Page "Diocletian" Paragraph 75

The Edict on Maximum Prices ( Edictum De Pretiis Rerum Venalium ) was issued two to three months after the coinage edict, somewhere between 20 November and 10 December 301.

The best-preserved Latin inscription surviving from the Greek East, the edict survives in many versions, on materials as varied as wood, papyrus, and stone.

In the edict, Diocletian declared that the current pricing crisis resulted from the unchecked greed of merchants, and had resulted in turmoil for the mass of common citizens.

The language of the edict calls on the people's memory of their benevolent leaders, and exhorts them to enforce the provisions of the edict, and thereby restore perfection to the world.

The edict goes on to list in detail over one thousand goods and accompanying retail prices not to be exceeded.

Penalties are laid out for various pricing transgressions.