OXFORD STUDIES ON THE ROMAN ECONOMY
General Editors
Alan Bowman
Andrew Wilson
OXFORD STUDIES ON THE ROMAN ECONOMY
This innovative monograph series reflects a vigorous revival of interest in the
ancient economy, focusing on the Mediterranean world under Roman rule
(c.100 BC to AD 350). Carefully quantified archaeological and documentary
data will be integrated to help ancient historians, economic historians, and
archaeologists think about economic behaviour collectively rather than from
separate perspectives. The volumes will include a substantial comparative
element and thus be of interest to historians of other periods and places.
Trade, Commerce,
and the State in
the Roman World
Edited by
ANDREW WILSON AND
ALAN BOWMAN
1
3
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP,
United Kingdom
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,
and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of
Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries
© Oxford University Press 2017
The moral rights of the authors have been asserted
First Edition published in 2017
Impression: 1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted
by law, by licence or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics
rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the
above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the
address above
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data available
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017935371
ISBN 978–0–19–879066–2
Printed in Great Britain by
Clays Ltd, St Ives plc
Links to third party websites are provided by Oxford in good faith and
for information only. Oxford disclaims any responsibility for the materials
contained in any third party website referenced in this work.
Preface
This volume has its origins, like its three predecessors, in a conference
organized as part of the research programme entitled ‘The Economy of the
Roman Empire: Integration, Growth and Decline’, funded by the Arts and
Humanities Research Council in 2005–10 and directed by the editors. Fuller
information on the aims of the research project can be found in the introduction to the first volume, Quantifying the Roman Economy: Methods and
Problems (ed. A. K. Bowman and A. I. Wilson, 2009); here it suffices to note
that the project aimed to bring together both archaeological and documentary
evidence relevant to the nature and performance of the Roman economy in
four main diagnostic areas—urbanization and demography, agriculture, trade
and commerce, and mining and metal supply—with a particular interest in
data that allow some degree of measurement and quantification, and the
delineation of trends over time. This volume focuses on the evidence for
trade, and, in particular, it explores the relations between commercial activity
and regulation, interest (especially as regards customs duties), and involvement on the part of the state. Most of the chapters were originally delivered as
papers at a conference on ‘Trade, Commerce, and the State in the Roman
World’ held in Oxford on 1–3 October 2009.
We are grateful to the AHRC for the award of the grant that supported
the research programme, and to Baron Lorne Thyssen and the Augustus
Foundation, whose support for the project has allowed us to continue the
Oxford Roman Economy Project’s research programme well beyond the
period initially funded by the AHRC. We are grateful also to Dr Gareth
Hughes, who, as the project’s administrative assistant at the time, assisted
with the conference organization; to the staff of the Stelios Ioannou Centre for
Research in Classical and Byzantine Studies, where the conference was held;
and to all those who contributed to the discussion at the conference. Nichole
Sheldrick and Erica Rowan kindly assisted with the preparation of most of the
texts; and Angela Trentacoste with obtaining some of the image permissions.
The preparation of this volume has, for a variety of reasons, taken longer than
any of us could have foreseen or wished, and we thank the authors for their
patience during this process.
Andrew Wilson
Alan Bowman
March 2017
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Contributors
1. Introduction: Trade, Commerce, and the State
Andrew Wilson and Alan Bowman
ix
xv
xvii
1
PART I. INSTITUTIONS AND THE STATE
2. The State and the Economy: Fiscality and Taxation
Alan Bowman
27
3. Law, Commerce, and Finance in the Roman Empire
Boudewijn Sirks
53
4. Market Regulation and Transaction Costs in
the Roman Empire
Elio Lo Cascio
117
5. Financial Institutions and Structures in the Last Century
of the Roman Republic
Philip Kay
133
6. Nile River Transport under the Romans
Colin Adams
175
PART II. TRADE WITHIN THE EMPIRE
7. The Indispensable Commodity: Notes on the Economy of
Wood in the Roman Mediterranean
W. V. Harris
211
8. Stone Use and the Economy: Demand, Distribution,
and the State
Ben Russell
237
9. An Overview of the Circulation of Glass in Antiquity
Danièle Foy
10. Procurators’ Business? Gallo-Roman Sigillata in Britain
in the Second and Third Centuries AD
Michael Fulford
265
301
viii
Contents
11. The Distribution of African Pottery under the Roman
Empire: Evidence versus Interpretation
Michel Bonifay
12. The Supply Networks of the Roman East and West:
Interaction, Fragmentation, and the Origins of the
Byzantine Economy
Paul Reynolds
327
353
13. Prices and Costs in the Textile Industry in the Light of
the Lead Tags from Siscia
Ivan Radman-Livaja
397
14. Exports and Imports in Mauretania Tingitana: The
Evidence from Thamusida
Emanuele Papi
427
PART III. TRADE BEYOND THE FRONTI ERS
15. The Silk Road between Syria and China
David F. Graf
16. Egypt and Eastern Commerce during the Second
Century AD and Later
Roberta Tomber
17. Money and Flows of Coinage in the Red Sea Trade
Dario Nappo
443
531
557
18. The Port of Qanaʾ, a Junction between the Indian Ocean
and the Mediterranean Sea
Barbara Davidde
579
19. Trade across Rome’s Southern Frontier: The Sahara and
the Garamantes
Andrew Wilson
599
Index
625