Ancient World Review

The Roman Grain Trade

Note: This entire lecture series should play automatically, but if it doesn't, the rest of the series can be found here.

"For all of the glory and grandeur of Ancient Rome, the Roman economy never developed into anything terribly complex compared to modern economies. Ancient Rome was an agrarian and slave based economy whose main concern was feeding the vast number of citizens and legionaries who populated the Mediterranean region. Agriculture and trade dominated Roman economic fortunes, only supplemented by small scale industrial production." Source: "Ancient Roman Economy," United Nations of Roma Victrix.

According to the Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd ed. revised), "The growth of Rome to a city of perhaps 250,000 in the time of the Gracchi and of up to one million under Augustus, far outstripping the productive capacity of her hinterlands, created an unprecedented demand for imported foodstuffs." The regular distribution of "a set monthly ration of grain at a set price for adult male citizen residents" was established by the populari Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, later assassinated for his reforms, and the ration was made free by P. Clodius Pulcher in 58 BC.

The Gracchi brothers were representatives of the lower class who attempted to make reforms benefiting the common people. Both were murdered by the ruling aristocracy for (among other things) their land reforms which would have had a big impact on the patrician's power and incomes. This conflict between the commoners and the rapacious nobility still continues to this day.

The emperor Augustus stabilized the number of residents entitled to the grain dole "at or below 200,000" in 2 BC. "[The] public supply, drawing on the grain paid to the state as rent or tax in Sicily, Africa and (from 30 BC) Egypt, helped the privileged minority who held tickets of entitlement, which could be inherited or sold. But the monthly ration did not meet a family's need for grain, and the tickets did not necessarily go to the poor." (OCD)

Sounds a lot like our modern welfare system. In later years, this public dole, combined with the construction of the new Colosseum, led to the development of the "bread and circuses" system for controlling (or trying to control) the population of Rome and made the grain supply of Egypt critical to the survival of the city.

Even the state couldn't meet the huge demand for grain in a city the size of Rome, however, and this created all sorts of problems. "State grain met no more than a portion of the city's annual grain needs," according to the OCD ('Trade, Roman,' p. 1537).  "The rest had to be supplied by the free market. Furthermore, the importation of the state grain depended upon private traders, who in times of crisis had to be offered considerable incentives to involve themselves in the trade."

The Discovery Of Port Muzirus In India

There was a big market in Rome for luxury goods from India and the East, but overland trade and travel to India was obstructed by the Arabs until Augustus came along.  According to the Oxford Classical Dictionary (OCD 3rd ed. revised), "the Arab obstruction was removed by the great appetite of Rome for eastern luxuries in the prosperous days of Augustus, and by the discovery of open-sea routes from Aden to India. In the 1st cent. BC, or soon after, observation of the monsoon encouraged mid-ocean routes leading to various points on the western coast [of India] where settlements were subsequently established."

Roman trade with India was extensive. "In Augustus' day 120 ships sailed to India every year, and under his early successors the drain on Roman money to pay for Indian imports caused occasional anxiety..." (OCD) "...The principle imports to Rome were perfumes, spices (especially pepper), gems, ivory, pearls, Indian textiles, and Chinese silk."

The main trade was apparently with the Pandya kingdoms on the west coast of India. Evidence for this trade is still being uncovered today. For example, in 2015, The Hindu reported that "an excavation in Keezhadi, Sivaganga district, has thrown up a wealth of information on the flourishing Pandya trade with the west." The excavation can be viewed in this June 2016 video (no English version available).

The whole area of Roman contacts with India is difficult to research because of the language barrier. The next video's a good example. The slides are fantastic, but the speaker's hard to understand and the closed-captions are a joke.

Related: The Leek-Green Sea.

