Rome, capital of the State of the Church, during the modern age experienced a strong demographic increase which favored the increase in demand for foodstuffs, private buildings, public spaces, services and workers. Many foreigners arrived in the city attracted by the possibility of finding a well-paid job. Therefore we can consider Rome in the modern age a clear example of an urban society conditioned by growth. The objective of the proposal is to verify to what extent the expansive dynamics of the city had consequences on the trend of nominal and real wages. In order to compose a representative set of data concerning the 16th and 17th centuries, the research will make a comparison between different fields of work. The case studies chosen are construction, the travertine quarries of Tivoli and the large farms that surrounded the city. In the light of the available bibliography, the starting hypothesis is that one cannot speak of a single and rigid wage system as different wage models coexisted even within the single productive sectors. It is a question of verifying how the dynamics originating from a growing economy and society have conditioned the formation of a diversified wage market.
Convergences / divergences. Nominal and real wages in building in Rome in the 16th century
Manuel Vaquero
2026
Abstract
Rome, capital of the State of the Church, during the modern age experienced a strong demographic increase which favored the increase in demand for foodstuffs, private buildings, public spaces, services and workers. Many foreigners arrived in the city attracted by the possibility of finding a well-paid job. Therefore we can consider Rome in the modern age a clear example of an urban society conditioned by growth. The objective of the proposal is to verify to what extent the expansive dynamics of the city had consequences on the trend of nominal and real wages. In order to compose a representative set of data concerning the 16th and 17th centuries, the research will make a comparison between different fields of work. The case studies chosen are construction, the travertine quarries of Tivoli and the large farms that surrounded the city. In the light of the available bibliography, the starting hypothesis is that one cannot speak of a single and rigid wage system as different wage models coexisted even within the single productive sectors. It is a question of verifying how the dynamics originating from a growing economy and society have conditioned the formation of a diversified wage market.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
