Episode Details

What did ordinary Romans actually eat, work, and worship — and how did that keep an empire afloat? (Original ~1h55 → Condensed ~20 min.) In this condensed Conversations with Tyler, Tyler Cowen and archaeologist Kim Bowes unpack Surviving Rome: The Economic Lives of the 90 Percent, revealing houses as theatrical machines of status, markets driven by bronze coinage (and surprising finds of gold), and consumption patterns that sustained taxation and imperial power. Learn how landscape archaeology, papyri, and Pompeii’s streets rewrite assumptions about sanitation, slavery, family credit networks, technology scaling, and the slow spread of Christianity. Host Tyler Cowen and guest Kim Bowes guide listeners through concrete takeaways about Roman households, labor economics, and material culture. Listen now to get the key ideas in minutes.