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Roman Culture and Society - Lecture 2
Trade and Economy
SOCIAL HIERARCHY OF TRADE

Elite attitudes to trade:
Tacitus Annals 4.13.2:
he supported himself by petty trading (sordida merces) between Africa and Sicily
BUT what is the relationship between attitudes expressed & actual behaviour?
senatorial families at Rome built warehouses: eg Horrea Galbana; at Puteoli =
‘warehouse 26 on the upper Barbatian estate of Domitia Lepida’ Jones (2006) 35.
names on bricks
money-lending: AE (1993) 461:
‘In the consulship of Gnaeus Arrius Antoninus and Aulus Marius Celsus {i.e. AD 69}, on 19 th July, I,
Venustus slave of Ulpia Plotina daughter of Marcus, have written that I have received 1,000 denarii
from Lucius Cominius Primus to pay off what is owed from 15,000 denarii. Transacted at
Herculaneum’

The imperial family:

Extensive estates

Brick/tilestamps

Livia - bricks & tiles found in Bay of Naples CIL X 8042, 41a = ‘Of
Abda, slave of Livia.’

Freedmen/freedwomen and slaves as 'middlemen'
 Murecine tablets (TPSulp.):
Read the following two tablets & work out what types of financial transactions
are represented; comment on style of language and the social status of people
involved

TPSulp. 69, 2 May AD 51:
I, Gaius Sulpicius Cinnamus, have written:
I owe to Phosphorus Lepidianus, slave of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus, 94,000 sesterces. And
Phosphorus Lepidianus, slave of Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus, has stipulated that the abovementioned 94,000 sesterces is to be duly paid in good coin on 13 June next, and I, Gaius Sulpicius
Cinnamus, have promised that it shall be paid.

TPSulp. 90, 16 Feb AD 61:
At Puteoli in the Sextian Portico of Augustus there has been fixed to a column a notice in which was
written what appears below:
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‘The [slave] woman Fortunata, whom Marcia Aucta was said to have handed over as security on
payment of a single sesterce to Gaius Sulpicius Onirus, will come up for sale under the auctioneer on 5
March next at Puteoli in front of the Chalcidicum of Caesonius, for ready cash. The [slave given as]
security in this matter was first advertised for sale on 4 February 61.’

The case of Gaius Novius Eunus – the Roman credit crunch
o TPSulp 51: Freedman C. Novius Eunus borrowed 10,000 sesterces in
June AD 37 from Evenus Primianus, freedman of Tib, via his slave
Hesychus, in his absence.
o TPSulp 52: 2 July 37 - a further loan of 3,000 sesterces.
o TPSulp 45: 2 July 37 - Hesychus rents units in warehouse
o TPSulp 67: 29 Aug 38: Eunus borrows a further 1,130 sesterces from
Hesychus
o TPSulp 68: 15 Sept 39 -
I, Gaius Novius Eunus, have written:
I owe to Hesychus Evenianus, slave of Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, 1,250 sesterces, being the
outstanding balance after the account has been fully calculated. I have received this sum as a loan from
him, and I have promised on oath that I will return it to Hesychus himself or Gaius Sulpicius Faustus
on the 1st November next. I swore this oath by Jupiter Best and Greatest and by the Divinity of the
Deified Augustus and by the Genius of Gaius Caesar Augustus. And if I do not pay back this
money on the due date, I will not only be held guilty of perjury but I will be obliged to pay as a
penalty 20 sesterces a day.
And the above mentioned 1,250 sesterces Hesychus, slave of Gaius Caesar Augustus, has stipulated is
to be duly paid back in good coin; I Gaius Novius Eunus have promised that I shall do so.

Overall picture from Puteoli

Elite and trade.

Outside Rome.
ORGANIZATION AND SCALE OF TRADE
Task: What sorts of things do you think were traded in the R. world?


Pottery studies

Amphorae – olive oil from Baetica.

