DIOCLETIAN’S EDICT, 301 A.D.—PRICES OF FISH AND OTHER ARTICLES THEN AND
NOW
Struck with Adam’s words with regard to the Edict of Diocletian, 301
A.D.—“if we could fix the value of the denarius at this epoch, the
prices of fish then would prove an interesting subject for comparison
with those now (1883) current at Billingsgate”—I set to work to
ascertain how great had been the depreciation of and what was the exact
value of the denarius at the opening of the fourth century.
Much labour would have been saved, had I earlier come across Abbott’s
_The Common People of Ancient Rome_, but I found some compensation in
the solution of my sum coinciding approximately with his estimate of
the denarius = ·4352 cent.[728]
The Edict of Diocletian[729] contains, as Mr. Abbott (to whose book I
am indebted for very much that follows) indicates, many points of great
economic interest to us at the present time.
_First_—sentences of the Introduction (probably from intrinsic evidence
written by the Emperor himself) might well pass for a diatribe in
to-day’s paper against a Beef or other Trust. Fortunate it is for
these that the newspaper man possesses not the power of life and death
wielded by Diocletian.
The Emperor, having decided that the prices promulgated shall be
observed in “all our domain,” goes on, “it is our pleasure that if any
shall have boldly come into conflict with this formal statute, he shall
put his life in peril. In the same peril also shall he be placed, who,
drawn by avarice in his desire to buy, shall have conspired against
these statutes. Nor shall he be esteemed innocent of the same crime
who, having articles necessary for daily life and use, shall have
decided that they can be held back, since the punishment ought to be
even heavier for him who causes need, than for him who violates laws.”
_Second_—the prices are _maximum_ prices, not for commodities only, but
also for wages.
_Third_—although the number of slaves owned had decreased since
Augustan days, the scale of wages was still distinctly affected by
slaves being hired out by their owners for day or job work.
_Fourth_—the absence of power being applied to manufacture, of the
assemblage of men in a common workshop, and of the use of any other
machines than the hand loom, or the mill for grinding corn.
_Fifth_—for the urban workman in the fourth century (as Mr. Abbott,
p. 176, demonstrates), conditions of life must have been almost
intolerable. It is indeed hard to understand how he managed to keep
body and soul together, when almost all the nutritious articles of
food were beyond his reach. “The taste of meat, fish, butter, and
eggs must have been almost unknown to him, and even the coarse bread
and vegetables on which he lived were probably limited in amount. The
peasant proprietor who raised his own cattle and grain would not find
the burden so hard.”
_Sixth_—the failure within a dozen years of the Emperor’s bold
attempt to reduce the cost of living. Lactantius,[730] writing in
313-14, sums up the result of this interference with economic check
and countercheck—“for the veriest trifles much blood was shed, and
out of fear nothing was offered for sale, and the scarcity grew much
worse, until after the death of many persons the law was repealed from
necessity.” Sixty years later the Emperor Julian made a similar but
smaller attempt to control prices, but the corn speculators of Antioch
so entirely worsted him that he had to acknowledge defeat.
By the courtesy of the Secretary of the Fishmongers’ Company I was
furnished, with some average _wholesale_ prices for 1913, the last
year unaffected by the war. The consumer, it must be remembered, is
compelled, in general, to pay the retailer one-third per lb. more to
defray handling, rent, etc.
The following sea fish were sold in London, per lb., as follows: Cod
for 4, Turbot for 9½, Mullet (_Mugil capito_) for 11, Sole for 17
pence. In the Edict the price of fresh sea fish is lumped at from 4½ to
7 pence, so we have no datum for comparison of individual prices. In
the case of the _Mugil capito_, however, we are enabled to contrast its
price, _i.e._ 11 pence, with that in Egypt, _c._ 1200 B.C., _i.e._ 9/20
of a penny.[731]
A comparison with America in 1906 shows that the average price of fresh
sea fish was from 4_d._ to 7_d._ per lb., or practically the same as in
Diocletian’s time, while that of river fish—fresh—per lb. was 6 to 7½
as against 3¾ pence in the Edict.[732]
Salt fish, per lb. in 301 A.D. cost 4¼_d._, in U.S.A. 4_d._ to 7½_d._
Oysters (by the 100), 1_s._ 10_d._, (in London) 4/-to 14/-.
