‘Horrible, Speculative, Nasty, Dangerous’: Assessing the Value of Roman Iron

Abstract

The economic aspects of metallurgy in the distant past have been relatively little studied, largely owing to the absence of detailed records for periods preceding medieval times. This paper takes advantage of a rare survival, an account from the Vindolanda tablets in which a price for iron is recorded, to explore some of the economic characteristics of the metal during the fi rst and second centuries A.D. in Britain. The inherent diffi culties in employing evidence of this kind are examined before looking at the price information from the rest of the Vindolanda tablets to assess the value of iron relative to other commodities at the fort. The value of the metal is then examined compared with that of labour, thus illuminating the potential economic opportunities that became available to iron producers following the establishment of Roman rule in Britain. 1 P. Crew, pers. comm.

L’explotació dels territoris pirinencs orientals en època antiga (s. VI-I ane)

“…Aquesta nova demanda, que no existia a la fase anterior, creiem que només pot haver estat generada per la mateixa administració romana i en especial pel seu exèrcit, consumidor tant en època republicana com imperial d'una gran quantitat d'objectes de ferro (Bray, 2010). En aquest sentit, no sembla casual que parallelament a l'aparició d'establiments logís-tics i de control territorial de filiació militar (praesidia, stationes, etc.)…”