Edward Gibbon showed how the increasing costs and declining benefits of conquest helped bring down the Roman empire, but he didn’t carefully identify who reaped the benefits and bore the costs. Recent research and modern economic tools can fill the missing gap in Gibbon’s analysis and illuminate Rome’s expansion and civil wars.

Gary M. Pecquet is an assistant professor of economics at Central Michigan University.
Economic History and DevelopmentEconomyEuropeInternational Economics and Development
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Winter 2008/09 Texas Treasury Notes after the Compromise of 1850
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