Trading communities in the Roman world [electronic resource] : a micro-economic and institutional perspective / by Taco T. Terpstra.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Terpstra, Taco T.

Series:

Columbia Studies in the Classical Tradition 37.

Columbia studies in the classical tradition, 0166-1302 ; v. 37

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Microeconomics.

Social archaeology--Rome.

Social archaeology.

Rome--Commerce--History.

Rome.

Rome (Italy)--History--To 476.

Rome (Italy).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (261 p.)

Place of Publication:

Boston : Brill, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Ancient Roman trade was severely hampered by slow transportation and by the absence of a state that helped traders enforce their contracts. In Trading Communities in the Roman World: A Micro-Economic and Institutional Perspective Taco Terpstra offers a new explanation of how traders in the Roman Empire overcame these difficulties. Previous theories have focused heavily on dependent labor, arguing that transactions overseas were conducted through slaves and freedmen. Taco Terpstra shows that this approach is unsatisfactory. Employing economic theory, he convincingly argues that the key to understanding long-distance trade in the Roman Empire is not patron-client or master-slave relationships, but the social bonds between ethnic groups of foreign traders living overseas and the local communities they joined.

Contents:

Preface

Abbreviations

Introduction

Intra-community exchange and the use of law in Puteoli

Interaction

Inter-community exchange and the role of trading stations in Puteoli

Coalitions of foreign merchants and shipowners in Ostia

Inter-community trade and the City of Rome

Roman traders in the province of Asia

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

90-04-24513-8

OCLC:

827208836

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004245136 DOI