Economic History of Rome and Byzantium (Volumes I and II)

Author: Li Yining
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-06
Features: This book discusses the socio-economic changes during the period from the height of the Roman Republic to the fall of the Byzantine Empire and presents a series of viewpoints by the author. These viewpoints include: the conflict and struggle between small landowners and large landowners are the main thread running through Roman socio-economic life; the prosperity of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire relied on the support of rural smallholders and urban artisans and merchants, yet the late Roman Empire severely suppressed and deprived these smallholders and artisans and merchants, ultimately leading to the fall of the Western Roman Empire; after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) was able to continue to exist and even experience a period of revival, not only because the eastern regions of the Roman Empire had remained relatively stable but also because the government gradually adjusted its economic policies starting from the 7th century; the Byzantine Empire ultimately could not escape its fate of collapse, just as it later destroyed the foundation upon which it survived, causing small landowners in the countryside and artisans and merchants in the cities to go bankrupt or flee, resulting in the depletion of both manpower and tax revenue. The Ottoman Empire destroyed the Byzantine Empire under these circumstances. This book discusses the socio-economic changes during the period from the height of the Roman Republic to the fall of the Byzantine Empire and presents a series of viewpoints by the author. These viewpoints include: the conflict and struggle between small landowners and large landowners are the main thread running through Roman socio-economic life; the prosperity of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire relied on the support of rural smallholders and urban artisans and merchants, yet the late Roman Empire severely suppressed and deprived these smallholders and artisans and merchants, ultimately leading to the fall of the Western Roman Empire; after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire) was able to continue to exist and even experience a period of revival, not only because the eastern regions of the Roman Empire had remained relatively stable but also because the government gradually adjusted its economic policies starting from the 7th century; the Byzantine Empire ultimately could not escape its fate of collapse, just as it later destroyed the foundation upon which it survived, causing small landowners in the countryside and artisans and merchants in the cities to go bankrupt or flee, resulting in the depletion of both manpower and tax revenue. The Ottoman Empire destroyed the Byzantine Empire under these circumstances.