>>17805180 (OP)bump
History of economic crises is certainly underrated
The fall of Rome and rise of modern Europe guy, Patrick something, did some decent work on Roman economy during and after the Third Century Crisis
Plenty of other resources available, they had good record keeping and archaeology is advancing and finding new answers to old questions. They've been using drones quite successfully to scan a certain area for walls, other structures, old farms etc. The Empire was a very complex structure and although it mostly ran on autopilot it absolutely needed constant land and sea deliveries literally everywhere, and not just grain either.
Some parallels can be made to the end of the Bronze Age, but that may be going too far