Settlement and agrarian economy in the Conventus Tarraconensis, the Balearic Islands and the Pityusic Islands

Abstract

This article describes the major evolution in the settlement of the Conventus Tarraconensis, the Balearic Islands and the Pityusic Islands with the Roman conquest. It analyses the introduction of the Roman economic system, which was heavily based on the production and commercialisation of wine at the end of the Republic and during the High Roman Empire. The key to the added value brought by the villa system lies in the fabric of market relations that the Romans dominated. Linen production was also important, and the technique used to bleach the fabric can be deduced from Pliny. This article concludes with the evolution of the population, settlement and the economy during the Late Empire.

Keywords

• settlement
• villa system
• wine
• linen
• bleaching