The Voyage around the Erythraean Sea

"The Periplus Maris Erythraei (or ‘Voyage around the Erythraean Sea’ [the modern Red Sea]) is an anonymous work from around the middle of the first century CE written by a Greek speaking Egyptian merchant." (Source: Washington University) The document describes "the maritime trade-routes following the north-south axis from Egypt down the coast of East Africa as far as modern day Tanzania" and "the routes of the east-west axis running from Egypt, around the Arabian Peninsula and past the Persian Gulf on the west coast of India." The complete translation of this fascinating resource on the ancient sea trade can be found here. A detailed map of the Erythraean Sea in the 1st Century can be found here.

The 1st Century BC Greek Navigator Hippalus

"Hippalus (Ancient Greek: ππαλος) was a Greek navigator and merchant who probably lived in the 1st century BC. He is sometimes conjectured to have been the captain of the Greek explorer Eudoxus of Cyzicus' ship." Source: Wikipedia.

"The writer of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea credited Hippalus with discovering the direct route from the Red Sea to India over the Indian Ocean by plotting the scheme of the sea and the correct location of the trade ports along the Indian coast."

According to the Oxford Classical Dictionary (OCD, 3rd ed. revised), Hippalus was "the merchant discoverer, in the Augustan or Tiberian age (1), of new ways of navigating the Arabian Sea; specifically the possibility of using the (very violent: his ships must have been substantial) SW monsoon to make deep-sea voyages from the south coast of Arabia to the NW coast of India, and the SE monsoon (a gentler wind) for the journey back to the mouth of the Red Sea..."

(1) Augustus ruled from around 27 BC - 14 AD, Tiberius from 14 - 37 AD.

The Romans had extensive trade, both by land and water, with India and the East as well as parts of eastern Africa along the coast of the Red Sea. Roman trading stations have been discovered on the coasts of India. For example:

"On the south-east or Coromandel Coast of India, about two miles (3.2km) south of the former French enclave of Pondicherry, there is a tract on the east known locally as Arikamedu, near the village of Virampattanam. After 1937 it was gradually revealed as an Indo-Roman trading station." Source: Ancient Origins.

"It appeared that the port began to rise about the end of the last century BCE, and reached its apogee in about 50 CE and later. The Roman remains included, for example, amphorae (wine-jars), Roman glass, Roman lamps, gems, etc. Moreover, the archaeological site revealed that the port city was used as a small ship-building or ship-repairing yard."

Ancient Nubia, Egypt's Rival In Africa

Dating back to at least 2,000 BC, the history of Nubia is confusing because several ancient kingdoms rose and fell in this part of Africa and the term "Nubia" is sometimes used to refer to one or more of these early kingdoms while at other times it just refers to the region as a whole. Complicating matters even more, the ancient Egyptians referred to their Nubian neighbors as Kushites, a kingdom in Nubia, and some sources use the term "Kush" to refer to the entire area.

The Nubian people were apparently descendants of the "the Noba people, nomads who settled the area in the 4th century [BC] following the collapse of the kingdom of Meroë," a city located on the east bank of the Nile, according to Wikipedia.

The most well-known civilization of the Nubians was the previously mentioned Kingdom of Kush, which came into existence after the Bronze Age collapse and fall of the Egyptian New Kingdom. This is another source of confusion -- for me -- because at least one source I've found says that the Nubians didn't take over the region until after the fall of the Kingdom of Kush. Most of the sources, however, say that it was a Nubian kingdom, so I'll leave it at that.

Egypt had a complex and volatile relationship with Nubia. During the Early Dynastic Period (c3100 - 2686? BC), Egypt traded with Nubia, but "none of these trading expeditions, it seems, was aggressive in character, though the Egyptians occasionally had cause to protect themselves against the local populations," according to The Penguin Encyclopedia of Ancient Civilizations. During the Old Kingdom (c2613 - 2160 BC), Egyptian expeditions "were regularly sent through Nubia to obtain exotic products such as incense, ivory and panther skins. These expeditions were not without incident." (Ibid)

This trade between Egypt and Nubia continued for millennia. Wars sometimes broke out and traders were sometimes killed, apparently by local tribes, during these trade expeditions, but "relations between the two peoples also show peaceful cultural interchange and cooperation, including mixed marriages," according to Wikipedia. Egypt's southern borders shifted back and forth as Egyptian power waxed and waned, and over time it appears that the two populations became thoroughly mixed.

