A closer look
Inflation in the Roman Empire got so severely out of hand during the third century that Emperor Diocletian tried to freeze prices on everything from cabbage to gladiators under the penalty of death, which naturally worked about as well as a screen door on a submarine. Citizens simply stopped selling goods openly and established a massive black market, completely annihilating the empire's tax base in the process. It turns out that when a government debases its currency until a silver denarius is basically just a bronze coin with a shiny coat of paint, threatening to execute bakers does not magically make the bread any cheaper. Modern central bankers essentially perform the exact same routine today when trying to manage inflation expectations, just utilizing complex quantitative easing models and interest rate adjustments instead of broadswords and royal decrees, though occasionally you have to wish they would spice up their boring press conferences by threatening us with a gladiator match instead
