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Abstract: The importance of the investments made in certain sectors emerges from an examination of one of the central issues of the studies which, from the 1970s on, have focused attention on the society and economy of the city of Rome, namely the role of local artisans and merchants. In this paper I look back at a theme which is close to my heart through a wider survey of watermills and fulling mills, of their function and of the investments made in these ventures which were of a particularly interesting nature in that they catered to the risks of the mills. While the impression that the artisan and commercial sectors rose to the challenge of a growth, clearly discernible throughout the 15th century, in the market for products of prime necessity, can be confirmed, especially with regard to the manufacture of medium quality textiles, probably those ‘romanesque cloths’ which can be found in inventories and wills, it appears equally clear that the changes imposed by building these mills on the waterways were encouraged by the dynamism of certain entrepreneurial figures.