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The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy & the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia & India
This study of ancient Roman shipping and trade across continents reveals the Roman Empire's far-reaching impact in the ancient world.
In ancient times, large fleets of Roman merchant ships set sail from Egypt on voyages across the Indian Ocean. They sailed from Roman ports on the Red Sea to distant kingdoms on the east coast of Africa and southern Arabia. Many continued their voyages across the ocean to trade with the rich kingdoms of ancient India. Along these routes, the Roman Empire traded bullion for valuable goods, including exotic African products, Arabian incense, and eastern spices.
This book examines Roman commerce with Indian kingdoms from the Indus region to the Tamil lands. It investigates contacts between the Roman Empire and powerful African kingdoms, including the Nilotic regime that ruled Meroe and the rising Axumite Realm. Further chapters explore Roman dealings with the Arab kingdoms of southern Arabia, including the Saba-Himyarites and the Hadramaut Regime, which sent caravans along the incense trail to the ancient rock-carved city of Petra.
The first book to bring these subjects together in a single comprehensive study, The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean reveals Rome's impact on the ancient world and explains how international trade funded the legions that maintained imperial rule.
In ancient times, large fleets of Roman merchant ships set sail from Egypt on voyages across the Indian Ocean. They sailed from Roman ports on the Red Sea to distant kingdoms on the east coast of Africa and southern Arabia. Many continued their voyages across the ocean to trade with the rich kingdoms of ancient India. Along these routes, the Roman Empire traded bullion for valuable goods, including exotic African products, Arabian incense, and eastern spices.
This book examines Roman commerce with Indian kingdoms from the Indus region to the Tamil lands. It investigates contacts between the Roman Empire and powerful African kingdoms, including the Nilotic regime that ruled Meroe and the rising Axumite Realm. Further chapters explore Roman dealings with the Arab kingdoms of southern Arabia, including the Saba-Himyarites and the Hadramaut Regime, which sent caravans along the incense trail to the ancient rock-carved city of Petra.
The first book to bring these subjects together in a single comprehensive study, The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean reveals Rome's impact on the ancient world and explains how international trade funded the legions that maintained imperial rule.
320 pages, ebook
First published September 11, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
September 28, 2024
I confess I was a bit sceptical about this book to begin with, and was inclined to try and pick holes in it. My initial reaction was to be unconvinced that Indian Ocean trade routes were really that big a contributor to the Roman economy, but I must admit that I found it an engaging and thought-provoking read.
Classical Europe was aware of India from very early times. The area we now call Pakistan was conquered by Alexander the Great as early as the 4th century BCE. However, the book suggests that the Indian Ocean really opened up to the Romans after Egypt was formally annexed as a Roman province in 30 BCE, with Roman merchant ships departing from Red Sea ports. The Romans set heavy taxes on imported products and the author suggests they raised enormous sums as a result, arguing that taxation on eastern imports raised up to a third of the state revenue of the Empire.
It's a bold claim, and of course the source data will be argued about. Economists can’t even agree about figures like GDP within modern economies, let alone those from 2000 years ago. The author does though present a very detailed case, with loads of evidence on prices to back up his claims. I found the level of detail a bit of a struggle at times, but I think it was necessary for the author to make his case.
A major theme is that the Indian Ocean trade led to an outflow of bullion from the Empire, particularly to southern or "lucky" Arabia, Arabia Felix, where frankincense was produced. There was an enormous demand for this for religious purposes. An outflow of gold and silver isn’t a problem as long as it can be replaced by newly mined material, but the Empire’s mining production faltered after about 170CE, and the author argues that the outflow of bullion destabilised the Roman currency. At times the author seemed to veer quite close to the discredited economic theory of “bullionism”, but on balance I think his arguments were persuasive, at least to the general reader such as myself.
The book looks at the various Indian Ocean kingdoms with which the Romans traded, starting with those of Arabia and Esat Africa, before moving on to examine those of western India. There were some fascinating quotations from ancient Indian literature about their contacts with the Romans. One of the Tamil kingdoms of south India even employed Roman mercenaries for the king’s bodyguard. Eventually, Roman merchants went as far as Sri-Lanka, Burma, the Malay Peninsula etc. During the 160s Roman diplomats made contact with Han China. Unfortunately just as these contacts got underway the world was hit by the so-called Antonine Plague, generally thought to be the first ever smallpox pandemic. It devastated both Han China and the Roman Empire, with perhaps a third of the population being killed. The Western Empire never really regained its mojo.
The book ends with the author trying to argue that the world economy of today faces the same threats as caused the collapse of the ancient world economy. In my opinion, the argument is a weak one, but historians often like to play Cassandra.
Most of the books I have read on the Roman Empire have been narrative histories or biographies, so this was a different angle from what I am used to. I came away with a different point of view, and am glad I read the book.
Classical Europe was aware of India from very early times. The area we now call Pakistan was conquered by Alexander the Great as early as the 4th century BCE. However, the book suggests that the Indian Ocean really opened up to the Romans after Egypt was formally annexed as a Roman province in 30 BCE, with Roman merchant ships departing from Red Sea ports. The Romans set heavy taxes on imported products and the author suggests they raised enormous sums as a result, arguing that taxation on eastern imports raised up to a third of the state revenue of the Empire.
It's a bold claim, and of course the source data will be argued about. Economists can’t even agree about figures like GDP within modern economies, let alone those from 2000 years ago. The author does though present a very detailed case, with loads of evidence on prices to back up his claims. I found the level of detail a bit of a struggle at times, but I think it was necessary for the author to make his case.
A major theme is that the Indian Ocean trade led to an outflow of bullion from the Empire, particularly to southern or "lucky" Arabia, Arabia Felix, where frankincense was produced. There was an enormous demand for this for religious purposes. An outflow of gold and silver isn’t a problem as long as it can be replaced by newly mined material, but the Empire’s mining production faltered after about 170CE, and the author argues that the outflow of bullion destabilised the Roman currency. At times the author seemed to veer quite close to the discredited economic theory of “bullionism”, but on balance I think his arguments were persuasive, at least to the general reader such as myself.
The book looks at the various Indian Ocean kingdoms with which the Romans traded, starting with those of Arabia and Esat Africa, before moving on to examine those of western India. There were some fascinating quotations from ancient Indian literature about their contacts with the Romans. One of the Tamil kingdoms of south India even employed Roman mercenaries for the king’s bodyguard. Eventually, Roman merchants went as far as Sri-Lanka, Burma, the Malay Peninsula etc. During the 160s Roman diplomats made contact with Han China. Unfortunately just as these contacts got underway the world was hit by the so-called Antonine Plague, generally thought to be the first ever smallpox pandemic. It devastated both Han China and the Roman Empire, with perhaps a third of the population being killed. The Western Empire never really regained its mojo.
