Off Topic Productions

Hello friends

I have searched but I haven't found a good website with the information I need. Basically I want information regarding the composition of Rome's imports/exports and if this changed over time. Did Rome start out by exporting a lot and then as time wore on, they started importing more and more. I want to investigate if this has been a tendency for empires in history. The implication being that as you start importing more than you're exporting, you can no longer employ as many of your citizens. And this helps hasten the empires demise. Of course, correlation is not causation, but I would like to investigate this issue.

Does anyone have any information regarding Rome's imports/exports over time and if this composition changed as time went on?

Thank you in advance my friends.

Economics are not generally the causation for the collapse of empires. The causes are more sociological than economic. Remember too that the nature of economies were much different then than they are today.

FWIW, "The Fate of Empires" by Sir John Glubb is a very good go-to intro text on this general subject.