War and Peace and War: The Rise and Fall of Empires

by Peter Turchin

Massive population growth, coupled with the Roman custom of equal division of property among the heirs, resulted in rapidly increasing economic inequality. Several generations of property division among multiple heirs resulted in each heir’s share being grossly insufficient for feeding the family. The history was repeating itself, again. Some impoverished landholders were forced to sell their land to the aristocrats flush with the spoils of Rome’s conquests and eager to invest their fortune in land. Others tried to go on, ran up unsustainable debt levels, and also lost their land (or even freedom). The end result of this process was the gradual disappearance of the class of small landowners, which had been the backbone of the Roman state and army. Some citizens, unable to repay their debts, were turned into slaves. Others sold themselves into slavery because they were unable to feed themselves. The majority became landless proletarians and either worked the land of aristocratic landowners or drifted to Rome and other large cities in search of work. Finally, a few—those with few children, the thrifty and hardworking, or simply the lucky ones—grew in wealth and aspired to better their social standing.