Oil lamps

‘Terra sigillata’/Arretine ware

Debate

Usefulness of pottery studies
Movement of goods
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The evidence from shipwrecks
TASK: What sorts of things do you expect to find in ancient shipwrecks?

Case-study: Pisa, San Rossore railway station
o Wreck B

Monte Testaccio, Rome
 Hill on south side of Rome, alongside Tiber
 ‘amphora mountain’
 artifical terraced construction.
 Mainly Spanish amphorae for oil – round-bottomed Dressel 20. Earliest
datable pots = AD 138; later = N. African dominant
Most other amphoras reused

Why did Rome need so much olive oil?
IRRATIONALITY OF TRADE - IMPACT OF THE CITY OF ROME

The unique needs of Rome

Grain dole
 150,000-200,000 registered for grain. Prefect in charge of annona. Shipped by
private ship owners. Size of ships.
 Return trips?
 Importance of grain-supply
Suetonius Life of Claudius 18-19 [= Meijer-Van Nijf (1992) no.129]:
Claudius always interested himself in the proper upkeep of city buildings and the regular arrival of corn
supplies... Once, after a series of droughts had caused a scarcity of grain, a mob stopped Claudius
in the Forum and pelted him so hard with curses and stale crusts that he had difficulty in
regaining the Palace by a side-door; as a result he took all possible steps to import corn, even during
the winter months - insuring merchants against the loss of their ships in stormy weather (which
guaranteed them a good return on their ventures), and offering a bounty for every new grain-transport
built, proportionate to its tonnage.
The shipowner, if he happened to be a Roman citizen, was exempted from the PapianPoppaean Law which made marriage compulsory; if only a Latin, acquired full Roman citizenship; if a
woman, enjoyed the privileges granted to mother of four children. These regulations have never since
been modified.

cf imperial harbour at Ostia/Portus

lots of other foodstuffs needed.
o Aelius Aristides, To Rome 10-13 [= Meijer-Van Nijf (1992) no.112]
Here is brought from every land and sea all the crops of the seasons and the produce of each land, river,
lake, as well as of the arts of the Greeks and barbarians, so that if someone should wish to view all
these things, he must either see them by travelling over the whole world or be in this city... So many
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merchant ships arrive here, conveying every kind of goods from every people every hour, every day, so
that the city is like a factory common to the whole earth. It is possible to see so many cargoes from
India and even from Arabia Felix, if you wish, that one imagines that for the future the trees are left
bare for the people there and that they must come here to beg for their own produce if they need
anything... Your farmlands are Egypt, Sicily, and all of Africa which is cultivated.

Imperial projects
 Buildings
Marble
Obelisks
Pliny Natural History 16.201-202 [= Meijer-Van Nijf (1992) no. 199]
An especially wonderful fir was seen in the ship [as mainmast] which brought from Egypt at the
order of the emperor Gaius Caligula the obelisk erected in the Vatican Circus and four shafts of
the same stone to serve as its base. It is certain that nothing more wonderful than this ship has ever
been seen on the sea: it carried 120 bushels of lentils for ballast.

Games - exotic animals:
o NSc (1953) 37: tomb of T. Flavius Stephanus
dis manibus
T. Flavi Aug. lib.
Stephani
praeposito
camellorum
To the departed spirits
of Titus Flavius Stephanus, emperor’s freedman,
overseer
of camels
A CASE STUDY OF TRADE AND ECONOMY IN A ROMAN TOWN:
POMPEII

Agriculture
 Countryside: ‘Rustic Villas’ - Boscoreale, Villa Regina
 Inside town walls – House of Menander; vineyards = II.v; Garden of
Fugitives; also market gardens/ flower gardens / orchards.