The book ends with the author trying to argue that the world economy of today faces the same threats as caused the collapse of the ancient world economy. In my opinion, the argument is a weak one, but historians often like to play Cassandra.
Most of the books I have read on the Roman Empire have been narrative histories or biographies, so this was a different angle from what I am used to. I came away with a different point of view, and am glad I read the book.
December 15, 2015
While this book provides a welcomed insight into the far-reaching economy of the Roman Empire, I do have some issues with it. My major concern is with how McLaughlin arrived at his estimate for the empire's revenues. He uses "snapshot" data to determine yearly revenue for the first two hundred years of the empire. By "snapshot" I mean that the author picks pieces of data from disparate points in time and regions in the empire and assumes that this data applies across the empire for two hundred years. I find this highly questionable. He then goes on to state that the 25% tax on imports made up one-third of the empire's revenue. However, with the figures for the tax income from other sources being so tenuous, this statement is also questionable.
Regardless of these issues, the book contains a great deal of valuable information. The author details Roman trade across the Mediterranean to Egypt, Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan, India, Indonesia, and even China (to use the modern names). He also clearly explicates the huge trade imbalance that existed between the empire and eastern kingdoms. Roman society coveted the spices, incenses, jewels, and ivory available in the East, but the empire had no comparable goods valued by eastern kingdoms except silver and gold. This meant that bullion was constantly drained from the empire, a situation that was only tenable as long as the mines were operating and/or new sources could be discovered. He then details how this very fragile arrangement was destroyed by the fifteen-year Antonine Plague. The plague not only decimated the Roman Empire (one-third or more of the population and legionaries may have died or been permanently incapacitated), but threw the entire trade system into chaos. Kingdom after kingdom in the East fell and the Roman Empire was invaded by "barbarians" who were not as severely affected by the plague.
The modern world tends to believe that it created global trade in the 18th century. As McLaughlin shows, the Roman Empire had a robust trade system that encompassed Europe, Africa from the Horn north, and a great deal of Asia. The variety of goods and the lengths empire merchants went to obtain them, is truly staggering. And the fragility of the system should make us consider our own economic systems since our economies are even more interconnected.
Regardless of these issues, the book contains a great deal of valuable information. The author details Roman trade across the Mediterranean to Egypt, Arabia, Yemen, Afghanistan, India, Indonesia, and even China (to use the modern names). He also clearly explicates the huge trade imbalance that existed between the empire and eastern kingdoms. Roman society coveted the spices, incenses, jewels, and ivory available in the East, but the empire had no comparable goods valued by eastern kingdoms except silver and gold. This meant that bullion was constantly drained from the empire, a situation that was only tenable as long as the mines were operating and/or new sources could be discovered. He then details how this very fragile arrangement was destroyed by the fifteen-year Antonine Plague. The plague not only decimated the Roman Empire (one-third or more of the population and legionaries may have died or been permanently incapacitated), but threw the entire trade system into chaos. Kingdom after kingdom in the East fell and the Roman Empire was invaded by "barbarians" who were not as severely affected by the plague.
The modern world tends to believe that it created global trade in the 18th century. As McLaughlin shows, the Roman Empire had a robust trade system that encompassed Europe, Africa from the Horn north, and a great deal of Asia. The variety of goods and the lengths empire merchants went to obtain them, is truly staggering. And the fragility of the system should make us consider our own economic systems since our economies are even more interconnected.
March 6, 2019
Typically, thoughts about the economy of the ancient world hit a wall of 'they didn't have a solid idea of how finance works'. Similarly, talk of the Roman Empire doesn't generally get any further away than it's immediate political neighbors.
McLaughlin tackles both of these in a very interesting book. He starts by assembling an idea of how big the Roman budget was during the First Century. This is presented in detail in an appendix, that uses at it's base current population estimates of the Roman world, makes a high-level assumption of the average amount of tax contributed by the population (based off a couple of reasonably solid numbers given in primary sources), then similarly estimates expenses by knowing how many legions there were, what legionary pay was like, and so on. This is all extremely problematic, but is systematically done, seems to give possible numbers, and moves the discussion into the realm where it's possible to argue about it.
To some extent, the book was worthwhile to me just for giving a good list of currency conversions up front. I've never been able to keep track of the Roman money system, and this also gives conversions to Greek and Egyptian currencies. However, that allowed me to note a place where he converts a figure into Greek talents, but the math says he means Egyptian talents. Combined with another place where he makes a basic interpretation mistake of a source he just quoted shows that this isn't as thoroughly checked over as it should be. I assume that's at least partially the fact that Pen & Sword seems to be a smaller publisher, and probably does not have the robust editorial staff of more traditional publishers (nor as wide a circle of pre-readers and consultants as it should).
However, the bulk of the book is McLaughlin looking at the various areas around the Indian Ocean that Rome had contact with, and describing what sort of trade was going on. He actually starts inside the Empire with the grain dole, related trade from Egypt, and some knock-on effects thereof (which seem a bit speculative, but sound reasonable). He then gives an introductory essay on incense and Classical medicines before talking about the production of balsam (an ointment from a now-extinct tree) in Roman-controlled Judea. From there, he tackles Nubia, Arabia, East Africa, India and beyond in turn. The earlier parts are especially interesting as he pulls in a few early Imperial wars in the Roman East that you generally don't hear much about, but also demonstrate the Empire's interests in the area.
Pretty much all of this comes out an examination of one source, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (Indian Ocean), a very handy guide to trade written in the mid-First Century. There are some other sources which help shore up parts of this, and are notably used for the later parts of the book, though the real annoyance is the author re-introduces us to the Periplus from scratch on a few separate occasions, which shows that this was probably originally formatted as a series of smaller separate works (and one part of this was separately published about four years earlier).
He finishes up with Chinese records of an envoy from the Roman Empire (and since there's record of this in the Empire, contrary to the author, I suspect, actual official or no, he was acting on his own initiative, which might explain some other oddities), before turning to the Antonine Plague of 165. He posits that this as having created a military and financial crisis... that he doesn't explicitly say dooms the Western Empire, but it's not far from what he does say. He points out that the plague apparently shut down the silver and gold mines in Spain, and once spare silver and gold coinage left the Empire to the east in the decades after, Rome's main export was gone (which is something he refers to during the entire book, and is a concern in some of the primary sources).
McLaughlin is putting up a fairly rickety structure with all the assumptions he has to make to put together a large-scale picture of the Roman economy. But I'm still impressed that he got it to stand up at all. As I mentioned before, this is a needed starting point for further study and argument. Just as a fuller description of the Periplus, and the bits of corroboration of it he provides, it's well worth a read.
McLaughlin tackles both of these in a very interesting book. He starts by assembling an idea of how big the Roman budget was during the First Century. This is presented in detail in an appendix, that uses at it's base current population estimates of the Roman world, makes a high-level assumption of the average amount of tax contributed by the population (based off a couple of reasonably solid numbers given in primary sources), then similarly estimates expenses by knowing how many legions there were, what legionary pay was like, and so on. This is all extremely problematic, but is systematically done, seems to give possible numbers, and moves the discussion into the realm where it's possible to argue about it.
