The hidden financial world of ancient Rome
About this episode
The episode explores the hidden financial world of ancient Rome, focusing on the economic lives of ordinary Romans.
Ancient Rome is often depicted as a glamorous empire of power, sophistication and wealth. Yet for most people, the reality of daily life was precarious. Host Robin Wigglesworth talks to Kim Bowes, author of Surviving Rome: The Economic Lives of the Ninety Percent , about how ordinary Romans combined real grit with surprising financial sophistication in order to weather a system that was stacked against them. They uncover a hidden financial world in which women often ran the household finances, families delivered their own children into debt bondage and shepherds might sell wool futures on rented sheep. A far cry from the Rome of popular imagination, this is the ancient Roman empire as most Romans experienced it. Further reading: Surviving Rome: The Economic Lives of the Ninety Percent by Kim Bowes Credits: Getty Images Love listening to The Story of Money? Join Robin and Gillian on Saturday 5 September at Kenwood House Gardens in London, or online as the FT Weekend paper comes to life. Register now at ft.com/festival and enjoy 10% off with code FTPodcast . To enjoy future episodes, be sure to subscribe to The Story of Money wherever you get your podcasts, also on the…
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