How did Wealthy Romans make their Fortunes? 

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Income properties, asset diversification, house flipping, investment companies, and private bankers. Collectively an example of how in some regards the Roman world isn't that far from our own. Another fantastic video.

"Most elite Romans made their money in the private sphere" The biggest thing you learn time and time again when learning Roman history is that there really is nothing new under the sun.

Tiberius was very frugal and was able to never raise taxes during his reign. After the civil wars the peace of Augustus and its continuation under Tiberius caused real estate values to go very high in the city of Rome, Tiberius forbade landlords from tearing down housing of the poor in order to build luxury housing. When there was a big financial panic with banks failing, Tiberius lent out 100 million sesterces from his own funds at no interest for at least three years restoring liquidity and saving the economy. Things weren't that different back then .

I'm amazed at how "ordinary" this all sounds. People with money investing in apartment buildings, buying estates using paper contracts rather than cash, using banks for remote payments, etc. Really makes the Romans more human, so to speak.

Just graduated from a prestigious university in Classical Civilizations- your channel has been immensely beneficial in filling in the gaps that was either not taught or that I might have missed and I thank you for these great videos.

“Roman Senators were prohibited by law from direct involvement in commerce” We really have regressed as a society

Truly some things never change. Politicians still circumvent the law to make outrageous profits in deals that would be crimes for the rest of us.

5:56 "These slaves were allowed to keep part of their earnings, and could eventually use their savings to buy their freedom." Hits a little too close to home.

Didn't know Seneca was so rich. I've always loved his works on stoicism...this kinda hurts the way I see them now. Pretty easy to be a stoic when you're a millionaire.

always interesting content. this was a great and informative watch!

History channel may be dead yet thankfully we got you on youtube

This video answered a lot of my questions about how wealthy ancient Romans invested their cash. Thank you.

Is there any record of the wealthiest Romans passing down their wealth in terms of family dynasties that might have contributed (eventually) to the rise of early feudal states?

Just bought your book and I absolutely love it. I was skeptical because I don’t read much but the way it was presented was great!!

Another great video! It always amazes me how you answer questions that have been on my mind, but I never got around to asking. Thanks again!

This is a super super interesting video. Please more just like this talking about economics, coins, precious metal, the luxury of the elite, corruption, and trade. This is perfect. Please make a part 2 and 3 and 4 and 5 of this

Enjoyable and informative as always! Here's another idea for a video for you: A day in the Roman law courts. What would it have looked like if, say, somebody accused you of murder? Where would you be held? How would the trial go forward? Or conversely, how might a typical day look if you worked as a jurist in the law courts of ancient Rome? Could be a very interesting subject. If Apuleius' Metamorphosis is accurate, it seems something of a bowl or cup filled with water and punctured with holes would be used to count down the time for speaking which is an interesting tidbit I learned.

toldinstone: Very good historians like you, since you mentioned “apartments”, should do a computer generated video of the common people living in these, the sizes, cooking areas if any, their everyday lives, schooling, where they worked, wages, etc.(no one ever talks or details this!)

Wow, this is an incredibly interesting topic. Keep up the great work, man!

Another great and informative video. Absolutely love your work, long may it continue !

Great video. You continue to amaze me with both interesting and unsual topics in your videos. I once found your channel, a video showing not so known Roman buildings in modern Rome. The videos come like pearls on a string, how do you do it? We love it. In school I got to know "about" Rome. You let us "know" Rome, and the Romans. And I am looking so much forward to read your book, I just received it as a Xmas present.

This is sooo interesting as someone in finance. Please make more videos on ancient banking.

i really appreciate how in your chapters that brake up the video you tell us which portion is the add

THANK YOU SO MUCH. I LEARNED A LOT.

Thank you very much - informative, as always.

You said in the video that the average annual salary was 1000 sestertii, that pay would be worth 250 silver denarii, which in turn was worth 10 gold aureus. During Augustus reign the aureus had 8 grams of gold. So the average person made 80 grams of gold a year. The person at the start of the video left behind 60 million sestertii, which would be 600 thousand aureus, or 5 TONS of gold.

