The Mediterranean and the Roman Revolution abovealltothescaleofmilitaryeffort.^89 Largesumsmayhoweverhavebeen
raisedinaprovinceandspenttherewithouteverbeingtransferredphysically
to Rome. In othercases state funds or the spoils of conquest may perhaps
havebeenmoveddirectlyfromoneprovincetoanother,whetherofficially
orunofficially.Ourpictureoftheprofitsofconquestandtheiruseperhaps
doesnotyettakeenoughaccountofSuetonius’descriptionofCaesar’sfinan-
cialanddiplomaticdealingswhilehewasengagedontheconquestofGaul:
‘‘Hewasnolessenergeticingainingtheattachmentofkingsandprovinces
throughouttheworld,offeringsomeofthemthousandsofcaptivesasagift,
offeringothers,withouttheauthorityofSenateorPeople,thedispatchof
auxiliaryforceswhereandwhentheywished,andadorningtheprominent
citiesofItaly,Gaul,andSpain,aswellasGreeceandAsia,withsplendidpub-
licworks.’’^90
In other words, if we could analyse the overall economic effects of the
convulsive activities of late republican Rome,wewould find highlycom-
plex patterns,onlyone of which would be the steady movement of coins,
corn,slaves,andvaluablestoRomeandItaly.Butwecannotanalyseitany-
way,andprobablyneverwillbeableto;thebestattempttodoso,forone
large region, namely the Greek-speaking eastern Mediterranean, remains
the last part of Michael Rostovtzeff’sSocial and Economic History of the Hel-
lenistic World. Rostovtzeff’s methods and historical views, and the connec-
tion between them and his unparalleled capacity for assembling informa-
tion, have never yet received the critical study theydeserve. But it would
notbeinappropriatetocomparehistwogreatsocialandeconomichisto-
ries,oftheRomanEmpire()andoftheHellenisticworld(),with
Braudel’sThe Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II,
whichhasbeenthesubjectofsomuchdiscussion.^91 Anycriticalappraisalof
Rostovtzeff,moreover,wouldbehighlyunjustif itdidnotacceptthatwe
. Crawford(n.),–;cf.H.Mattingley,‘‘CoinageandtheRomanState,’’NC
():–;Hopkins(n.),ff.
. Suetonius,Div.Iul..
. F.Braudel,The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II,trans.
S.Reynolds,vols.(–);M.Rostovtzeff,The Social and Economic History of the Roman
Empire();M.Rostovtzeff,The Social and Economic History of the Hellenistic World,vols.
().Iknowofnomajorretrospectiveanalysisof Rostovtzeff’stwogreatworks.Fora
sympatheticandperceptivesketch,seeA.D.Momigliano,‘‘M.I.Rostovtzeff,’’inhisStudies
inHistoriography(),–.OnBraudel,apartfromthewell-knownessaybyJ.H.Hex-
ter,‘‘FernandBraudelandtheMondeBraudellien,’’inhisOn Historians(),–,see
nowS.Kinser,‘‘AnnalisteParadigm?TheGeohistoricalStructuralismofFernandBraudel,’’
Amer.Hist. Rev.():–.