Diocletian’s Price Edict Sets Maximum Prices for Beer

In 301 CE, the Roman emperors of the First Tetrarchy issued the Edict on Maximum Prices in an attempt to restrain inflation across the empire. The law prescribed maximum charges for more than a thousand goods, services, wages, and transport costs. Surviving copies were inscribed in Greek and Latin in cities of the eastern Roman Empire, including a major Latin version on the Civil Basilica at Aphrodisias. The beverage schedule distinguished between wheat beer and barley beer. One sextarius, approximately 0.55 liters, of wheat beer could cost no more than four denarii communes, while barley beer was limited to two; ordinary wine was capped at eight. The edict therefore treated beer as a recognized commercial product within the Roman economy and distinguished grain-based drinks by their raw material. These were legally imposed maximum prices rather than evidence of uniform market prices throughout the empire.