To some extent, the book was worthwhile to me just for giving a good list of currency conversions up front. I've never been able to keep track of the Roman money system, and this also gives conversions to Greek and Egyptian currencies. However, that allowed me to note a place where he converts a figure into Greek talents, but the math says he means Egyptian talents. Combined with another place where he makes a basic interpretation mistake of a source he just quoted shows that this isn't as thoroughly checked over as it should be. I assume that's at least partially the fact that Pen & Sword seems to be a smaller publisher, and probably does not have the robust editorial staff of more traditional publishers (nor as wide a circle of pre-readers and consultants as it should).
However, the bulk of the book is McLaughlin looking at the various areas around the Indian Ocean that Rome had contact with, and describing what sort of trade was going on. He actually starts inside the Empire with the grain dole, related trade from Egypt, and some knock-on effects thereof (which seem a bit speculative, but sound reasonable). He then gives an introductory essay on incense and Classical medicines before talking about the production of balsam (an ointment from a now-extinct tree) in Roman-controlled Judea. From there, he tackles Nubia, Arabia, East Africa, India and beyond in turn. The earlier parts are especially interesting as he pulls in a few early Imperial wars in the Roman East that you generally don't hear much about, but also demonstrate the Empire's interests in the area.
Pretty much all of this comes out an examination of one source, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (Indian Ocean), a very handy guide to trade written in the mid-First Century. There are some other sources which help shore up parts of this, and are notably used for the later parts of the book, though the real annoyance is the author re-introduces us to the Periplus from scratch on a few separate occasions, which shows that this was probably originally formatted as a series of smaller separate works (and one part of this was separately published about four years earlier).
He finishes up with Chinese records of an envoy from the Roman Empire (and since there's record of this in the Empire, contrary to the author, I suspect, actual official or no, he was acting on his own initiative, which might explain some other oddities), before turning to the Antonine Plague of 165. He posits that this as having created a military and financial crisis... that he doesn't explicitly say dooms the Western Empire, but it's not far from what he does say. He points out that the plague apparently shut down the silver and gold mines in Spain, and once spare silver and gold coinage left the Empire to the east in the decades after, Rome's main export was gone (which is something he refers to during the entire book, and is a concern in some of the primary sources).
McLaughlin is putting up a fairly rickety structure with all the assumptions he has to make to put together a large-scale picture of the Roman economy. But I'm still impressed that he got it to stand up at all. As I mentioned before, this is a needed starting point for further study and argument. Just as a fuller description of the Periplus, and the bits of corroboration of it he provides, it's well worth a read.
May 17, 2019
This book was definitely enlightening and interesting, and it makes me want to read much more about the Roman Republic and Empire.
My issues with it were mostly down to the following two points: nearly a third of the book has nothing whatever to do with the Indian Ocean and Roman sea trade. That's fine to set up establishing scenarios of where Rome was at the time, but in a book ostensibly about seaborne commerce, and touching on a regime as well-known and widely-written-about as Rome, I found it unnecessary. There were other digressions as well, and while they added some color, they were mostly irrelevant, and the book is already quite dense and thorough - it would work just as well without them.
The other quibble I had was with the repetition. I lost count of how many times the author mentioned the quarter-rate tax on imports (the tetarte) throughout the book. I feel as if each segment was written as a separate essay, and the editor(s) didn't do a thorough-enough job of pulling these together as a cohesive whole.
I cannot comment on his mathematics, as I don't know enough about the ancient world economy, but I will say that generally the numbers provided seem reasonable enough. I have no idea if the foreign trade of the Roman Empire is a controversial topic within scholarly circles, but I would not think it to be, based on the sources referenced in the work.
Overall, well worth the time, it just could have been shorted by cutting out irrelevant and repetitive sections.
My issues with it were mostly down to the following two points: nearly a third of the book has nothing whatever to do with the Indian Ocean and Roman sea trade. That's fine to set up establishing scenarios of where Rome was at the time, but in a book ostensibly about seaborne commerce, and touching on a regime as well-known and widely-written-about as Rome, I found it unnecessary. There were other digressions as well, and while they added some color, they were mostly irrelevant, and the book is already quite dense and thorough - it would work just as well without them.
The other quibble I had was with the repetition. I lost count of how many times the author mentioned the quarter-rate tax on imports (the tetarte) throughout the book. I feel as if each segment was written as a separate essay, and the editor(s) didn't do a thorough-enough job of pulling these together as a cohesive whole.
I cannot comment on his mathematics, as I don't know enough about the ancient world economy, but I will say that generally the numbers provided seem reasonable enough. I have no idea if the foreign trade of the Roman Empire is a controversial topic within scholarly circles, but I would not think it to be, based on the sources referenced in the work.
Overall, well worth the time, it just could have been shorted by cutting out irrelevant and repetitive sections.
July 28, 2018
This book about Roman trade is a worthwhile read to anybody interested in ancient trade. Far from being isolated, the Roman Empire was well connected with maritime trade. Of course, they did not set up this already existing network (as the book highlights), but they built up & expanded upon it far more than their predecessors did.
The book begins with early mentions of Darius & then Greek trade via the Ptolemaic Empire. When the Romans came, they increased this trade by multiple times as their empire became rich after their conquest of Egypt. This cannot be overstated as their citizens were subsidized via the grain dole.
This book uses multiple ancient sources. Using the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, the author adds on Pliny, Strabo, the New Testament, Josephus, the Arthansastra, Hou Han, & many others. It's breath of discussion can fuel many discussions & theories of the trade networks that existed & how they fail.
This book does not go beyond the end of the Golden Age with Marcus Aurelius. Instead, that is the aim: to show how this age existed & what caused it. You would need another book to see how trade went after this point.
If you are interested in this period for any reason, I recommend it.
The book begins with early mentions of Darius & then Greek trade via the Ptolemaic Empire. When the Romans came, they increased this trade by multiple times as their empire became rich after their conquest of Egypt. This cannot be overstated as their citizens were subsidized via the grain dole.
This book uses multiple ancient sources. Using the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, the author adds on Pliny, Strabo, the New Testament, Josephus, the Arthansastra, Hou Han, & many others. It's breath of discussion can fuel many discussions & theories of the trade networks that existed & how they fail.
This book does not go beyond the end of the Golden Age with Marcus Aurelius. Instead, that is the aim: to show how this age existed & what caused it. You would need another book to see how trade went after this point.
If you are interested in this period for any reason, I recommend it.
December 14, 2018
Pliny: 'By the smallest computation, India, the Seres (the Chinese) and the Arabian Peninsula take 100 million sesterces from our Empire every year - this is what our women and luxuries cost us.'
