Pots for Cash? A Critique of the Role of the ‘Free Market’ in the Late Roman Economy

Globalizing the local in Roman Britain: An anthropological approach to social change

“…Whilst the notion of synchronous change might superficially fit with traditional formalist views of the Romano-British economy which assume the existence of a 'free-market' economy, this need not be the case. Recent critical studies of ceramic evidence such as Gerrard (2002) have called into question the basis of such interpretations, with greater emphasis being placed on the role of the militaryorientated command economy facilitated by the Roman state (e.g. Allen and Fulford, 1996).…”