What Was Life Like in the Roman Empire During the 2nd Century?

Farming was still the most important part of the Roman economy in the 2nd century. People mainly grew crops, and over time, they started growing new kinds of fruit from the East, like cherries and peaches. Growing vegetables and garden plants also became more common. However, farmers mostly continued to use the same old tools and methods instead of inventing new ones. 

Growing grain became less popular because it didn’t make much money. Grapes and fruit were more profitable, so many farmers focused on those instead. Since the Roman state only made sure that Rome and the army had enough food, many other cities often suffered from hunger. To help fix this, some city officials were put in charge of managing food supplies during this time. 

A farming system called the colonus system also spread. Large estates (called latifundia) now had two parts: one worked by slaves, and the other rented out in smaller plots to tenant farmers (called coloni), who paid rent and grew their own crops.

There weren’t many big inventions in industry during this time, except for some progress in building and construction. In glassmaking, the skill of blowing glass into shapes improved. In ironworking, better bellows (air-pumping tools used in forges) helped make hotter fires.

By the 2nd century, Italy lost its leading role in industry. The provinces (the outer parts of the empire) became better at making products, and Italy began to import the best goods through trade.

Like in farming, the number of slaves used in workshops decreased. Instead, more free workers were hired.

Another big change was that some large farms began to have their own small workshops. These workshops used local materials to produce what the estate needed. This made the estates more self-sufficient, but it also meant that fewer people needed to buy products from city shops or markets.

Slave labor had some serious problems. Since slaves had no reason to care about their work, they didn’t use complex tools or machinery, and sometimes they even damaged them. For this reason, slave-run production wasn’t better than smaller farms or workshops. Slavery only worked well when large numbers of slaves were available for simple tasks. But after Rome stopped conquering new lands, it became harder to get cheap slaves. As a result, free workers became more important and useful.

Peace in the empire helped trade grow. Shipping by sea remained the best and cheapest way to move goods. Big traders who managed sea trade had already formed trade groups (called collegia) by the 1st century.

Land trade also improved, thanks to the roads built by the emperors. By the 2nd century, roads didn’t just connect Rome to the provinces—they also connected the provinces to one another. This helped trade grow between different parts of the empire and made travel easier for soldiers, too.

Most road trade was still difficult because horse gear was basic and not very effective. However, the empire helped trade by removing most internal customs duties (taxes paid at borders), and the few that remained were quite low—only about 2%.

Luxury items from faraway places were popular, but buying them used up a lot of gold and silver. Since Roman industry couldn't export many valuable goods in return, this caused the empire to lose more and more of its precious metals. By the 2nd century, mining was no longer enough to replace these losses.