One of the largest and richest states of its time was the Roman Empire: the only state that could challenge it was the Chinese Han Empire. UNN reports on how much the inhabitants of ancient Rome could earn and how much it costs in modern money, citing a publication in the journal Nature Communications.

Scientists compared Rome in 165 AD and the Han Empire in 2 AD - for both states, these were periods of prosperity. The level of earnings depended on the stratum of the population, but most residents received the same money.