An interesting, albeit repetitive, book on Roman trade. The massive move of gold and silver bullion from Europe to Arabia & India in return for silks, cotton, pepper, frankincense and myrrh (to name a few commodities). This causing the huge trade imbalance within the empire.
The book has details on the costs of maintaining the empire. The transfer of surpluses from Roman Egypt to defray the costs of keeping the Pax Romana on the Germanic borders and England. One can see the slow decline of the empire due to the unsustainable practice of a limited resource (precious metal based currency) being drained for purchases of regenerative products (yay for fiat currencies! ;)).
Chapters on the South Indian kingdoms (Chera, Chola, Pandya) and the Satavahana kingdom brought back deep buried memories of CBSE history classes.
The circular world - All the huge amounts of Silver and Gold that came to the subcontinent from Europe (60BC to 250AD) probably went back to Europe (England) during the British colonial era. :)
An interesting, albeit repetitive, book on Roman trade. The massive move of gold and silver bullion from Europe to Arabia & India in return for silks, cotton, pepper, frankincense and myrrh (to name a few commodities). This causing the huge trade imbalance within the empire.
The book has details on the costs of maintaining the empire. The transfer of surpluses from Roman Egypt to defray the costs of keeping the Pax Romana on the Germanic borders and England. One can see the slow decline of the empire due to the unsustainable practice of a limited resource (precious metal based currency) being drained for purchases of regenerative products (yay for fiat currencies! ;)).
Chapters on the South Indian kingdoms (Chera, Chola, Pandya) and the Satavahana kingdom brought back deep buried memories of CBSE history classes.
The circular world - All the huge amounts of Silver and Gold that came to the subcontinent from Europe (60BC to 250AD) probably went back to Europe (England) during the British colonial era. :)
February 15, 2020
A fantastic overview of the ancient world economy. This is one of two books by the same author, the other focusing on overland trade while this one focuses on Imperial Rome's maritime trade with the near, middle and far East. I know that some of the reviews query his estimates of various aggregates but, in the author's defence, he is explicit about how he comes up with those figures and they are based on the best surviving information. (In other words, he presents the estimates and how they were calculated, leaving it to the reader to judge how much weight they want to put on them.)
This is a key text for anyone who wants to understand how the Roman Empire sustained itself and indeed why it went into decline and split. By focusing on themes such as the exhaustion of finite resources to sustain consumption and the link between density, trade and pandemics, there is also much in here for observers of the modern world economy.
This is a key text for anyone who wants to understand how the Roman Empire sustained itself and indeed why it went into decline and split. By focusing on themes such as the exhaustion of finite resources to sustain consumption and the link between density, trade and pandemics, there is also much in here for observers of the modern world economy.
June 1, 2020
Libro eccezionale e preziosissimo per rigore dei dati e delle fonti nonché per profondità dell'analisi. Senza mai perdersi in nessuna polemica/diatriba storiografica, l'autore ci conduce saldamente per mano nell'esplorazione del soggetto (affascinantissimo) del libro.
Perché il commercio con l'Oriente era così importante per l'impero? Il motivo è semplice: la pesantissima tassa sul 25% del valore delle merci che venivano pagato all'ingresso. Questa singola tassa, applicata sui beni di lusso che i mercanti romani e stranieri portavano dall'Arabia, dall'India e dall'Africa da sola pesava per almeno un terzo sul bilancio romano. Cioè l'impero era economicamente sostenibile grazie a questo commercio, che permetteva di stipendiare le legioni che difendevano terre poco produttive o povere come
C'è ovviamente un problema: l'importazione di beni di lusso comportava un costante flusso in uscita di oro e argento, dato che l'impero non produceva beni altrettanto paragonabili nel prezzo. A parte il corallo rosso del Mediterraneo e il balsamo di Giudea, i beni romani erano di tipo industriale o agricolo, quindi stoffe, ceramica, vino e olio, che avevano prezzo minore e richiedevano trasporti maggiori. In sostanza, l'impero si mantenne finché la produzione di oro e d'argento delle miniere rimase costante. Quando la peste falcidiò sia la Cina che l'Impero, il crollo del benessere portò alla crisi di questo sistema.
Ho apprezzato molto che l'autore si rifaccia per un buon 70-80% alle fonti antiche (letterarie o archeologhce), che sono molte e varie: il famosissimo "Periplo del mar Eritreo", manuale di navigazione e commercio dell'antichità; poi Strabone, Plinio e Tolomeo, per non scordare l'Egitto, il cui clima ha preservato una quantità pazzesca di papiri e documenti dall'antichità.
Nonostante ciò ci sono un paio di difetti che mi avrebbero fatto propendere per il 4 e non per il voto pieno: l'esposizione alla lunga diventa ripetitiva e difficile da seguire quando si parla dei vari regni indiani; inoltre, data la scarsità e parzialità delle fonti, molte stime (bilancio dell'impero, commercio ecc) che l'autore fornisce mi sono sembrate un po' "allegre", insomma imprudenti.
Comunque alla fine il voto è cinque per le parole finali che cito e traduco in italiano (Maiuscolo mio):
"Le forze che hanno destabilizzato l'economica del mondo antico sono ancora presenti, come l'affidarsi a risorse in quantità finita per il commercio e le entrate. Movimenti di massa delle popolazioni, disastri naturali, guerre e LA MINACCIA DI UNA PANDEMIA GLOBALE hanno ancora il potenziale di diminuire il progresso umano. In definitiva, questa è l'importanza del commercio lontano e dell'economia del mondo antico."
Il libro è del 2014, quindi scritto in tempi non sospetti.
Comunque, consiglio il libro a occhi chiusi a tutti gli appassionati di storia romana.
Perché il commercio con l'Oriente era così importante per l'impero? Il motivo è semplice: la pesantissima tassa sul 25% del valore delle merci che venivano pagato all'ingresso. Questa singola tassa, applicata sui beni di lusso che i mercanti romani e stranieri portavano dall'Arabia, dall'India e dall'Africa da sola pesava per almeno un terzo sul bilancio romano. Cioè l'impero era economicamente sostenibile grazie a questo commercio, che permetteva di stipendiare le legioni che difendevano terre poco produttive o povere come
C'è ovviamente un problema: l'importazione di beni di lusso comportava un costante flusso in uscita di oro e argento, dato che l'impero non produceva beni altrettanto paragonabili nel prezzo. A parte il corallo rosso del Mediterraneo e il balsamo di Giudea, i beni romani erano di tipo industriale o agricolo, quindi stoffe, ceramica, vino e olio, che avevano prezzo minore e richiedevano trasporti maggiori. In sostanza, l'impero si mantenne finché la produzione di oro e d'argento delle miniere rimase costante. Quando la peste falcidiò sia la Cina che l'Impero, il crollo del benessere portò alla crisi di questo sistema.
