The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1914-03-15
HIGH COST IN ROME.

High prices became SO oppressive IL
the Roman Empire during the thlrt
century of the present era that Diocle
tian, the emperor, sought by sumptuarJ
laws to regulate tho wage Of labor ane
the prices Of commodities. Professo'
Abbott of Princeton in bis book, "Th'
Common People of Ancient Rome,' give'
some Of the figures contained In Dioole
tian's edicts- a few Of these figures
interpreted In modern terms, are as fol
lows:
Barley, 746 cents a bushel; rye, 40
cents a bushel; oats. 22,o cents a
bushel; beans. a5 cents a oushsi; SAT-, 1hs
quart, varied in price from cents TO
226 cents, oil, IS cents to 3o.3 cents
quart; honey. is cents to sO.3 eent5
a quart. meat per pound; Pork, -
Butter. 9.s cents q pound; oysters,
435 cents hundred; fish, 4.S cents
to las cents pound; cabbage, IL
cents a pound: turnips. II cents
pound; cucumbers, II cents a pound;
shelled green beans. cents q quart;
eggs, four for II cents; apples. ten
for 1T cents: grapes, IL cents for 2.l2
pounds; Sleeps milk. 6 cents quart
Inc following W6BeS "et0 BlNcN
with board and room:
Manual labor received 1913 cents a
day: bricklayers. jolners, carpenters.
stonemasons, wagonmakers, snip
builders, bakers. smiths. 21.8 cents
day. marble workers. mosaic workers.
26 cents q day; wall painters, re-
ceived 32:4 cents day; an artist who
painted figures received 84.8 cents
day; driver for camel, ass OF mule,
1913 cents q day; coppersmiths were
m ha n mr.
worked UP, rs cents pound makers
OF statues, 32.& cents day. writer's,
100 lines best writing. 1913 cents; or
dinary writing, 100 lines. 81 cents,
own room and board. Teachers were
paid per child per month, and no
board went with these great salaries.
PIG cents. Teachers OF mathematics
cents per month per pupil; Teachers
of rhetoric were paid still better, s1.Os
per month per pupil. There were no
fat fees for lawyers-they were paid
si.os In order to make the laws
delaya'' as little as possible. Diocletian
fixed the fee OF a lawyer who fin
ished a case at s4.36:
The prices Of leather and skins OF
all kinds ranged from 7 cents a skin
to s4.S6, for which latter price you
could buy lion or leopard skin.
Patricians paid 65 cents for a pair
OF shoes; senator's. 43 cents, sir
knights, 306 cents; women, 26 cents
The rates for transportation did not
escape Diocletian's keen eye. Trans
portation for one person one mile, o OF
a cent; rent OF wagon for one mile,
o cents, freight charges per wagon
containing up to 1900 pounds per mile.
81 cents; freight charges per camel
load, 500 pounds. per mile, 3.o cents.
hay and straw. pounds for g OF a
cent
rrhr.,d noaaIos r,,t,-ioIs fo,, ,,.,l
ing, ready to-wear clothing. and raw
material on all OF these things Do
cletian fixed the price. Genuine pur-
pie silk was S652.20 a pound: purple
wool, S217.40 a pound.
He fixed the price OF gold at $4,000
denarii pound.
1t is scarcely necessary to say thai
inasmuch as Diocletian was unable tt
control production, distribution ant
his sumptuary law:
proved Intellectual When the Roman
laborers found that it did not pay tc
raise barley, milk, honey, beef, pork
butter, cabbage, apples, grapes, etc.
they stopped producing. When teach
er, mechanic, sculptor, a painter, OF
q writer found that his trade or profes
sion did not pay he turned his hand tc
else, and at length, when life
In Rome became intolerable, thousand:
departed to seek livelihood in other
parts of Italy and in other countries.
The figures, however, are interesting
because they show the relation between
prices and wages in those days, as com
pared with prices and wages in this
country today.