This inscription, an edict on maximum prices issued by Emperor Diocletian in 301 A.D., is an extremely important document because it is an attempt by the Emperor to stop inflation and set maximum prices for goods throughout the empire. It gives us the possibility to study economy of the period and to confront with other evidence and is unique in its kind as a find of such financial regulation, telling us what the economic problems were and how the imperial office tried to solve them. The reconstructed fragments in Latin and Greek have been sufficient to estimate prices for goods and services for historical economists. Several fragments in Greek and Latin have been found in different location in the Empire.


Links

Edictum de pretiis rerum venalium - Digital Edition (incomplete)


Related Stories

Galerius, tetrarchy and erased inscriptions


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Room 1 - Inscriptions and history: Previous | Next

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19

Room 0: Introduction

Room 2: Script and Alphabets

Room 3: Objects and the relation between image, text and context

Room 4: Emotions in inscriptions

Room 5: The stone cutter, methods and mistakes

Room 6: Digital technologies for epigraphy

Credits

Links to other related resources