Ho apprezzato molto che l'autore si rifaccia per un buon 70-80% alle fonti antiche (letterarie o archeologhce), che sono molte e varie: il famosissimo "Periplo del mar Eritreo", manuale di navigazione e commercio dell'antichità; poi Strabone, Plinio e Tolomeo, per non scordare l'Egitto, il cui clima ha preservato una quantità pazzesca di papiri e documenti dall'antichità.
Nonostante ciò ci sono un paio di difetti che mi avrebbero fatto propendere per il 4 e non per il voto pieno: l'esposizione alla lunga diventa ripetitiva e difficile da seguire quando si parla dei vari regni indiani; inoltre, data la scarsità e parzialità delle fonti, molte stime (bilancio dell'impero, commercio ecc) che l'autore fornisce mi sono sembrate un po' "allegre", insomma imprudenti.
Comunque alla fine il voto è cinque per le parole finali che cito e traduco in italiano (Maiuscolo mio):
"Le forze che hanno destabilizzato l'economica del mondo antico sono ancora presenti, come l'affidarsi a risorse in quantità finita per il commercio e le entrate. Movimenti di massa delle popolazioni, disastri naturali, guerre e LA MINACCIA DI UNA PANDEMIA GLOBALE hanno ancora il potenziale di diminuire il progresso umano. In definitiva, questa è l'importanza del commercio lontano e dell'economia del mondo antico."
Il libro è del 2014, quindi scritto in tempi non sospetti.
Comunque, consiglio il libro a occhi chiusi a tutti gli appassionati di storia romana.
December 26, 2023
In 118 BC an Indian mariner, shipwrecked, found himself in the Egyptian court of Physcon and teaching the Greco-Roman navigator Eudoxus of Cyzicus about the monsoon trade winds over the Indian ocean, setting off a quarter-millennium of expanding Roman ocean-going trade to the east. For whatever reason that mariner's name is lost to us, while we remember the Romans named those trade winds after Hippalus.
These Greco-Roman traders expanded their trade networks across the Indian ocean and managed to make contact with Han China right around the same time as the Antonine Plagues started in 165 AD, a catalyst for the whole venture falling apart and reshaping the classical world -- not just the Romans but the Han and everyone in between -- reversing an age of elite globalization that entailed annual imports of about a pound of luxuries per Roman citizen, paid for largely in bullion and, presaging later medieval patterns of expanding European trade, woolen textiles from Britannia.
It is light on the details of the commercial contracts (were they partnerships? societas? what kind of debt instruments were used?) between Roman merchants plying these trade routes and the source and nature of the capital invested in large ocean-going trade ventures. One gets the impression it wasn't a terribly important aspect of a trade network largely managed as a series of interlocking state monopolies. Various empires were imposing extremely high tariffs in and out of their territories at state-managed entrepots. The description does not strike me as all that different from the state-chartered trade monopolies of later European mercantilism (you can't even say the Romans were less self-conscious of the limits of relying on precious metal exports, as the author documents in a later chapter many Romans were highly critical and the trade deficit was a big political issue in a way that would seem almost foreign to Americans born after 2000).
In between, and what are certainly the most interesting sections of the book, are the reports of who else was trading across the Indian ocean and controlling those entrepots. The author gives the Roman perspective, of course, but also goes through some fascinating strolls through the literature trying to understand who the Romans were trading with. It seems to be everybody who had access to the Indian ocean was trading across it, both before and after Rome exported most of its bullion to buy non-durable luxuries. The innovation of a globe-spanning empire run on unlimited confidence in a fiat reserve currency would have to wait.
The appendices might be very fascinating to data nerds and I have to join the chorus about some repetitive sections that could have been better organized. You might be in for a bit of a drag if you want to hang in there for the many good parts.
These Greco-Roman traders expanded their trade networks across the Indian ocean and managed to make contact with Han China right around the same time as the Antonine Plagues started in 165 AD, a catalyst for the whole venture falling apart and reshaping the classical world -- not just the Romans but the Han and everyone in between -- reversing an age of elite globalization that entailed annual imports of about a pound of luxuries per Roman citizen, paid for largely in bullion and, presaging later medieval patterns of expanding European trade, woolen textiles from Britannia.
It is light on the details of the commercial contracts (were they partnerships? societas? what kind of debt instruments were used?) between Roman merchants plying these trade routes and the source and nature of the capital invested in large ocean-going trade ventures. One gets the impression it wasn't a terribly important aspect of a trade network largely managed as a series of interlocking state monopolies. Various empires were imposing extremely high tariffs in and out of their territories at state-managed entrepots. The description does not strike me as all that different from the state-chartered trade monopolies of later European mercantilism (you can't even say the Romans were less self-conscious of the limits of relying on precious metal exports, as the author documents in a later chapter many Romans were highly critical and the trade deficit was a big political issue in a way that would seem almost foreign to Americans born after 2000).
In between, and what are certainly the most interesting sections of the book, are the reports of who else was trading across the Indian ocean and controlling those entrepots. The author gives the Roman perspective, of course, but also goes through some fascinating strolls through the literature trying to understand who the Romans were trading with. It seems to be everybody who had access to the Indian ocean was trading across it, both before and after Rome exported most of its bullion to buy non-durable luxuries. The innovation of a globe-spanning empire run on unlimited confidence in a fiat reserve currency would have to wait.
The appendices might be very fascinating to data nerds and I have to join the chorus about some repetitive sections that could have been better organized. You might be in for a bit of a drag if you want to hang in there for the many good parts.
January 17, 2022
A thorough analysis of Roman trade with Africa, Arabia, and India, illuminating a very important dimension of the economic vitality of the early Roman Empire.
The book begins roughly: it starts with all kinds of data about the Roman imperial economy, with how much various legions cost, what we know about how much they knew about their own economy, and the sources of income. One might begin questioning what one is reading.
The author first explains the nature of trade in the Roman world, discusses Egypt's prominence in place in terms of that trade, and then goes into detail about much of what was traded. The author will then follow the general trajectory of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and detail what the Romans knew and what we know about Egypt, Judea, Nabatea, Aksum, east African trading ports, Saba, the Arabian kingdoms, the various Indian kingdoms, Sri Lanka, and parts east. The author also spoke of a specific embassy sent to China and its reception.
The author is attempting to advance the thesis that the Romans well leveraged the information they gained about the monsoon winds to cultivate and develop trading with India which really sponsored the Pax Romana. The incorporation of Egypt into the Empire facilitated the trading connections with easily maintained tariff points to obtain what would become significant percentages of the imperial income while also allowing the grain dole to provide basic food for Rome and likewise providing the ability for even more families to enjoy more luxury items from the east. The appeal of incense, perfumes, pepper, spices, and silk would lead to the flaunting of wealth in Rome, but its trade would strip the Empire of its bullion.
In the author's telling the Antonine plague proves especially devastating, a blow from which the trading network would never fully recover. Connections with China would not materialize.
