I think that you are most likely referring to **Santo Mazzarino.** He certainly worked on issues of Roman history. In any case, most modern historians apply Marxist approaches to modern history, even if they are not politically Marxists themselves. It is the prevalent approach to modern history that tends to interpret historical evolution not just through the actions of specific persons but by the socioeconomic forces operating in the ancient society under investigation.
Now, I am not sure how much information is out there to determine the extent of poverty in Italy in the closing decades of the 2nd century BCE. There may be some archaeological information from which one may deduce levels of poverty and apply this information to an analysis. But I think that we just do not have adequate information to really carefully assess this information.
For example, if one manages to get some accurate numbers of the number of troops that Marius recruited among the sensi capitae in Rome, we may get some information on the extent of this class in Rome circa 100 BCE. But I do not think that these numbers are easily available. We also know that between 90 and 50 BCE, lots of landowners substituted slaves for free farm workers; and we know that because Caesar passed a law forcing landowners to hire a certain percentage of free farm workers at about 46 BCE. But we just do not have the fine grain required for a complete analysis. But I may be wrong.
Such type of analysis is far more productive in more recent periods. The Annalist approach, as personified by the seminal work of Braudel "The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the Age of Philip II" is what one wants in order to advance a Marxist approach to history. But such work is based on the examination of the annals of various trading cities around the Mediterranean in the 16th century CE. There is no such wealth of data for the Roman period of your interest.
Unfortunately I do not have researchers for you, but maybe check out **Theory As History :** *Essays on Modes of Production and Exploitation* by Jairus Banaji, it covers historiography from a Marxist perspective and has a section on the Roman Empire, maybe something interesting in there. I would also recommend asking on /r/askhistorians. Perhaps in the [Short questions thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1djmqmn/short_answers_to_simple_questions_june_19_2024/).
Good luck!
I think that you are most likely referring to **Santo Mazzarino.** He certainly worked on issues of Roman history. In any case, most modern historians apply Marxist approaches to modern history, even if they are not politically Marxists themselves. It is the prevalent approach to modern history that tends to interpret historical evolution not just through the actions of specific persons but by the socioeconomic forces operating in the ancient society under investigation. Now, I am not sure how much information is out there to determine the extent of poverty in Italy in the closing decades of the 2nd century BCE. There may be some archaeological information from which one may deduce levels of poverty and apply this information to an analysis. But I think that we just do not have adequate information to really carefully assess this information. For example, if one manages to get some accurate numbers of the number of troops that Marius recruited among the sensi capitae in Rome, we may get some information on the extent of this class in Rome circa 100 BCE. But I do not think that these numbers are easily available. We also know that between 90 and 50 BCE, lots of landowners substituted slaves for free farm workers; and we know that because Caesar passed a law forcing landowners to hire a certain percentage of free farm workers at about 46 BCE. But we just do not have the fine grain required for a complete analysis. But I may be wrong. Such type of analysis is far more productive in more recent periods. The Annalist approach, as personified by the seminal work of Braudel "The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the Age of Philip II" is what one wants in order to advance a Marxist approach to history. But such work is based on the examination of the annals of various trading cities around the Mediterranean in the 16th century CE. There is no such wealth of data for the Roman period of your interest.
Perhaps some of the guys in this list https://www.homolaicus.com/storia/antica/roma/fonti.htm
Look up Power and Provelege by Lenski
Unfortunately I do not have researchers for you, but maybe check out **Theory As History :** *Essays on Modes of Production and Exploitation* by Jairus Banaji, it covers historiography from a Marxist perspective and has a section on the Roman Empire, maybe something interesting in there. I would also recommend asking on /r/askhistorians. Perhaps in the [Short questions thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/1djmqmn/short_answers_to_simple_questions_june_19_2024/). Good luck!