La minería en la economía romana en la Bética

Abstract

Analysis of the evolution of mining in the Riotinto region from the perspective of the interests of the imperial treasury. After the Roman state took charge of the enormous extension of saltus that comprised the Huelva area, it exploited the silver and copper mines on its own initiative to satisfy its coin supply needs, especially given the lack of negotiable public credit instruments, and the need to attend to an intense foreign trade with the Far East, which provided a substantial part of the imperial income with which the state‘s expenses were largely met. After the impoverishment of the great silver veins in Nero‘s time, there was a reorientation of exploitation with a gradually increasing interventionism in the Flavian period, which was characteristic of the whole Roman economy in general (from whose perspective this particular case is studied). This led to the municipalization of the region, until the system collapsed towards the end of the 2nd century, due to the overburdening of the system and the resulting generalised economic crisis. From this time onward, production was residual and trade with the East suffered greatly.