Garum production: Gaius Umbricius Scaurus, and garum production at
Pompeii = Cooley (2004) H20-29
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 31.93-94 [= Cooley (2004) H18]:
Furthermore, there is another type of choice fluid, called garum, produced from the guts of fish and
anything else which would have been discarded, steeped in salt – in other words, it is the fermentation
of decaying matter. … These days, the most popular garum is made from the mackerel in the fisheries
of New Carthage (it is called garum of the allies), and around twelve pints costs 1,000 sesterces.
Almost no fluid except for perfume begins to fetch a greater price, bringing fame to the countries of
origin. … Clazomenae too is praised for its garum, as are Pompeii and Leptis…


Powerpoint slide 29 – Boscoreale urceus
Dominated fish sauce business in Campania
CIL IV 5661 Pure fish sauce from Umbricia Fortunata
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CIL IV 5671 = Cooley H21 Finest fish sauce from Umbricius Abascantus
CIL IV 5689 = Cooley H23 Best finest mackerel sauce from the workshop of Aulus Umbricius
Abascantus.
CIL IV 2576 = Cooley H26: Scaurus’ finest mackerel sauce by Scaurus’ Eutyche

Vessels found in active contexts at Pompeii
 Also in shipwreck in Fos gulf, nr. Fos-sur-mer in south of France.
 Scaurus himself proud of his commercial achievements
AE 1992 278a-d = Cooley H20a/b:
Scaurus’ finest mackerel sauce from Scaurus’ workshop
Finest fish purée
Scaurus’ finest mackerel sauce
Best fish purée from Scaurus’ workshop = liquamen optimum ex officin(a) Scauri
CIL X 1024 [= Cooley F91]:
To Aulus Umbricius Scaurus, son of Aulus, of the Menenia tribe, duumvir with judicial power. The
town councillors voted for him a site for his monument, 2,000 sesterces for his funeral, and an
equestrian statue to be set up in the Forum. His father Scaurus dedicated this to his son.
 Urban Rental
Cn. Alleius Nigidius Maius – princeps coloniae –CIL IV 138 [= Cooley H50]
To let from the 1st July next in the insula Arriana Polliana, now owned by Gnaeus Alleius Nigidius
Maius: shops with upper rooms, quality apartments and houses. Lessees contact Primus, slave of
Gnaeus Alleius Nigidius Maius.