The book ultimately proves to be a great travelogue around the Indian Ocean around the first century CE, and a high quality exploration of the Roman economy.
The book begins roughly: it starts with all kinds of data about the Roman imperial economy, with how much various legions cost, what we know about how much they knew about their own economy, and the sources of income. One might begin questioning what one is reading.
The author first explains the nature of trade in the Roman world, discusses Egypt's prominence in place in terms of that trade, and then goes into detail about much of what was traded. The author will then follow the general trajectory of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and detail what the Romans knew and what we know about Egypt, Judea, Nabatea, Aksum, east African trading ports, Saba, the Arabian kingdoms, the various Indian kingdoms, Sri Lanka, and parts east. The author also spoke of a specific embassy sent to China and its reception.
The author is attempting to advance the thesis that the Romans well leveraged the information they gained about the monsoon winds to cultivate and develop trading with India which really sponsored the Pax Romana. The incorporation of Egypt into the Empire facilitated the trading connections with easily maintained tariff points to obtain what would become significant percentages of the imperial income while also allowing the grain dole to provide basic food for Rome and likewise providing the ability for even more families to enjoy more luxury items from the east. The appeal of incense, perfumes, pepper, spices, and silk would lead to the flaunting of wealth in Rome, but its trade would strip the Empire of its bullion.
In the author's telling the Antonine plague proves especially devastating, a blow from which the trading network would never fully recover. Connections with China would not materialize.
The book ultimately proves to be a great travelogue around the Indian Ocean around the first century CE, and a high quality exploration of the Roman economy.
September 27, 2019
The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean is a fascinating (if sometimes dry) analysis of what we know of early Imperial economics and how the Indian Ocean figured into it. As such, it is thematically separated into two subjects: the way taxes, trade, consumerism, and finances worked in the Roman Empire (the first chapters of the book and several segments of subsequent chapters); and a description of all the various lands and kingdoms Romans traded with in Arabia, East Africa, India and beyond, including what we know of their political situation at that time, supply and demand of various trade goods, piracy, etc. (the latter chapters of the book). Interspersed are several descriptions of military campaigns against Arab states, which among other things explain why the Roman Empire never ended up conquering Yemen, the gradual flow of gold and silver out of the Empire, even as investment in the deficit provinces of the Empire's north led to their urban development, and Rome's first diplomatic contact with Han China, which tragically coincided with the Antonine Plague. We get to see in which ways the Indian Ocean trade offered opportunities for growth and expansion, and in which ways it was ultimately unsustainable. Also, there's a lot of passages of grumpy Romans complaining about consumer habits in their time, which is always fun.
The book could have benefited from some more maps, in chapters that deal with specific regions (there are only some 'world' maps at the start of the book), but it makes up for that with some nice appendices with tables and lists of financial information.
The book could have benefited from some more maps, in chapters that deal with specific regions (there are only some 'world' maps at the start of the book), but it makes up for that with some nice appendices with tables and lists of financial information.
December 22, 2021
Over the years i have read and seen a wide range of articles and documentaries on the Roman Empire, but nothing that could be considered to be as revealing and revolutionary as this book written by Raoul McLaughlin.
The level of detail is excellent and the reference to other writers, time periods, external influences and contextualization is second to none. In the forward he notes that the book is based on his PHD thesis, and this shows consistently through the book that the work is of the highest academic standard.
In saying that, i finished another book earlier this year and i was reviewing a sample of one of the next books that i am about to start, both written by academics, and the grammar and punctuation were and are substandard. There were few mistakes which was a pleasure to notice observe or notice. More mistakes may have been overlooked or read over due to the qualitative material written in such an easy and engaging manner.
I did find there were at times i would simply put my kindle down, closed my eyes and tried to imagine what life would have been like on the merchant vessels sent out from Egypt to the other side of the Indian Ocean, in search of spices and perfumes. All exotic and worth a fortune to the merchant willing to take the risk and return to an Alexandria that could have dramatically changed after the a year of being away from home.
I would recommend this book to anyone who thinks they have read a lot of material on Rome and the middle east or even Indian Ocean trade routes. This book will open your eyes to the reality that we as arm chair historians were only being fed crumbs. Raoul is now the Jarrod Diamond of history that i have been looking for, and i can guarantee that if he maintains his researching and writing standards, then i will be writing more reviews of his books upon this platform.
The level of detail is excellent and the reference to other writers, time periods, external influences and contextualization is second to none. In the forward he notes that the book is based on his PHD thesis, and this shows consistently through the book that the work is of the highest academic standard.
In saying that, i finished another book earlier this year and i was reviewing a sample of one of the next books that i am about to start, both written by academics, and the grammar and punctuation were and are substandard. There were few mistakes which was a pleasure to notice observe or notice. More mistakes may have been overlooked or read over due to the qualitative material written in such an easy and engaging manner.
I did find there were at times i would simply put my kindle down, closed my eyes and tried to imagine what life would have been like on the merchant vessels sent out from Egypt to the other side of the Indian Ocean, in search of spices and perfumes. All exotic and worth a fortune to the merchant willing to take the risk and return to an Alexandria that could have dramatically changed after the a year of being away from home.
I would recommend this book to anyone who thinks they have read a lot of material on Rome and the middle east or even Indian Ocean trade routes. This book will open your eyes to the reality that we as arm chair historians were only being fed crumbs. Raoul is now the Jarrod Diamond of history that i have been looking for, and i can guarantee that if he maintains his researching and writing standards, then i will be writing more reviews of his books upon this platform.
July 28, 2022
This is a valuable reference and history book - best ever on the Roman Economy.
This is the second published book of a trilogy on the Roman Empire and the Ancient World Economy.
This second book of the trilogy was published in 2014. The first was published in 2010- Rome and the Distant East; the third was published in 2016 - The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes.
All three books are fabulously packed with detail, and, yes, there is some overlap between all three books. Each book, including this one, has appendices, maps, bibliography, figures with some modern estimates, a timeline of Roman authors and extensive notes.
The author uses extensive primary archeological evidence and ancient sources and, has painstakingly cross referenced and collaborated the evidence from multiple sources.
The authors work also reinforces elements of the Bible as well. For example, Acts 16:14 in which Lydia is a dealer in expensive purple dyed cloth and a convert to Christianity. This is but one example that can be found in the three books (The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes.)
I highly recommend this book
October 4, 2021
Fascinating book that looks over the economic history of the Roman Empire during the Principate. The book explores topics that the casual reader of history may not fully have thought about (with some amusing curiosities along the way - the fact that Indian hair for wigs was a common enough import into the empire that there was an imperial valuation for customs purposes) and backs the thesis with some hard numbers often reverse engineered in ingenious ways.
One star off because the book could do with some better editing - often digressions that were amusing at first went a bit long, and some basic facts from earlier chapters were so frequently repeated in later ones that it became cumbersome.
