Asymmetric Information, Ager Publicus and the Roman Land Market in the Second Century BC

Abstract

This chapter will discuss asymmetric information in the land market of the Roman Republican period, especially the second century BC. It first investigates whether a free land market existed in this period. If this was indeed the case, the paper will discuss whether the free land market was subject to problems of asymmetric information, and if so, to what extent. Problems may have occurred especially with regard to the sale of land, since it was difficult for potential buyers to accurately estimate the value of a plot. They therefore always had to be on their guard against being cheated. There were also problems of asymmetric information in cases where land was worked by caretakers for absentee landowners. In this case, the principal-agent problem raised its head, since the landowner could never be sure that the agent took the best interests of the owner to heart. Finally, the paper will compare the free market for land in general with the market for a specific type of land, namely ager publicus, that is land owned by the Roman state. Lack of information, and specifically uncertainty regarding its legal status, may have impacted willingness to investment in buying or renting state-owned land. Therefore, not all land may have been available on the free market, despite the growing demand for land in Italy in the Republican period.Keywords Ager publicus Roman land marketCommercial agricultureLand salesTenure of land