\paperw4200 \margr0\margl0 \plain \fs20 \f1 \fs22 The principal economic resources of Rome under the monarchy and during the early Republic were based on farming and st
ock raising, activities regarded as being among the noblest in character and that were carried out on a family basis on small farms. Products of the soil and livestock were bartered for other consumer goods at small open-air markets. \par
Thus in Rome,
an important trading post from its very beginnings, special areas for the trading of animals and vegetables (the Forum Boarium and Forum Holitorium) were located around the Tiber Island. With the great conquests of the second century BC, the Roman econom
y underwent a progressive and profound transformation. Rome became the economic center of the state into which flowed all the riches of the Mediterranean. An extensive system of roads that were connected with all the main sea and river routes facilitated
trade with the territories brought under Rome's rule.\par