The figures show that prices of other commodities in the Edict vary
extremely, but for sea fish are not far apart.
From the articles of raw material and manufactured wares, which number
in the Edict over eight hundred, and from the wages, etc., I subjoin
some items and prices on account of their general interest.[733]
Price in—
301 A.D. 1906 A.D. in the
United States.
_s. d. s. d._
Wheat per bushel 1 8 4 10 (wholesale)
Beef per lb. 0 3-2½_d._ 0 5-9_d._
Butter 0 5 1 1 to 1 4
Eggs, per doz. 0 2½ 1 0 ” 1 3
_Wages per Day._
301 A.D. 1906 A.D. in the
_s. d._ United States.
Unskilled Workman 0 5¼ receives keep. 5/- to 9/- (8 hours)
Carpenter 0 10½ ” ” 10/- to 16/- ”
Painter 1 4¼ ” ” 11/- to 16/- ”
I add a few other prices, without attempting in these years of the
ever-climbing wave of cost to give the corresponding modern quotations.
£ _s. d._
Fowl 0 0 6½
Snails (per score) 0 0 0½
Asparagus (25 to the bunch) 0 0 1½
Apples (best, 10) 0 0 0¾
Barber 0 0 4½
Tailor (for cutting out and finishing best over
garment) 0 1 1¼
Elementary Teacher (per pupil per month) 0 0 10¼
Writing ” ” ” 0 1 4
Greek, Latin, or Geometry (per pupil per month) 0 3 7
Advocate for presenting a case 0 4 2
” ” finishing ” 0 17 5
Watcher of Clothes in public baths (for each patron) 0 0 4½
Patricians’ shoes (per pair) 0 2 9
Boots (Women’s) ” 0 1 1
” (Soldiers’, without nails) 0 1 10½
Transportation (1 person, 1 mile) 0 0 4½
Waggon (1 mile) 0 0 2½
White Silk (per lb.) 10 10 0
Genuine Purple Silk (per lb.) 130 10 0
Washed Tarentine Wool (per lb.) 0 3 1
Ordinary washed Wool ” from 5½ to 11_d._
FOOTNOTES:
[728] London, 1912. Note, however, that Hultsch in Pauly-Winowa, _Real
Enc._ (Stuttgart, 1903), V. 211, says: ‘Damit war aus dem Silber-D.,
der noch unter Severus einen Metallwert von etwa 30 Pfennig gehabt
hatte ... eine kleine Scheidemünze zum Curswerte von 1, 8 Pfennig oder
Weniger geworden.’ On this showing the denarius had sunk to 1⅘ pfennigs
in 301 A.D.
[729] Fragments of the Edict in Latin and in Greek have been coming to
light for the last two centuries from Egypt, Greece and Asia Minor—not
the least important being found by W. M. Leake; see his _Edict of
Diocletian_, 1826. See also Mommsen’s _Inscriptionum Latinarum_, vol.
III. pp. 1926-1953, the text of which was published by H. Blümner
with a commentary in 1893 in his _Der Maximaltarif des Diocletian_.
A convenient account of this famous Edict, together with a full
bibliography, is given by H. Blümner in Pauly-Winowa, _Real. Enc._
(Stuttgart), V. pp. 1948-1957.
[730] Lactantius, _de mortibus persecutorum_, 7.
[731] See p. 337, _postea_.
[732] The lower price of river as compared with sea fish seems
additional evidence that the preference for the latter, well attested
in the earlier days of Athens and of Rome, still continued.
[733] From p. 174 ff. of Abbott, who gives the prices in _cents_.