‘Horrible, Speculative, Nasty, Dangerous’: Assessing the Value of Roman Iron

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ABSTRACTThe economic aspects of metallurgy in the distant past have been relatively little studied, largely owing to the absence of detailed records for periods preceding medieval times. This paper takes advantage of a rare survival, an account from the Vindolanda tablets in which a price for iron is recorded, to explore some of the economic characteristics of the metal during the first and second centuries a.d. in Britain. The inherent difficulties in employing evidence of this kind are examined before looking at the price information from the rest of the Vindolanda tablets to assess the value of iron relative to other commodities at the fort. The value of the metal is then examined compared with that of labour, thus illuminating the potential economic opportunities that became available to iron producers following the establishment of Roman rule in Britain.