victory in war brought loot and Slaves. In antiquity conquered towns were looted. This was the spoils of war. Some of the loot was given to the soldiers as an incentive for fighting, some was taken by the commander and some was given to the state. Looting also occurred in rural areas during military campaigns. This helped to finance the expenses of war. The countryside was also pillaged to provide food for the soldiers.

In antiquity it was also customary to sell war captives as slaves. This enriched the owners of the large landed estates who bought most of the slaves to make them work in their field. However, it was also detrimental to small farmers. Slave labour enabled the large landowners to expand their estates at their expense. Slaves also worked as miners as in those days this job was like a death sentence. It has to be noted that slaves were concentrated in Italy and that most of the areas of the Roman Empire did not have slaves. The economy of the empire relied mostly on independent small farmers, tenant farmers and wage labourers.

The integration of the conquered areas into the economy of the Roman Empire encouraged the development of thriving trading networks throughout the empire and beyond. The various areas of the empire sold their local crops minerals and manufactures. Rome was the engine of this trade as it was a massive importer of goods. She needed massive imports of grain to feed its large population. Half of this came from Egypt and most of the rest from Tunisia, Sicily and Sardinia. She imported large quantities of olive oils and the largest exporter was Spain. Rome also imported wine, luxury goods, animals and stones for construction. The Romans also traded with Arabia, Persia, India, China, Ethiopia and Europe north of their empire