Romans and capitalism

[wpc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Paul Cockshott)]

Jim suggests two reasons why the Romans did not develop capitalism,
absence of free labour and lac of a stable state. He must be joking
on the later. Until the Barbarian incursions of the late 4th early
5th century, the Republic and the Empire provided much of Europe and
North Africa with the most long lasting and stable state it has
ever seen, and in the process provided for a level of economic development
and commodity trade that was not exceeded until the 18th century
according to some accounts.

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