The history of the relationship between Egypt and Nubia is long and complex, with Egypt conquering Nubia several times and Nubia conquering Egypt around 760 BC. After the conquest, the Nubians established the short-lived 25th Dynasty - sometimes referred to as the Nubian Dynasty or the Kushite Empire. The Black Pharoahs didn't last very long, however. They were conquered by the Assyrians around 656 BC.

Documentary from 2015.

Evidence Of Prehistoric Amber Trade From Sicily Discovered

"Amber from Sicily arrived in Iberia as early as the 4th Millennium BC, some 2,000 years before the appearance of Baltic amber to the peninsula. New study also suggests that Baltic amber reached Iberia via the Mediterranean not via direct trade with the North." Source: Science Daily.

"...'Baltic' amber from Scandinavia is often cited as a key material circulating in prehistoric Europe, but in a new study ... researchers have found that amber from Sicily was traveling around the Western Mediterranean as early as the 4th Millennium BC -- at least 2,000 years before the arrival of any Baltic amber in Iberia."

Note: These prehistoric Sicilian amber traders may have been dealing with their own ancestors. According to Wikipedia, "[t]he original inhabitants of Sicily were three defined groups of the ancient peoples of Italy. The most prominent and by far the earliest of these was the Sicani, who were said by Thucydides to have arrived from the Iberian Peninsula (perhaps Catalonia)."

Lost Norse Of Greenland Fueled The Medieval Walrus Ivory Trade

Comment: the use of idiotic background music and robotic text-to-speech voices in these video news reports is a blight on humanity and everyone responsible should be taken out and shot.

"New DNA analysis reveals that, before their mysterious disappearance, the Norse colonies of Greenland had a 'near monopoly' on Europe's walrus ivory supply. An overreliance on this trade may have contributed to Norse Greenland's collapse when the medieval market declined. " Source: Science Daily.

Note: "The Norse settlements [in Greenland] thrived for centuries but disappeared sometime in the 15th century, perhaps at the onset of the Little Ice Age. Apart from some runic inscriptions, no contemporary records or historiography survives from the Norse settlements. Medieval Norwegian sagas and historical works mention Greenland's economy as well as the bishops of Gardar and the collection of tithes. A chapter in the Konungs skuggsjá (The King's Mirror) describes Norse Greenland's exports and imports as well as grain cultivation." Source: Wikipedia.

Could Squirrel Trade Have Contributed To England's Medieval Leprosy Outbreak?

"Genetic analysis of a pre-Norman skull unearthed in a garden in Hoxne, Suffolk, has added to a growing body of evidence that East Anglia may have been the epicentre of an epidemic of leprosy that spread through medieval England. A strain of the disease may have been brought to East Anglia's coast line through contact with Scandinavia via Anglo-Saxon movement or possibly the later sustained trade in squirrel fur, the new study suggests." Source: Phys.org (2017).

"The research ... identified evidence of a strain of Mycobacterium Leprae (M.leprae), the bacteria that causes leprosy, in ancient DNA extracted from a female skull discovered in Suffolk. 'The Woman from Hoxne' (1) is one of a growing number of medieval leprosy cases identified in human remains found in or around East Anglia in the early medieval and Norman period." The suggestion that infected furs may have been the source of the leprosy outbreak is plausible, but apparently still a matter of conjecture.

(1) "A woman’s skull, exhibiting features of lepromatous leprosy (LL), was recovered from a garden in Hoxne, Suffolk. The absence of post crania and lack of formal excavation meant that diagnosis and dating was uncertain." Source: Journal of Medical Microbiology.

Note: Modern cases of squirrels with leprosy have been discovered in the UK.

Video from 2016.

Trade And Economics In The Middle Ages

Note: The common belief that the collapse of the western Roman empire led to the economic stagnation of the Dark Ages isn't really accurate. The collapse made everything worse, naturally, but the economic crisis in Europe had started long before. In fact, it was one of the main causes for the fall of the empire.

