The Size of the Economy and the Distribution of Income in the Roman Empire*
The Size of the Economy and the Distribution of Income in the Roman Empire*
复制标题
罗马帝国的经济规模和收入分配*
作者：
Steven J. Friesen;W. Scheidel
公元世纪罗马帝国国内生产总值的不同估算方法得出趋同结果，表明总产量和消费量相当于每年5 000万吨小麦或近200亿塞斯特斯。据估计，精英阶层（约占帝国人口的1.5%）控制着大约五分之一的总收入，而中等家庭（约占人口的10%）则消费了另外五分之一。这些发现揭示了罗马世界经济不平等的规模和需求的分配。
Different methods of estimating the Gross Domestic Product of the Roman Empire in the second century C.E. produce convergent results that point to total output and consumption equivalent to 50 million tons of wheat or close to 20 billion sesterces per year. It is estimated that élites (around 1.5 per cent of the imperial population) controlled approximately one-fifth of total income, while middling households (perhaps 10 per cent of the population) consumed another fifth. These findings shed new light on the scale of economic inequality and the distribution of demand in the Roman world.