Did the Romans live better than us? | Prices and Quality of Life

What did it really mean to live through Rome’s worst economic crisis? Not for emperors or generals — but for ordinary people. In the late 3rd century AD, as inflation spiraled out of control, Emperor Diocletian tried to fix the problem with one of the boldest economic experiments in history: the Edict on Maximum Prices. It failed — but it left behind an extraordinary record of everyday goods and services. In this video, we bring that list to life by stepping into the shoes of three very real Romans from different corners of society. Through their incomes, their meals, and the things they could (or couldn’t) afford, we’ll see how money, survival, and status were woven into daily life. Was life as a Roman soldier better than that of a provincial farmer? Could even the wealthy live well? And how do their struggles compare to ours today? Join us as we explore the Roman economy not through numbers on a page, but through the lived experiences of real people.