Imports
o wine
o VIII.v.9: terra sigillata bowls + 37 unused lamps

The Banker Caecilius Iucundus = Cooley (2004) H69-82
o CIL IV 3340.23: Receipt for sale of fixtures and fittings at auction
by Umbricia Antiochis, November, AD 56 = Cooley H75
{Pages 2-3}
[During the consulship of Q. Volusius S]aturninus and [P. Cornelius Scipi]o, on the 11 November.
I, [name missing], slave of Umbricia Antiochis, [have written] that she has received 645 sesterces from
L. Caecilius [Iucundus], for the auction [which was performed on her behalf], for the objects removed
from a property sold earlier. Out of this sum [she has received] 200 sesterces [in cash], with valuation
costs adding up to 20 sesterces, incidental expenses adding up to 13 sesterces, and the banker’s fee of
51 sesterces having been deducted from the price; finally I received today the sum of 360 sesterces.
Transacted at Pompeii.
o CIL IV 3340.100 = Cooley H80:
{On edge of tablet, in ink}
Acknowledgement of auction of linen of Ptolemy, son of Masyllus, of Alexandria.
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Bibliography: RCS Lecture 2
Trade and Economy
Key Readings
@Mattingly, D. & G. Aldrete (2000) 'The feeding of imperial Rome: the mechanics
of the food supply system', in Coulston, J. and H. Dodge, Ancient Rome. The
Archaeology of the Eternal City (Oxford) [DG 65.A6]
@Parkins, H. (1997) 'The consumer city domesticated? The Roman city in elite
economic strategies', in Roman Urbanism. Beyond the Consumer City, ed. H.M.
Parkins (Routledge: London & New York) pp.83-111 + e-book
General works
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Duncan-Jones, R., Structure and scale in the Roman economy (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1990) [DG 85.D8]
Garnsey, P. and Saller, R., The Roman Empire: Economy, Society and Culture
(London: Duckworth 1987) [DG 276.G2] ch. 3-5
Meijer, F. & O. van Nijf, Trade, Transport and Society in the Ancient World.
A Sourcebook (London & New York: Routledge 1992) [DE 61 E2]
@Parkin, T. & Pomeroy, A. (2007) Roman Social History. A Sourcebook [DG
78.R6 + e-book]
Scheidel, W. (2010) 'Economy and quality of life', in Barchiesi, A. and
Scheidel, W., eds, The Oxford Handbook of Roman Studies [DG 209.O94]
@Scheidel, W., Morris, I., Saller, R. (2008) The Cambridge Economic History
of the Greco-Roman World
Wilson, A. (2008) 'Economy and trade', in Roman Europe, ed. E. Bispham
[DG 209.R594]
Archaeology
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Greene, K. (1986) The Archaeology of the Roman Economy (Batsford:
London) [DG 85.G7]
@Harris, W. (1980) ‘Roman terracotta lamps: the organisation of an industry’,
Journal of Roman Studies 70: 126-45
@Howgego, C. (1992) ‘The supply and use of money in the Roman world 200
B.C. to A.D. 300’, Journal of Roman Studies 82: 1-31
Marzano, A. (2007) Roman villas in central Italy: a social and economic
history [NA 324.M27]
Oleson, J.P. (2008) The Oxford Handbook of Engineering and Technology in
the Classical World [T 16.O8]
Peacock, D.P.S. (1982), Pottery in the Roman World: an ethnoarchaeological
approach [DG 017.P3]
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Transport
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@Casson, L. ‘Harbour and river boats of ancient Rome’, Journal of Roman
Studies 55 (1965) 31-39
@Duncan-Jones, R. ‘Giant cargo ships in antiquity’, Classical Quarterly 27
(1977) 331-2
@Ellmers, D. ‘Shipping on the Rhine during the Roman period: the pictorial
evidence’, in J. Du Plat Taylor & H. Cleere, eds, Roman shipping and trade:
Britain and the Rhine provinces (London: 1978: CBA research report 24) 1-14
[qto DG 107.R6]
@Hopkins, K. (1983), ‘Models, Ships and Staples’ in Garnsey, P. and
Whittaker, C.R. (eds.), Trade and Famine in Classical Antiquity pp. 84-109.
[DE 61.E2]
Laurence, R. The Roads of Roman Italy. Mobility and Cultural Change
(Routledge: London & New York 1999) [DG 28.5 L2]
Oleson, J.P. (2008) The Oxford Handbook of Engineering and Technology in
the Classical World [T 16.O8]
Markets and commerce
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Frayn, J.M. (1993), Markets and Fairs in Roman Italy; Clarendon Press,
Oxford. [DG 107.F7]
Parkins, H. and Smith, C.J. eds. (1998), Trade, Traders and the Ancient City;