On the whole, though, a worthwhile read that explores history from an angle different from the "Big Man" history presented from the lens of emperors and battles.
One star off because the book could do with some better editing - often digressions that were amusing at first went a bit long, and some basic facts from earlier chapters were so frequently repeated in later ones that it became cumbersome.
On the whole, though, a worthwhile read that explores history from an angle different from the "Big Man" history presented from the lens of emperors and battles.
August 22, 2019
This may be the best book of the year for me. In 230 pages Mr. McLaughlin takes us through 400 years and halfway around the world in a comprehensive and thoughtful analysis of the geography, economics, culture, and transportation during Imperial Rome. He uses so many ancient sources in ways that show how to read and apply the information in them. In addition to the text, he also incorporates a lot of explanatory data. He casts the Antonian Pandemic in terms that show just how disastrous it was to the world. Love it. But it needs major map information included. Still and all, well done
February 24, 2024
Somewhere, I'd read that in the heyday of the Roman Empire that there was a fleet (or fleets) of vary large ships travelling from Red Sea Ports to India each year (for a period of 200 years or so) and they returned bearing mainly grain. This was news to me and I found it fascinating. Clearly there had been a lot of contact between India and the Roman Empire and I was interested to learn more about it. This book certainly delivers on the question of the shipping trade...though it deals with a fundamental question–how did the Roman Empire function and in particular, how did it pay for its military costs? The Roman Empire belonged to an ancient world economy that stretched thousands of miles across the Indian Ocean and significant commercial contacts linked Roman subjects with their distant counterparts in east Africa, southern Arabia and the kingdoms of ancient India.
Strabo confirms that ‘large fleets are sent as far as India and the extremities of Africa and the most valuable cargoes are brought to Egypt. From Egypt they are sent forth again to all other regions and as a consequence, double duties are collected on both imports and exports’. During the Augustan era, Egypt was providing up to half the income needed to finance the entire Roman Empire.
Trade with India allowed the Romans to double the amount of revenue they received from Egypt and by the mid-first century AD the province was producing annual revenues worth 600 million sesterces.
The grain dole was a subsidy to Romans (annona) introduced by politicians in the Late Republic ....the dole system allowed Rome to develop a larger urban-population than any other ancient city. The Han Empire of ancient China had a population equivalent to the Roman Empire, but its capital Luoyang was home to approximately 500,000 people. By contrast, during the height of its Empire in the first century AD, Rome had up to a million inhabitants
The Roman ships that sailed the Indian Ocean were large vessels by Mediterranean standards. With vessels that were up to 120 feet long and therefore had a cargo capacity greater than 350 tons. Some of the larger ships could have been double this size with over 500 tons of space made available for cargo, crew and provisions. The evidence suggests that Roman shipwrights involved in the Red Sea trade maintained their traditional building methods, but made use of eastern materials to create even stronger vessels.
Arabian pirates operated along the east coast of the Red Sea and there were further pirate bases around the entrance to the Persian Gulf. Roman freighters therefore carried teams of mercenary archers on board to repel possible attacks.
A single vessel could be carrying a dozen or more merchants, all expecting to make a profit in some distant market. A 200 ton cargo of black pepper was valued in Roman markets at over 6 million sesterces or 1,000 Greek talents. This sum could have paid the annual wages of 6,000 legionaries (more than the manpower of an entire legion) and pepper was one of the cheapest imports from India. The profits from international trade therefore gave Roman businessmen vast sums of disposable wealth to spend on their community.
the richest Roman businessmen earned more than the tribute of entire provinces.
Conclusion: Assessing the Roman Economy
Many elite Romans resented how people of low social standing could become prosperous from their successful business ventures and thereby gain fortunes that rivalled the inherited wealth of the aristocratic class. A further Roman criticism of eastern trade was that it created a consumer market for expensive foreign goods that were wastefully extravagant and ultimately unnecessary.
The problem for Rome was that many eastern goods were a renewable commodity in the regions that profited from their production. These included incense and spices which were natural resources that were replenished every year. By contrast Roman wealth, in the form of gold and silver, coins and bullion, was a finite resource.
International trade steadily drained precious metal from the Roman economy and this process was only sustainable as long as the imperial mines continued to provide large enough volumes of fresh bullion. But when the mines were no longer productive, then the Roman Empire was destined to de-stabilise as other sources of government income failed to meet the cost of essential expenses, especially those needed to sustain its professional armies.
The evidence therefore suggests that Imperial Rome was financially dependent on a world economy and international trade was one of the main mechanisms that supported the Empire during its period of greatest prosperity.
Happy to award five stars to this book.
Strabo confirms that ‘large fleets are sent as far as India and the extremities of Africa and the most valuable cargoes are brought to Egypt. From Egypt they are sent forth again to all other regions and as a consequence, double duties are collected on both imports and exports’. During the Augustan era, Egypt was providing up to half the income needed to finance the entire Roman Empire.
Trade with India allowed the Romans to double the amount of revenue they received from Egypt and by the mid-first century AD the province was producing annual revenues worth 600 million sesterces.
The grain dole was a subsidy to Romans (annona) introduced by politicians in the Late Republic ....the dole system allowed Rome to develop a larger urban-population than any other ancient city. The Han Empire of ancient China had a population equivalent to the Roman Empire, but its capital Luoyang was home to approximately 500,000 people. By contrast, during the height of its Empire in the first century AD, Rome had up to a million inhabitants
The Roman ships that sailed the Indian Ocean were large vessels by Mediterranean standards. With vessels that were up to 120 feet long and therefore had a cargo capacity greater than 350 tons. Some of the larger ships could have been double this size with over 500 tons of space made available for cargo, crew and provisions. The evidence suggests that Roman shipwrights involved in the Red Sea trade maintained their traditional building methods, but made use of eastern materials to create even stronger vessels.
Arabian pirates operated along the east coast of the Red Sea and there were further pirate bases around the entrance to the Persian Gulf. Roman freighters therefore carried teams of mercenary archers on board to repel possible attacks.
A single vessel could be carrying a dozen or more merchants, all expecting to make a profit in some distant market. A 200 ton cargo of black pepper was valued in Roman markets at over 6 million sesterces or 1,000 Greek talents. This sum could have paid the annual wages of 6,000 legionaries (more than the manpower of an entire legion) and pepper was one of the cheapest imports from India. The profits from international trade therefore gave Roman businessmen vast sums of disposable wealth to spend on their community.
the richest Roman businessmen earned more than the tribute of entire provinces.
Conclusion: Assessing the Roman Economy
Many elite Romans resented how people of low social standing could become prosperous from their successful business ventures and thereby gain fortunes that rivalled the inherited wealth of the aristocratic class. A further Roman criticism of eastern trade was that it created a consumer market for expensive foreign goods that were wastefully extravagant and ultimately unnecessary.
