Chapter XX 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 Diocletian729 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 4d. to 7d. 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 4¼d., in U.S.A. 4d. to 7½d.
Oysters (by the 100), 1s. 10d., (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— | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1906 a.d. in the | ||||
| 301 a.d. | United States. | |||
| s. | d. | s. | d. | |
| Wheat per bushel | 1 | 8 | 4 | 10 (wholesale) |
| Beef per lb. | 0 | 3-2½d. | 0 | 5-9d. |
| 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 11d. | ||