The political instability in Rome had caused widespread inflation and a devaluation of the currency. Two emperors, Diocletian and Constantine the Great, tried to fix the problem but they weren't successful. For instance, "Diocletian instituted the first attempt by a government to impose wage and price controls. In 301 AD, Diocletian issued his famous Edict (Preamble) (Edictum De Pretiis Rerum Venalium) which fixed a maximum price for goods and services." (Armstrong Economics). None of his efforts could reverse the systemic, intractable problems that Rome faced and Constantine's monetary reforms didn't work any better.

The collapse of the western Roman empire didn't cause the widespread poverty of the Dark Ages. The West was already going through a severe economic crisis when Rome fell apart, overrun by barbarians. This led to a further breakdown in law and order which naturally affected trade, and the Roman monetary system seems to have vanished. Centuries passed before Europe started to recover. 

The damage that bad political leaders can cause is mind-boggling.

The Isle Of The Dragon's Blood Trees

"Socotra Archipelago, in the northwest Indian Ocean near the Gulf of Aden, is 250 km long and comprises four islands and two rocky islets which appear as a prolongation of the Horn of Africa. The site is of universal importance because of its biodiversity with rich and distinct flora and fauna..." Source: UNESCO.

Socotra was called Dioskouridou ('of the Dioscurides') or Dioscorida in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a first century AD shipping manual. According to the author of the Periplus, "Dioscorida ... is very large but desert and marshy, having rivers in it and crocodiles and many snakes and great lizards, of which the flesh is eaten and the fat melted and used instead of olive oil." Source: Fordham University Internet History Sourcebooks (paragraph 30).

Note: I'm not sure about this, but I think the Erythraean Sea is the old name for the Red Sea and at least part (?) of the  Arabian Sea in the Indian Ocean. A map of the Erythraean Sea drawn in 169 BC by the Greek historian and geographer Agatharchides of Cnidus, can be found here.

Socotra has been called "the world's strangest place" with good reason. The plants on Socotra are truly bizarre, as can be seen in these pictures. The island's spectacular and alien landscape looks like something out of a science-fiction movie.

The ancient history of Socotra is obscure, but its inhabitants traded spices and the sap of their Dragon's Blood trees to Egypt and Rome. Its location near the mouth of the Red Sea made it an important stopover for cargo ships involved in the thriving maritime trade with the far east.

"The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans all tapped the treasures of Socotra’s natural world: aromatic resins such as frankincense, medicinal aloe extract, and the dark red sap of the dragon’s blood tree, used for healing and as an artist’s color. Adventurers came to harvest the island’s wealth, despite stories that it was guarded by giant snakes living in its caves. The Queen of Sheba, Alexander the Great, and Marco Polo were among those who coveted Socotra’s riches." Source: National Geographic.

"The value of incense and dragon’s blood peaked during the time of the Roman Empire. Afterward, the island served mostly as a way station for traders, passing centuries in relative cultural isolation. Socotra’s residents lived generation after generation as their ancestors had: the mountain Bedouin minding their goats, the coastal residents fishing, and everyone harvesting dates. Island history was passed down through poetry, recited in the Socotri language."

According to Socotra Eco-Tours, Aristotle, Alexander the Great's tutor, selected a group of colonists to settle on Socotra. The idea was to harvest its myrhh, valued for its medicinal properties, and turn the island into a base for Alexander's invasion of India. The Greek historian Diodorus of Sicily (1st cent BC) mentions Socotra as a major source of myrhh, ladanum and various aromatic plants. The island was an important way station where "[s]ailors and tradesmen not only bought precious resins and medical herbs...which they later on sold at markets in the Roman empire or the Indian kingdoms, but also gained strength and supplies necessary for their long journeys to the African coast, Madagascar or to Persia." Inscriptions in various languages have been found inside Hoq cave on the island. (See video below)

Considering the island's strategic location and valuable resources, I imagine it was fought over repeatedly by various empires in the ancient world. Most of this history, unfortunately, has been lost forever.