Ancient Rome Consumer Demand

Introduction
What would any country be if one portion of its territory were removed…If a measure of its citizens and property were vanished away? No country could possibly be the same. Its history would forever be altered. A country is but the sum of its citizens, and lands. In ancient Rome, surrounding territories were conquered and their citizens enslaved. Those lands and people were a major part of the economic output of the Roman Empire. In this paper, I will examine how the provinces affected the general Roman economy. I will do this by discussing consumer demand in Ancient Rome, the spoils of conquering provincial territories, hunger relief through provincial agricultural output, and economic increase through the slave trade.
Analysis and Discussion
The Provinces Satisfy Rome’s Consumer Demand
In his article entitled, “The Romans: Society and Daily Life”, Antony Kamm describes how consumer demand caused the import of food staples such as wheat, olive oil, and wine, as well as luxury items from various parts of the world. He goes on to describe how the Roman army, stationed in provinces throughout the Roman Empire, stimulated the economy. (Kamm, n.d.) According to
The government of Ancient Rome established a program that allowed farmers in the provinces of Rome to donate crops to offset their tax obligations. The surplus food supplies that were gathered in this manner were distributed to the people of Rome. There were two negative impacts of this program, the farmers had a negative incentive to increase the volume of their harvests, as it would lead to a greater distribution to Rome, and Roman citizens became too dependent upon the food distribution program as well. That being said, the need to keep the food distribution program going, led to the need to acquire more and more provincial territories. (UNRV History: Ancient Roman Economy, 2003). (Scheidel,