Onno Van Nijf - Trade, Transport and Society in the Ancient World (Routledge Revivals): A Sourcebook

Trade, Transport and Society in the Ancient World

This book, first published in 1992, presents an introduction to the nature of trade and transport in antiquity through a selection of translated literary, papyrological, epigraphical and legal sources. These texts illustrate a range of aspects of ancient trade and transport: from the role of the authorities, to the status of traders, to the capacity and speed of ancient ships.

It is clear that the actual means of transportation were crucial; the book illustrates the limitations of ancient transport technology and the consequences for the development of commerce. It focuses first on different aspects of transport over land and then on transport by river and concludes with a discussion of several aspects of ancient seafaring.

Trade, Transport and Society in the Ancient World: A Sourcebook is ideal for students of ancient history.

Trade, Transport and Society in the Ancient World

A Sourcebook

Fik Meijer and Onno van Nijf

First published 1992
by Routledge

This edition first published in 2015 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

1992 Fik Meijer and Onno van Nijf

The right of Fik Meijer and Onno van Nijf to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Publishers Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondence from those they have been unable to contact.

A Library of Congress record exists under LC control number: 91046010

ISBN 13: 978-1-138-82659-5 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-1-315-73919-9 (ebk)
ISBN 13: 978-1-138-82660-1 (pbk)

Trade, Transport and Society in the Ancient World

A Sourcebook

Fik Meijer
and
Onno van Nijf

First published 1992
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
a division of Routledge, Chapman and Hall Inc.
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

1992 Fik Meijer and Onno van Nijf

Typeset in 10 on 12 point Times by
Falcon Typographic Art Ltd, Fife, Scotland
Printed in Great Britain by
Clays Ltd, St Ives plc

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Meijer, Fik
Trade, transport and society in the ancient world.
I. Title II. Nijf, Onno van
380.5

Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data
Meijer, Fik.
Trade, transport and society in the ancient world: a sourcebook/Fik
Meijer and Onno van Nijf.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Greece Commerce History Sources. 2. Transportation
Greece History Sources. 3. Rome Commerce History Sources.
4. Transportation Rome History Sources. I. Nijf, Onno van.
II. Title.
HF373. M45 1992
380. 093 dc20 71 71 71 71 71 9146010

ISBN 0-415-00344-X
0-415-00345-8 (pbk)

Interest in the economic history of antiquity has been increasing during the last decades. The publication in 1973 of M.I. Finleys The Ancient Economy, in particular, has been a strong stimulus for further research. Much work has been done on Finleys concept of a primitive economy, which has consequently been refined in many respects. Scholars agree that the ancient world was primarily agrarian in nature. Most of those who produced agricultural products did so for their own use, a situation which continued throughout antiquity. The cities, however, became increasingly important: markets arose and the scale of agricultural production increased. As a result, trade and industry acquired a more significant role, as has been clearly demonstrated, for example, in P. Garnsey, K. Hopkins and C.R. Whittaker, Trade in the Ancient Economy (London 1983). One consequence of this recent perception of the importance of trade has been that this aspect of the ancient economy has been incorporated in university curricula.

This book, intended for undergraduate students and for the general reader with a serious interest in ancient history, differs from other treatments of the ancient economy in that the emphasis is on trade and the ways in which it was carried out. The starting-point is formed by the ancient sources concerning trade and transport. These are not presented as a loose collection of passages from literary works, inscriptions and papyri, but are organized thematically.

present the realities of trade in Homeric and archaic Greece, Athens and the Athenian Empire, the Greek world outside Athens, Ptolemaic Egypt, and finally the Roman Empire. Special attention will be given to other forms of exchange than commercial exchange, the attitudes of the authorities towards trade, the status of traders and the ways in which trade was organized.

deals with the most important commodities of ancient trade: grain, wool and textiles, wine and oil, building materials and slaves. This part concludes with a discussion of the trade between the Graeco-Roman world and India and the Orient, and the trade with the northern barbarians.

deals with transport and the means of transportation. It illustrates the limitations of ancient transport technology and the consequences for the development of commerce. It focuses first on different aspects of transport over land and then on transport by river. It concludes with a discussion of several aspects of ancient seafaring.

A book with so broad a subject cannot but suffer from incompleteness. We had to limit not only the number of topics, but also the number of texts illustrating each topic. We can only hope that our selection will not appear too arbitrary.

Since neither author is a native speaker of English it has been decided to make frequent use of existing English translations. We would like to record our gratitude to the copyright holders for their permission to use their translations. Translations borrowed by us are mentioned at the end of the texts. In some cases slight alterations were made; this is indicated below the text. Complete references to the translations can be found in the acknowledgements. Where no translator is mentioned translations are our own. As a rule, Greek personal and geographical names have been rendered in their Latinized form. It was not possible, however, to be fully consistent. Titles of ancient sources are normally given in English, apart from cases where this could lead to confusion. There the Latin title is given. In the use of square and round brackets, generally we follow the translators. We use square brackets to indicate additions by the editor of words or parts of words which were once inscribed on the stone, but are no longer legible (the standard epigraphic/papyrological practice); round brackets are used (a) to indicate additions by the editor of words or parts of words which were never inscribed in the text, but which are essential for the understanding and (b) for our own, or the editors explanations of words.