Trading Communities in the Roman World: A Micro-Economic and Institutional Perspective (Columbia Studies in the Classical Tradition)

Ancient Roman trade was severely hampered by slow transportation and by the absence state help in enforcing contracts. Here Terpstra offers a new explanation of how traders in the Roman Empire overcame these difficulties. Previous theories have focused heavily on dependent labour, arguing that transactions overseas were conducted through slaves and freedmen. Taco Terpstra argues on the contrary that the key to understanding long-distance trade in the Roman Empire is not patron-client or master-slave relationships, but the social bonds between ethnic groups of foreign traders living overseas and the local communities they joined. Geographical origin thus formed the key bond in constructing trade networks, with expulsion from such networks the ultimate sanction for traders who did not fulfill their contracts. Trading Communities in the Roman World: A Micro-Economic and Institutional Perspective......Page 4 Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 8 Abbreviations......Page 12 Introduction......Page 16 Legal Interaction and Personal Knowledge......Page 24 The Murecine Tablets: Archive and Archaeology......Page 26 Intra-Community Exchange in Puteoli......Page 30 Commerce and Social Standing in Ancient Puteoli......Page 38 Path Dependence: ‘History Matters’......Page 46 Path Dependence: ‘Sunk’ Organizational Capital......Page 52 Path Dependence: Satisfactory Outcomes......Page 58 Conclusion......Page 63 Intra- and Inter-Community Trade......Page 66 Inter-Community Exchange and the Debate on the Roman Economy......Page 69 Inter-City Trade in Twelfth- and Thirteenth-Century Florence......Page 71 Individual Legal Responsibility; The Murecine Tablets......Page 74 A Micro-Economic Model of Inter-Community Exchange......Page 80 The Tyrian Trading Station......Page 85 Tyrian Agents as a Trading ‘Bridge’......Page 94 Overseas Agency as a General System of Exchange in Puteoli......Page 99 Conclusion......Page 107 The Maghribis’ Coalition and Medieval Trade......Page 110 Comparing the Maghribis and Trade Networks in the Roman Empire......Page 114 The Ostian Material Evidence: the ‘Piazzale delle Corporazioni’......Page 115 The Role and Importance of Coalition-Membership......Page 127 Overseas Settlers in Ostia......Page 133 Conclusion......Page 139 Orbis in Urbe......Page 142 Stationes on the Forum Iulium......Page 145 Stationes on the Sacra Via......Page 152 Ephesians in Rome......Page 162 Palmyrenes in Rome......Page 167 Syrians in Rome......Page 175 The Western Provinces and Africa......Page 179 Conclusion......Page 182 The Roman East as a Case-Study......Page 186 Law and Life of Asia......Page 192 Romans Resident in Ephesus......Page 209 Romans Resident in Magnesia and Tralles......Page 212 Romans Resident in Apamea......Page 218 The Roman Settlers’ Social Position......Page 222 Conclusion......Page 234 Conclusion......Page 238 Bibliography......Page 242 Index......Page 254 Back Matter......Page 260 Ancient Roman trade was severely hampered by slow transportation and by the absence of a state that helped traders enforce their contracts. In Trading Communities in the Roman World: A Micro-Economic and Institutional Perspective Taco Terpstra offers a new explanation of how traders in the Roman Empire overcame these difficulties.Previous theories have focused heavily on dependent labor, arguing that transactions overseas were conducted through slaves and freedmen. Taco Terpstra shows that this approach is unsatisfactory. Employing economic theory, he convincingly argues that the key to understanding long-distance trade in the Roman Empire is not patron-client or master-slave relationships, but the social bonds between ethnic groups of foreign traders living overseas and the local communities they joined. Ancient Roman trade was severely hampered by slow transportation and by the absence of a state that helped traders enforce their contracts. In Trading Communities in the Roman World: A Micro-Economic and Institutional Perspective Taco Terpstra offers a new explanation of how traders in the Roman Empire overcame these difficulties. Previous theories have focused heavily on dependent labor, arguing that transactions overseas were conducted through slaves and freedmen. Taco Terpstra shows that this approach is unsatisfactory. Employing economic theory, he convincingly argues that the key to understanding long-distance trade in the Roman Empire is not patron-client or master-slave relationships, but the social bonds between ethnic groups of foreign traders living overseas and the local communities they joined Preface Abbreviations Introduction Intra-community exchange and the use of law in Puteoli Interaction Inter-community exchange and the role of trading stations in Puteoli Coalitions of foreign merchants and shipowners in Ostia Inter-community trade and the City of Rome Roman traders in the province of Asia Bibliography Index. In Trading Communities , Taco Terpstra shows that long-distance trade in the Roman Empire was conducted through foreign trading communities living overseas, held together by ethnic and geographical identity.