The economics of the Roman stone trade / Ben Russell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Russell, Ben, 1984- author.

Series:

Oxford studies on the Roman economy

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rome--Economic conditions.

Rome.

Rome (Empire).

Economic conditions.

Stone industry and trade--Rome.

Stone industry and trade.

Stone carving--Rome.

Stone carving.

Physical Description:

xxi, 449 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford, United Kingdom ; New York, NY, United States of America : Oxford University Press, 2013.

Summary:

This innovative monograph series reflects a vigorous revival of interest in the ancient economy, focusing on the Mediterranean world under Roman rule (c.100 BC to AD 350). Carefully quantified archaeological and documentary data will be integrated to help ancient historians, economic historians, and archaeologists think about economic behaviour collectively rather than from separate perspectives. The volumes will include a substantial comparative element and thus be of interest to historians of other periods and places. The use of stone in vast quantities is a ubiquitous and defining feature of the material culture of the Roman world. In this volume, Russell provides a new and wide-ranging examination of the production, distribution, and use of carved stone objects throughout the Roman world, including how enormous quantities of high-quality white and polychrome marbles were moved all around the Mediterranean to meet the demand for exotic material. The long-distance supply of materials for artistic and architectural production not to mention the trade in finished objects like statues and sarcophagi, is one of the most remarkable features of the Roman world. Despite this, it has never received much attention in mainstream economic studies. Focusing on the market for stone and its supply, the administration, distribution, and chronology of quarrying, and the practicalities of stone transport, Russell offers a detailed assessment of the Roman stone trade and how the relationship between producer and customer functioned even over considerable distances. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 Introduction 1

Marble studies 1

Stone in economic studies 4

Aims and objectives 6

2 The Market for Stone 8

Demand for stone 9

Sources of demand 18

Spending on stone 23

3 Quarrying 37

Imperial quarry ownership and administration 38

Private and municipal quarries 53

Quarry distribution 61

Chronology of quarrying 81

4 Stone Transport 95

Overland transport 96

River transport 105

Overseas transport and the shipwreck evidence 110

Connectivity 131

5 Distribution Patterns 141

Modelling distribution 142

Distribution of stone in architectural contexts 146

Sarcophagus distribution and materials for statuary 169

Imperial redistribution 184

6 Blinding and Stone Supply 201

The architectural project 202

Ordering from the quarries 207

Stock 232

Production methods: from quarry to building site 239

7 The Sarcophagus Trade 256

Buying a sarcophagus 256

Sourcing raw materials: the evidence from the quarries 260

Production centres beyond the quarries 273

Production methods 285

Customer demand and production-to-stock 293

8 Statue Production 311

The buying process 311

Supplying materials and the quarry evidence 317

The movement of carvers and statues 329

Workshop practices and production methods 344

9 Final Remarks 352

The role of the state 352

Distribution and connectivity 355

Modelling production 357

Epilogue 359.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780199656394

0199656398

OCLC:

867827680