Routledge, London [DE 61.E2]
Social status and trade
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Andreau, J. (2004) 'John H. D'Arms and the economic interests of the Roman
elite', in Ostia, Cicero, Gamala, Feasts and the Economy, eds A. Gallina Zevi
and J. Humphrey (JRA Suppl. 57) [DG 14.O8]
Andreau, J. (1999) Banking and Business in the Roman World (Cambridge
UP) [DG 107.A6]
D’Arms, J. Commerce and social standing in Ancient Rome (Harvard
University Press: Cambridge, Mass. & London 1981) [DG 107 D2] espec. ch.
1, 3, 5
Jones, D. (2006) The Bankers of Puteoli: finance, trade and industry in the
Roman world [DG 107.J6]
@Lintott, A. 'Freedmen and slaves in the light of legal documents from firstcentury AD Campania', Classical Quarterly 52.2 (2002) 555-65
Parkins, H.M. 'The consumer city domesticated? The Roman city in elite
economic strategies', in Roman Urbanism. Beyond the Consumer City, ed.
H.M. Parkins (Routledge: London & New York, 1997) 83-111
Purcell, N. 'The Roman villa and the landscape of production' in Urban
Society in Roman Italy, eds T.J. Cornell & K. Lomas (London 1995) 151-80
[DG 82.U7]
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
Wallace-Hadrill, A. ‘Elites and trade in the Roman town’, in City and Country
in the Roman World (eds.) A. Wallace-Hadrill and J. Rich (Routledge: London
and New York 1991) [DE 60.C4]
Collegia
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@Donahue, J.F. (2003) Toward a Typology of Roman Public Feasting AJPhil
124.3: 423-41
Kloppenborg, J.S. & Wilson, S.G. (1996) Voluntary associations in the GraecoRoman world [DE 60.V6]
van Nijf, O. (1997) The civic world of professional associations in the Roman
East [DE 71.N55]
Perry, J. (2011) 'Organized Societies: Collegia' in M. Peachin, ed., The Oxford
Handbook of Social Relations in the Roman World [on order]
@Royden, H. (1989) The Tenure of Office of the Quinquennales in the Roman
Professional Collegia AJPhil 110.2: 303-15
City of Rome/ Italy
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Lo Cascio, E. (2004) 'The economy of Roman Italy according to the Younger
Pliny', in Ostia, Cicero, Gamala, Feasts and the Economy, eds A. Gallina Zevi
and J. Humphrey (JRA Suppl. 57) [DG 14.O8]
Mattingly, D. & G. Aldrete 'The feeding of imperial Rome: the mechanics of
the food supply system', in Coulston, J. and H. Dodge (2000) Ancient Rome.
The Archaeology of the Eternal City (Oxford) [DG 65.A6]
Morley, N. Metropolis and Hinterland (Cambridge University Press:
Cambridge 1996) intro., ch. 1-3 [DG 63.M6]
Rickman, G. The corn supply of ancient Rome (Clarendon Press: Oxford
1971) [DG 105.R4]
Pompeii
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Beard, M. (2008) Pompeii. The Life of a Roman Town, ch.5 [DG 70.P7]
Berry, J. (1997) ‘The conditions of domestic life in Pompeii in AD 79: a casestudy of Houses 11 and 12, Insula 9, Region 1’, Papers of the British School
at Rome 52: 103-25.
---- (2007) The Complete Pompeii ch.8 [DG 70.P7]
Cooley, A.E. (2003) Pompeii (Duckworth, London) chapter 6
Cooley, A.E. & M.G.L. (2004) Pompeii. A Sourcebook (Routledge: London &
New York) chapter 8
Cooley, A.E. (2012) The Cambridge Manual to Latin Epigraphy
@Curtis, R.I. ‘A personalized floor mosaic from Pompeii’, American Journal
of Archaeology 88 (1984) 557-66
Curtis, R.I (1988) ‘A. Umbricius Scaurus of Pompeii’, in R.I. Curtis (ed.)
Studia Pompeiana et Classica in Honor of Wilhelmina F. Jashemski. I
Pompeiana, New York: Aristide D. Caratzas, 19-50
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Jashemski, W. The gardens of Pompeii: Herculaneum and the villas destroyed
by Vesuvius (New Rochelle, N.Y: Caratzas Bros, 1993) [NA 8416.I8]
Jashemski, W. The Natural history of Pompeii (CUP 2002) [QH 152.N2]
Laurence, R. (1994) Roman Pompeii, Space and society (Routledge: London
and New York), chap. 4 [DG 70.P7]
Peterson, L.H. (2006) The Freedman in Roman Art and Art History ch. 5, on
House of Caecilius [N 5763.P3]
Pirson, F. 'Rented accommodation in Pompeii: the evidence of the Insula
Arriana Polliana, VI.6', in Domestic Space in the Roman World; Pompeii and
Beyond, eds R. Laurence & A. Wallace-Hadrill (JRA suppl. 22, 1997) 165-82
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