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The heavy taxes helped to push the middle class into poverty.
There was what has been called the crisis of the 3rd century. One side of this was difficulties in containing Barbarian attacks and a string of usurper emperors who were hailed by the legions in their areas and tried to become rulers of their areas, leading to political fragmentation. On the economic side, these usurpers issued their own coins, thus increasing the money supply and creating inflation. Barbaric raids devastated the countryside on some areas, especially in Gallia. This created impoverishment which, together with inflation, undermined trade, which in turn affected artisanal production. The Romans never recovered from this. Poor understanding of economics was a key factor. Attempts devaluing the currency backfired. So did attempts to fix prices . They did not understand the the money supply was the real problem. Increases in the size of the army and bureaucracy increased the burden of public expenditure and (especially under Diocletian) undermined local administration. Over time, the urban economy in many towns collapsed and there was a large population shift to the countryside. This led to the beginning of a servile form of labour for the greatly increased farm labour force which was the precursor of serfdom in the Middle ages
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
Wiki User
∙ 10y agoThe decline of the Roman economy started in what had been called the crisis of the 3rd century, during which:
a) There were constant invasions across the frontiers of the empire which massively overstretched the army.
b) There was runaway inflation.
Hyperinflation was caused by many years of debasement of the Roman coins. The silver and gold content of silver and gold coins had been continually decreased by many emperors to have more coins to finance their expenses and to increase the size and the pay of the army. This devalued the coins. The coins eventually came to have virtually no value. They had as little as only 5 % of precious metal. This led to hyperinflation. Its effects were:
1) A breakdown in trade. It became difficult to exchange goods with a worthless currency.
2) Agricultural production on the large landed estates became localised. These estates decreased their sales of crops to the cities and concentrated on production for local barter.
3) The urban economy collapsed. Manufacturing in cities shrunk because their goods, which were for long-distance trade, could not be traded.
4) Many people migrated from the cities to the countryside and the population of the cites shrunk.
5) The owners of the large estates employed the migrants from the cities as servile labour. These people lost their rights and became tied to their landlords.
6) Distresses peasants, who were leaseholders on the large estates, were leaving their land in search for better opportunities. They were often turned into servile labour in the large estates as well.
6) The tax revenue of the state decreased, while expenditure increased as the size of the army increased. The mentioned invasions also led to greater reliance on a much expanded cavalry, which was even more expensive.
7) Taxation was increased and was raised in the form of demanding goods, which did not help the economy. Emperor Diocletian resorted to confiscating goods. Taxation remained a big burden on the people for the rest of the history of the empire.
Constantine managed to bring inflation under control by scrapping the silver coins and amassing large quantities of gold to create a viable gold coinage. However, this benefitted only those who could afford god coins. The masses had to make do with copper token money (the follis) which had been created because the previous coins had collapsed. The follis was very vulnerable to inflation. The overall result of the crisis was a decline of the economy of the empire which became fragmented and localised. Trade did not regain its previous levels, the economy remained less based on money, and the widened gap between the rich and the poor who had to rely of the vulnerable follis became irreversible.
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoInflation and excessive consumerism contributed to the weakening of the Roman Empire in the west.
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