The origin of the Mafia began in the decline of the Roman Empire.

 As this article points out; "Where agricultural estates felt threatened by barbarian or Roman soldiers they protected themselves by fortification, and their neighbors surrendered their holdings to them in exchange for protection."

Rome's Decline and Christianity's Ascent, to 306 CE

Authority needed respect in order to rule effectively, but respect for authority was falling among Roman citizens, including among the empire's aristocracy and its tradesmen. This decline in respect was caused in part by armies on the move within the empire, armies plundering towns and farms, and it was caused by military-emperors sending tax collectors about the empire squeezing more taxes from people.

Disrespect for authority had developed also within the military. During the chaotic decades in the first half of the third century, discipline within the army continued to decline. The experienced soldiers who trained the army, the centurions, were often the victims of mutinies, and centurions began to disappear.

Meanwhile, the empire's economy had not been benefiting from advances in technology. A steam engine had been invented by a Greek named Hero of Alexandria during the rule of Augustus, but there had been no interest in saving labor. Producers had no vision of technological progress. They had been increasing production by using more labor by sweat and muscle. They used slave labor. The steam engine – which would lead an industrial revolution in the eighteenth century – remained unused.

During the first half of the 200s, economic activity in the empire declined, especially in the empire's western half, where roads deteriorated despite programs to restore them. Economics was little understood by what there was of government under the military-emperors, and governmental policies added to the decline, as did the continued imbalance in trade and the flight of the empire's bullion eastward. During the first half of the century taxation encouraged men of commerce to hoard their money rather than invest it. To pay soldiers, emperors debased money, and government began paying its debts in money that it would not accept from citizens as payment of taxes.

Prices skyrocketed. The middle class went bankrupt. More people had become beggars, and many others feared that they too would soon be impoverished. In Rome and other big cities, proletarians remained disinclined to organize themselves against authority, but here and there in the countryside desperate peasants did revolt, but their uprisings were not coordinated and not widespread enough to challenge the empire militarily. In various parts of the empire, bands of desperate people wandered the countryside, surviving by theft. In 235 - the year that Maximinus Thrax became emperor - bands of brigands swept through Italy. In Gaul, hordes of people roamed about, pillaging as they went. Piracy grew on the Aegean Sea, and tribal people from the Sahara attacked Roman cities along the coast of North Africa.

Disorders sometimes cut off trade routes. By 250, Rome's trade with China and India had ended. Agricultural lands in the empire were going unused. With the declining economy, people moved from cities and towns to rural areas in search of food. Cities began shrinking to a fraction of their former size, some to remain occupied only by administrators.

Agricultural lands went unused. With the declining economy, people moved from cities and towns to rural areas in search of food, and cities began shrinking. Where agricultural estates felt threatened by barbarian or Roman soldiers they protected themselves by fortification, and their neighbors surrendered their holdings to them in exchange for protection.