and machine-shops, and employed by transportation companies.  Nothing in the document suggests the application of power to the manufacture of articles, the assembling of men in a common workshop, or the use of any other machine than the hand loom and the mill for the grinding of corn.  In the way of articles offered for sale, we miss certain items which find a place in every price-list of household necessities, such articles as sugar, molasses, potatoes, cotton cloth, tobacco, coffee, and tea.  The list of stimulants (II) is, in fact, very brief, including as it does only a few kinds of wine and beer.

At the present moment, when the high cost of living is a subject which engages the attention of the economist, politician, and householder, as it did that of Diocletian and his contemporaries, the curious reader will wish to know how wages and the prices of food in 301 A.D. compare with those of to-day.  In the two tables which follow, such a comparison is attempted for some of the more important articles and occupations.

  Articles of Food[90]

Price in 301 A.D.  Price in 1906 A.D.

Wheat, per bushel                  33.6 cents           $1.19[91]
Rye, per bushel                    45     "                79   cents[91]
Beans, per bushel                  45     "             $3.20
Barley, per bushel                 74.5   "                55   cents[91]
Vinegar, per quart                  4.3   "                 5-7    "
Fresh pork, per pound               7.3   "                14-16   "
Beef, per pound                     4.9   "               { 9-12   "
{15-18   "
Mutton, per pound                   4.9   "                13-16   "
Ham, per pound                     12     "                18-25   "
Fowls, per pair                    26     "
Fowls, per pound                                           14-18   "
Butter, per pound                   9.8   "                26-32   "
Fish, river, fresh, per pound       7.3   "                12-15   "
Fish, sea, fresh, per pound         9-14  "                 8-14 cents
Fish, salt, per pound               8.3   "                 8-15   "
Cheese, per pound                   7.3   "                17-20   "
Eggs, per dozen                     5.1   "                25-30   "
Milk, cow’s, per quart                                      6-8    "
Milk, sheep’s, per quart            6     "

  Wages Per Day

Unskilled workman                  10.8 cents (k)[92] $1.20-2.24[93]
Bricklayer                         21.6   "   (k)      4.50-6.50
Carpenter                          21.6   "   (k)      2.50-4.00
Stone-mason                        21.6   "   (k)      3.70-4.90
Painter                            32.4   "   (k)      2.75-4.00
Blacksmith                         21.6   "   (k)      2.15-3.20
Ship-builder                       21-26  "   (k)      2.15-3.50

We are not so much concerned in knowing the prices of meat, fish, eggs, and flour in 301 and 1911 A.D.