The Rather Pathetic Economy of the Roman Empire

Apparently us guys think about the Roman Empire 5 times a day, but from an economic Perspective it's hard to see why. While they did build a lot of architectural monuments, their economy was actually rather pathetic by almost all metrics. Why was Rome, which had a large empire and notoriety throughout Europe for millennia after its demise, actually a very weak economy?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices