At the beginning of the third century BC, Roman economic policy was in stark contrast to that of the Hellenistic world, especially Egypt.
The economic policies of Greece and Egypt have slowly become highly regulated, depriving individuals of their freedom to seek personal profit in production or trade, crush them under the heavy burden of taxation, and forcibly organize workers into huge collectives where they were like bees in a huge hive.
The later Hellenistic period was a time of near-constant war, which, along with rampant piracy, closed the seas for trade. The result, predictably, was stagnation.
Stagnation created weakness in the Mediterranean countries, which partly explains the ease with which Rome could continually expand its domain, beginning in the third century BC.
By the first century p.n.e. Rome became the undisputed lord of the Mediterranean. Yet peace did not follow the Roman victory, as civil wars ensued.