'conspicuous consumption' is such an interesting concept. thanks for the video

I’m already a huge Curiosity Stream fan. Best docs.

Great video. Highly provocative. I love it.

Thanks for this videos love them. Thanks!

I can watch and listen to these ToldinStone videos all day, without bleenking, with my jaw on the floor. It fascinates me how our ancestors lived. Thank you for your great vids👍

Keep up the good vids my mans

thanks for another great video! 🙏

loving the frequency lately! I always get excited when i see a Toldinstone video in my sub box. keep up the good work dude 👍🏻

Nearly at 200k Subs my friend keep it up 👌

You’re literally my favorite RU-vidr

Congratulations on your success with the advertisers.

Love the video's, keep up the good work!

More videos like this, please!

ive been wondering this, it seems you read my mind with the topics of these viedos

To watch high quality fact driven video watch told in stone!! Great plug for curiosity stream! Well played!

I've randomly found your channel while self isolating with covid. Thank you for the engaging content, it reminds me of a young American unofficial tour guide who gave groups of tourists tours of the colloseum when I visited in 1999. I'd love to go back soon!

Love this channel!🤩

I bought the book last year, very good read!

I am SHOCKED that the answer is not, "They earned it through hard work."

Love your videos! Can you make one on ancient wine production and trade?

Fascinating. What did they spend their money on? It would be interesting to hear your take on what conspicuous consumption looked liked for Romans. This topic is especially interesting considering the current trend of wealth disparity we are experiencing.

Could you please talk about personal ID in Rome. I always wondered why slaves didn't escape and started a new life somewhere else. It's not like the had picture IDs, even with all our technology until very recently it was possible to disappear and start a new life with a new identity. I'm sure it's still possible. How did they keep track of people?

Due to a book I'm reading right now and its extensive use of the terms and forms, an idea for a future video: Roman theatre and literature of plays and what do the terms mean: there's comoedia, satura, mimus - and fabula and tragicomoedia and and and... The book deals, in part, with placing Petronius' Satyricon into these categories by the Romans' . The fact that it's hard to place may have led to almost all of it having been lost - and most of what we know about the real Petronius lost as well (apart from a few lines by Tacitus et al, which led to the likely completely twisted impression that gave us Leo Genn in Quo Vadis). Apparently "comoedia" is *not* a comedy as we understand it, but rather a fairly strict, moralistic and even stagnant form of play that were intended to be funny but within very strict limits of what could be written or shown. "Satura" wasn't merely satire but did have strong comedic elements, let's say like our Saturday Night Live. Whereas "mimus" was like... improv? slapstick? I thought it'd be easy to google these, but you either get the dumbed down (and apparently quite wrong) explanations, or it's paywalled academia.

Saw the title and thumbnail and knew before clicking...this was a toldinstone video and it was going to be a banger

I've been reading "a history of private life." So far, its been an extremely thorough description of roman society. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys this video. :)

A book on Roman money management and strategies would be neat. Definitely some knowledge that could be useful today.

Nothing new under the sun. Remarkable how economic and financial practises withstood the test of time. This was insightful.

Like so many of your videos, this is fascinating. I was especially struck that activity in trade was proscribed for the elite--as it was much later for English aristocrats.

Thank you Garrett for a really fascinating video. Could you please consider doing a future video on how Romans kept tracked of their wealth. Did they have accountants and how did they keep their books - presumably their was no double entry accounts? How did banks (even the one man banks) keep tracks of loans? Would love to hear any insights you might have.

Very interesting!

You always know what I’m wondering and curious about lol

I like how whenever I check the comments on a toldinstone video someone's always saying 'If you like these videos you'd love his book!'

Seems like rule of law is the basis of all prosperous societies.

This everyday economy topic is very interesting. Speaking of slavery, Id like to hear more about it. There are many interesting topics such as what they were actually worth compared to estate and salary, their reproduction rate, and owner’s responsibilities, slave sources. I know there are probably no direct sources on roman slave economics but still would like to hear what you got

This is such a cool channel.

Can you do a show on how romans got through winters? Not all of them had glass windows. I don't believe they wore togas or robes year round as shown on art. They were already importing silk but that is not sufficient to stay warm in winters. This always interested me.

