Romans rewarded skill in material terms, and wage data reflects this. This study develops a method for understanding the return on skilling in the Roman period by focusing on internal pay scales observed in Egyptian documents. These data reveal a modal premium of 100 and mean of 74. Roman-period returns on training compare favorably with evidence from outside Egypt, especially detailed pay scales in Diocletian's Price Edict, thus suggesting a broader Empire-wide premium. This Roman skill premium is then compared with a selection of data from other premodern periods, which show that the relative price of skill in ancient Rome was not historically atypical, despite the particularly high levels of enslavement and urbanization characteristic of the Roman economy. The return on investments in training during the Empire can be seen to reflect both numeracy practices and developing market conditions for skill.

罗马人在物质方面奖励技能，工资数据反映了这一点。本研究通过关注埃及文件中观察到的内部薪酬等级，开发了一种了解罗马时期技能回报的方法。这些数据显示模态溢价为 100，平均值为 74。罗马时期的培训回报与埃及以外的证据相比具有优势，尤其是戴克里先价格法令中详细的薪酬等级，从而表明更广泛的帝国范围内的溢价。然后将这种罗马技能溢价与其他前现代时期的一些数据进行比较，这些数据表明，尽管罗马经济具有特别高的奴役程度和城市化特征，但古罗马的技能相对价格在历史上并没有异常。