Infrastructure Lessons from Venice

[Dill]

(04-05-2017, 07:38 PM)Bengalzona Wrote: Roman pay for individual soldiers varied from place to place and from different times. Initially, an average salary for a regular soldier would have been 112 denarii per year or approximately $313.60 current USD (https://www.reference.com/history/much-did-roman-soldiers-paid-b225d7c5ace6bf73).

You weren't going to get rich as a Roman soldier. At the same time, the soldiers were paid in coin and coin was a preferable, but not always common currency throughout the Roman world. The fact that Roman soldiers would show up in an area en masse with coins was a powerful stabilizing economic factor throughout the Empire. The Roman Emperors also used the images on the coins themselves as tools to communicate political messages and propaganda (consider them as somewhat similar to politicians' signs in peoples yards today). Hence, Roman Emperors generally did a pretty good job of making sure the Roman soldiers got their pay.

Did you ever watch the HBO series Rome? I think you would like that very much. They even manufactured the costumes using only materials and dies available in the 1st century BCE.


A couple of issues with the equipment, but on the whole, a good job.