How did expansion change roman trade?

Answer 1

The emperor trajan's conquest of datia expanded the empire by 200,000 square miles. The rich's brought back by his army financed the construction of trajan's mall also known as trajan's forum which served as a huge center of commerce for roman citizens as well as a blueprint for today's modern mall.

Answer 2

Here are some of the major changes created by imperial expansion:

1) During the mid- and late Republic it created a mass of dispossessed peasants who moved to Rome to swell the masses of the underemployed or unemployed poor in that city. This was due to

a) Impoverishment due to indebtedness and neglect of farms during prolonged military service by soldiers of a peasant citizen militia (until 107 BC when the Marian reforms of the army opened up recruitment to the landless poor).

b) An increased supply of slaves which corresponded to increased military activity and expansion. Slaves were war captives which were part of the spoils of war. Most of the slaves were bought by rich landowners. They provided an abundant labour force which enabled these landowners to expand their landed estates at the expense of the peasants and their small holdings. We often are not given the number of enslavements in the Roman victories. Some examples are: with the destruction of Carthage (176 BC) 50,000 people were enslaved, in the Third Macedonian War (171-168 BC) 300,000, with the destruction of Jerusalem (70 AD) 97,000, with the Dacian Wars ((101-102, 105-106) 100,000. The reliability of these figures is uncertain.

2) The richer became richer and the poor became poorer. The patrician landlords made more money from their expended large-scale farming. The equites, a class of moneylenders, bankers, merchants, and investors in shipping and mining, benefitted from increased commercial activity and the development of thriving trading networks around the Roman Empire and beyond.

3) In the 1st century BC there was competition between the Roman equites and the elites of Rome's Italian allies who were more precocious uptakers of the trading opportunities afforded by imperial expansion. This led to the War of the Allies (or Social War, 91-88 BC) in which the latter demanded Roman citizenship to stop legislation which favoured the Roman equites and were disadvantageous to them. Following this war, the Italian allies were granted Roman citizenship. Some of these Italians then reached prominent positions in the Roman state. The definition of being a Roman changed.

4) The issue of the urban poor in the 1st century BC became a political hot potato and led to conflict between the populares and the optimates. The former was a faction which championed the cause of the poor and wanted reforms to help the poor. The latter was a conservative faction which favoured the aristocracy and opposed the reforms. This conflict was played a crucial part in the series of civil wars which eventually brought the Roman Republic down and led to its replacement with rule by emperors.

5) The population of Rome swelled to a massive estimated 1-1.4 million people, which made Rome the largest city in the world. This was due to the migration to Rome of dispossessed peasants, an increase in the slave population and the Immigration of provincials (form the conquered territories) who were attracted to the city.

6) Rome became the hub of the trade of the empire because she was a large-scale importer of goods. She needed to import large quantities of grain to feed its large population. Half of this came from Egypt; Tunisia and Sicily were other major producers. Olive oil was a major import and much of this came from Spain. Many other items were also imported.

7) The rich indulged in opulence and conspicuous consumption. Sumptuary laws were introduced to try to curb this. A particular problem was the extensive purchase of expensive silk form China. Since China did not need to import anything from the Roman Empire, this constituted a drain of money away from the empire.

8) The problem of poverty was never addressed properly and the masses relied on a grain dole in which grain was originally subsidised and then became free.

9) In 212 the emperor Caracalla extended Roman citizenship to all freeborn males in the empire. Therefore, all the ethnic groups of the empire became Roman.

10) From the third century onwards, the Romans found it difficult to defend the vast frontiers of the empire from continuous attacks from outside. During that century there was military anarchy, unstable politics and economic collapse. This was followed by a change in rulership style from a relative benign one to one were the emperors were autocrats. Rome also ceased to be the heart of the empire as Constantinople became the imperial capital of the eastern part of the Roman Empire and Milan became the capital of the western part

Answer 3

The institutions of the Roman Republic, which were created before the empire, became unable to deal with having an empire, became dysfunctional and collapsed. The Republic was torn apart by a series of civil wars and was replaced by rule by emperors. Rome grew into the biggest city in the world. The empire created a lot of wealth, but this made the rich richer and the poor poorer. The rich lived an ostentatious lifestyle, while the poor relied on a free grain dole to survive. Greed and corruption became a big problem. The poor joined the army for a career and a pay and on discharge they were granted a plot of land to farm and were settled around the empire, where their legions were stationed. Thus, a great number of Romans left Rome. From the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD , during the wars of imperial expansion, many slaves, who were war captives, were taken to Rome. After this the supply of slaves dwindled. At one point the majority of the population of the city of Rome were the descendants of slaves and freedmen. Rome imported massive quantities of grain and olive oil for its massive copulation. Half of the grain came from Egypt, the rest was mostly from Tunisia, Sicily and Sardinia. Spain was the biggest exporter of olive oil. Rome also imported many other goods, including luxury goods. Thus she stimulated the growth of thriving trading networks around the empire. It became an overcrowded city where the majority of its people were poor and lived no the top floors of up to seven floor-high blocks of apartments in overcrowded rooms with no water or sanitation.

Answer 4

Rome was the Ancient crossroads of the world. Within Rome were people from all over the ancient world and with them came foods, ideas, and items. The expansion of Rome provided with lands, resources, slaves, and all sorts of items and foods. It made them very powerful.