Farmers’ markets, farmers’ networks

There are a number of different ways farmers could sell their surpluses and supply their external needs and they have different implications for the Roman economy. This chapter considers how farmers met their external needs through markets as well as other means (relatives, friends, neighbors, patrons, clients). To understand the economic networks in which Roman farmers operated, it is necessary to discuss in turn transfers in each of these modes:market exchange, reciprocity, and redistribution. Market exchange as comprised of transactions involving instrumental behavior and variable prices. From the perspective of the Roman farmer seeking to buy or sell a physical object, such transactions usually took place on a farm or in some sort of physical market. Reciprocal exchange involves the giving and receiving of goods and services according to "social obligations and traditions." Redistribution usually refers to transfers of resources accomplished by a government through taxation.