The problem for Rome was that many eastern goods were a renewable commodity in the regions that profited from their production. These included incense and spices which were natural resources that were replenished every year. By contrast Roman wealth, in the form of gold and silver, coins and bullion, was a finite resource.
International trade steadily drained precious metal from the Roman economy and this process was only sustainable as long as the imperial mines continued to provide large enough volumes of fresh bullion. But when the mines were no longer productive, then the Roman Empire was destined to de-stabilise as other sources of government income failed to meet the cost of essential expenses, especially those needed to sustain its professional armies.
The evidence therefore suggests that Imperial Rome was financially dependent on a world economy and international trade was one of the main mechanisms that supported the Empire during its period of greatest prosperity.
Happy to award five stars to this book.
November 17, 2018
Great read
This is a really well written history of the Roman Empire from a completely different perspective. Very well researched, it brings in aspects of the ancient world that are often overlooked by authors who are more focused on what happened within the geographic boundaries of the empire and the wars it fought rather than the world that it was a part of. Highly recommended for anyone who is familiar with the history of the Roman republic and empire
This is a really well written history of the Roman Empire from a completely different perspective. Very well researched, it brings in aspects of the ancient world that are often overlooked by authors who are more focused on what happened within the geographic boundaries of the empire and the wars it fought rather than the world that it was a part of. Highly recommended for anyone who is familiar with the history of the Roman republic and empire
January 13, 2019
Excellent description of the world economy of the ancient world. Much of this information has only been imperfectly understood. There is quite a bit of relevance for our modern economy, with our increasing dependence on consumerism.
Excellent description of the economy of the ancient world which has only been imperfectly understood until now. There is considerable relevance to our modern consumer economy, with dependence on luxury goods.
Excellent description of the economy of the ancient world which has only been imperfectly understood until now. There is considerable relevance to our modern consumer economy, with dependence on luxury goods.
March 22, 2020
First, this book was highly enlightening and informative. The problem is that for me, at least, it runs between extremely dry economic narrative and fascinating accounts of the history of surrounding regions the Empire's extensive trade. As a sidelight, it made me want to read more about the Nabateans.
Also, more maps and timelines would be helpful. I was also disappointed that there weren't a lot of photos.
Also, more maps and timelines would be helpful. I was also disappointed that there weren't a lot of photos.
July 9, 2023
nothing like economics for beach reading
Dry as dust with no real narrative, but full of facts I never knew. Unless you like economics and the ancient world, which I do, realize there is no real story here. The denouncement is not a market crash or an international payments scandal, but the equivalent of having everyone run over by a truck when a pandemic sweeps out of Asia and kills one third of the world’s population. Some things never change.
Dry as dust with no real narrative, but full of facts I never knew. Unless you like economics and the ancient world, which I do, realize there is no real story here. The denouncement is not a market crash or an international payments scandal, but the equivalent of having everyone run over by a truck when a pandemic sweeps out of Asia and kills one third of the world’s population. Some things never change.
September 2, 2025
This book was an exceptionally detailed academic history of Roman trade with the east. The first few chapters cover logistics, taxes, and general themes. The book then focuses on specific kingdoms and what goods the produced. Many economic concepts appear in this book. This book is about as economic as historic. It demonstrated some Austrian economic concepts and can be used as economic history. My actual rating is 3.75 stars.
December 7, 2018
Fascinating
A fascinating overview of Roman Empire contacts with Asia. These were much more extensive than is generally known,and the author does an excellent job fitting them into the greater picture of Roman trade and imperial finances. Slightly marred by the odd factual error and misspelling, as well as by a lot of repetition, but still an excellent and fascinating read.
A fascinating overview of Roman Empire contacts with Asia. These were much more extensive than is generally known,and the author does an excellent job fitting them into the greater picture of Roman trade and imperial finances. Slightly marred by the odd factual error and misspelling, as well as by a lot of repetition, but still an excellent and fascinating read.
January 23, 2021
Excellent review of the Roman financial system
Having a financial background made this book of interest in how the Roman Empire paid for running the empire. This book gives a concise and thorough treatise on how the economy worked. It helps to explain how events occurred with this background. Excellent book and well researched and written.
Having a financial background made this book of interest in how the Roman Empire paid for running the empire. This book gives a concise and thorough treatise on how the economy worked. It helps to explain how events occurred with this background. Excellent book and well researched and written.
January 20, 2022
This is a great book about a much undiscussed subject: How did the Romans pay for their empire? Furthermore, it uses modern archeology and ancient texts to broaden the knowledge of how much the Roman traders got around.
If you have any curiousity about either topic this is a great book, well written and an easy read.
If you have any curiousity about either topic this is a great book, well written and an easy read.
August 21, 2025
Encyclopedic Review of Roman Eastern Trade
This is an amazing compendium of the history and archaeology of what is known of Rome's economic links with Africa and the Ancient East. It shines a light on the mammoth scale and importance of this trade. The detailed compilation of facts is astonishing if not overwhelming. The book shines a bright light on a largely forgotten history.
This is an amazing compendium of the history and archaeology of what is known of Rome's economic links with Africa and the Ancient East. It shines a light on the mammoth scale and importance of this trade. The detailed compilation of facts is astonishing if not overwhelming. The book shines a bright light on a largely forgotten history.
September 7, 2017
easy to read despite being very detailed
It looks well documented. I have not checked any of the sources but that would be easy as the notes and the references are extensive.
I would buy any other book by the same author if available in an electronic format.
It looks well documented. I have not checked any of the sources but that would be easy as the notes and the references are extensive.
I would buy any other book by the same author if available in an electronic format.
April 5, 2018
Fun for roman history buffs
Fun detailed history but not for one who is unfamiliar with the late republic and Pax Romana. You'll get bored and lost which is a bad combo. I enjoyed it though, crazy that the Romans got all the way to Vietnam.
Fun detailed history but not for one who is unfamiliar with the late republic and Pax Romana. You'll get bored and lost which is a bad combo. I enjoyed it though, crazy that the Romans got all the way to Vietnam.
February 1, 2019
Excellent read
Great description and analysis of Roman international trade and revenue. Great analysis of the consequences of the Antoine plague. Trade imbalance and plague caused the decline of the empire. Hard not to compare situation to modern China and the USA.
Great description and analysis of Roman international trade and revenue. Great analysis of the consequences of the Antoine plague. Trade imbalance and plague caused the decline of the empire. Hard not to compare situation to modern China and the USA.
February 15, 2019
Really interesting overview of the Roman trade out of Egypt to points east in Arabia, Africa and India. If McLaughlin is correct about revenues, just wow. I've seen this subject touched on by other authors but this book is just great. Deserves a wide audience.
March 8, 2019
if you are interested in economics, trade and commodities you will find this book to be interesting. Its biggest drawback is a lack of maps which means bouncing back and forth to google to find the location of ports and trading centers. p.m.
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