Kim Bowes, "Surviving Rome: The Economic Lives of the Ninety Percent" (Princeton UP, 2025)

The economic reality of the 90% of the Roman population often excluded from traditional, elite-focused historical narratives reveals a highly productive, interconnected society. Archaeological evidence, including "everyday writing" like account books and shopping lists, demonstrates that ordinary people engaged in complex credit transactions and diverse consumption patterns. Bioarchaeological analysis of skeletal remains shows that this economic activity came at a severe physical cost, with high rates of injury and disease among the laboring class. Survival necessitated flexible, multi-stream household strategies, where women and children provided essential income through textile production and small-scale trade. Dr. Kim Bowes, Professor of Archaeology and Ancient History, highlights how these findings challenge long-held assumptions about Roman affluence, emphasizing that high levels of consumption were often a necessity for social participation rather than a marker of wealth.