3:28 The thing I remember most about modern apartment living was the weird smells, It must have been horrific in Roman times. Ancient Rome must have been a safe place if one kept a good chunk of one's wealth in a iron safe

You must be talking about Gaias Elonus Muskii the chariot maker. And Jefftis Bezonus Magnus the shipping merchant. They could deliver in three months. An incredibly rapid delivery time.

Could you make a video about Roman nightlife

You should read your book and upload on the channel as an audiobook! You have a great voice and you know how your text is supposed to be read, what to accentuate etc. Please, this would be great - I dont know if theres a way you can monetize a single video but I'd be happy to pay a small amount and perhaps others would too?

Thanks!

3:30 Teams of slaves trained as firemen and builders. In that case, was it possible that those same slaves were first ordered in secret to begin the fire? So that the damaged house can be bought for a good price.

Omg you got sponsored!! Big time baby!

Great video. One topic you didn't touch on is insider trading. Given that there was such a strong connection between wealth and political power, surely it must have played a significant role? Buying up essential supplies just before a declaration of war you know is coming for example?

Oh. How the past comes alive here! BUY THE BOOK!

Thank you

Nice video about Roman businessmen and investor.

Any suggestions on further reading that specifically addresses investments in Roman culture?

Possible fact check for you toldinstone: Loan contracts were not fungible like "cash". Roman law according to the corpus juris civilis forbade the transfer of loan contracts more than one step from the issuer, where a procurator could get the debt "transferred" to him (with a right to collect it), but the debt officially was still owed to the man who loaned the money out.

you forgot - prison and gladiator owners requested slave owners to produce food and be paid by the goverment - that is non-stop money river into one or two richest people of rome you mentioned in the vid -

I'd love a video on the places Rome got it's gold and silver - I know about the mines in Spain but that's it

Love your content! I'm just wondering if maybe you could make your videos longer? Especially when you have sponsors. 1/8th of the video is an advertisement. If not, that's ok, just wondering. Thank you for the amazing videos!

Damn that was extremely advanced stuff. Even the commerce of loans, modern banks only started to do that a few decades ago. Very cool

Can anyone recommend any reading on the roman economy in general and its development from the late republic to late antiquity?

NFTs, of course.

And what army of soldiers guarded these "Iron Chests" filled with silver & gold?

2:31 look at the size of those hands 😂

Cryptus Currencius

Buying a house while it's burning down is definitely what I would call a fire sale

Sponsored?!?!? Nice bro

I have read that Seneca had significant investments in Britain around the time of the revolt of Boudicca and that his business practices were less than ethical which contributed to the natives getting all restless & murderous.

“Governors were expected to plunder their provinces” nothing has changed.

Did ancient Romans really live in apartment buildings? What did they look like, floor plans? Where were kitchens, toilets, etc.?

They made fortunes like they are made everywhere. Lots of people work and make one person rich.

Gonna guess before I watch: 1. Tax collection rackets. 2. Industrial slavery farming. 3. Merchants/shipping.

One of them had a Roman business like Amazon. He carved out rocks to use as boxes.

I bought the book

I enjoy these so much I actually wish they were a little longer, 15-20 min.

1:35 Do I see those gentlemen wearing hoodies?

wow the importance and trust in bookkeeping! i wonder if anyone with many properties all over the place might lose track of an estate and the estate is left alone to live off its profits (which hopefully would be positive). if ious were constantly traded was it easy to just forge them and only have it discovered when someone actually tried to cash it in? :-)

*YOU ARE AWESOME* My day is rejuvenated whenever you post a new video! An idea? Could you entertain taking an in depth look at womens roles/employment from ancient Greece to Roman times? Thank you for your great content.❣.

Very interesting video. That the Roman financial elite invested in a manor similar to modern billionares is probably not an accident of history. The one missing element, that did not exist back then, was stock/ETF investments that are available to modern billionares. One question though, how were these fortunes taxed by the local, regional and empire (aka national) level authorities? Has any historical research been conducted in this area of civic structure? Could you produce a video on this topic?

Was there an equivalent of the Sunday times "how to spend it" section for those living it up in Rome??