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The senatorial elite were involved heavily in private lending, as both creditors and borrowers, and made loans from their personal fortunes on the basis of social connections.

Generally, available capital exceeded the amount needed by borrowers and so loans were made and credit was extended on risky terms. With no central bank, a professional deposit banker ( argentarius, coactor argentarius, or later nummularius) received and held deposits for a fixed or indefinite term and lent money to third parties. The setup of the banking system under the Empire allowed the exchange of extremely large sums without the physical transfer of coins, which led to fiat money. Solidus issued under Constantine II, and on the reverse Victoria, one of the last deities to appear on Roman coins, gradually transforming into an angel under Christian rule The Roman Imperial economy was often unstable and inflated in part by emperors who issued money to fund high-profile imperial projects such as public building works or costly wars that offered opportunities for propaganda but little or no material gain. Emperors issued coinage stamped with their portraits to disseminate propaganda, to create public goodwill, and to symbolize their wealth and power. In times of agricultural and cash shortfall, Roman officials and moneyers tended to respond by coining money, which happened during the prolonged crisis of the First Punic War and created economic distortion and difficulties.ĭuring the early Roman Empire, the economy, in the sense of using money to express prices and debts, was formed, along with a basic banking system. Financial markets were established through such trade, and financial institutions, which extended credit for personal use and public infrastructure, were established primarily by interfamily wealth. The Roman economy during the Roman Republic, was largely agrarian and centered on the trading of commodities such as grain and wine.

Total GDP around 1 AD for various regions of the Roman Empire