Kim Bowes on the Economic Lives of Rome's Ninety Percent

Conversations with Tyler is produced by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, bridging the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems. Learn more at Mercatus.org. For a full transcript of every conversation, enhanced with helpful links, visit conversationswithtyler.com. Hello everyone and welcome back. to conversations with Tyler.

Today I am here chatting with Kim Bowes. She is an archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania, and she has a new book out called Surviving Rome: The Economic Lives of the Ninety Percent. It has perhaps been my favorite economics book of the last year, though I think to the rest of the world it is more of a history book and an archaeology book. Kim is also extremely well published in the history of Christianity, religious spaces, Christian spaces, what homes were like, what rooms were like in the Roman Empire, and much more. Kim, welcome.

Thanks, Tyler. It's great to be here. I have many, many questions. Let's start with houses. If I were back in time and I visited a Roman elite house, what is it you think I or say you would find most surprising?

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