Hmmm, it really brings you to ponder

Hmmm, it really brings you to ponder

Doesn't seem all that surprising really, most of the trade in exotic items would come from the East.

Up until the late Middle Ages those Eastern lands were much richer than the West. Don't confuse the current situation with what it was 1000-2000 years ago.

how do they even measure this btw?

The Ancient world was much more oriented to the East than later periods. That's why Alexander the Great set out to conquer the Persian Empire instead of going West or something. It's also why Egypt was such a prize for the Romans, the Eastern parts of their Empire were wealthier and they fought so bitterly with the Parthians; that frontier was much more valuable than their Western European borders. In this context it also makes sense why Constantine created a new city in the East, whether he intended it to eventually become a new capital or not.

I am kind of confused as to what the methodology was to arrive at the picture's conclusions. However, I do not doubt that the Eastern parts of the Roman Empire were wealthier than, say, Gaul or the very outlying regions of the former Carthaginian Empire.

This shit has been debunked already. No way could you ever calculate the GDP of provinces back then.

What made Spain second world back then Veeky Forums?

Not really

Theyb had monopoly over the olive and also fish sauce, that's pretty much it

This seems like bs, terraconisis was rich as fuck because of all the gold and sliver mines, even though the people were tribal and barbarians. It was like an ancient Saudi Arabia.

This isn't a big secret. Nearly every history of the Romans says "the east is rich". That is why Mark Antony wanted the east.

Large deposits of resources like iron etc.

Taxation probably.

It seems so weird. Libya, Galatia and Cappadocia were described as utterly desolate shitholes in those times, how could they be richer than Sicily, which Rome considered rich, and as rich as Asia province, Cyprus and Syria, all extremely rich provinces?

Baetica got dat tuna for garum

Sardinia and Sicily were the main regions of the Carthaginian empire, the reason they are poor is because they were imported huge quantities of black slaves and the population became retarded

Black slaves were already overunning Sicily by that time, their glory was gone

romans keept meticulous records of most things

especially when money was involved

Wasn't Siciliy depopulated by the time of the Arab invasions?

Sicily, and most of Italy, got depopulated during the Gothic Wars.

Yeah but that happened later, it was already heavily mixed with black slaves brought by Carthaginians

It already was depopulated by the Vandals

>projecting modern economic concept like GDP unto pre-industrial societies