Explaining the commerce of Roman Mediterranean ports : the evidence from scripta commercii and law
The aim of this work is to study the commercial activity of Mediterranean ports during the first three centuries of the Roman Empire. There has been an increase in the last years in the amount of ancient port studies, increasingly showing that ports cannot be viewed in isolation, or simply in relation to the sea (Keay: 2012). That conception has been the impetus for the development of interdisciplinary studies carried out on several ports (e.g. Portus, Baelo Claudia, Narbonne). Archaeologists have recovered many Roman-era port structures revealing the multiple functions of these constructions (e.g. administrative, legal). However, regarding the available evidence of these structures, almost nothing is found in recent publications that tells us how a port worked, what its output was, how wholesale and retail sales were transacted, or what sort of accounting and registration of the transactions took place at ports. These gaps in the research are partly due to the lack of consideration of the legal framework in relation to commerce and distribution, and especially concerning the merchandise that was distributed between ports. In order to try to answer questions such as these, this study seeks to understand the
Mataix Ferrandiz, Emilia
Explaining the commerce of Roman Mediterranean ports : the evidence from scripta commercii and law. The aim of this work is to study the commercial activity of Mediterranean ports during the first three centuries of the Roman Empire. There has been an increase in the last years in the amount of ancient port studies, increasingly showing that ports cannot be viewed in isolation, or simply in relation to the sea (Keay: 2012). That conception has been the impetus for the development of interdisciplinary studies carried out on several ports (e.g. Portus, Baelo Claudia, Narbonne). Archaeologists have recovered many Roman-era port structures revealing the multiple functions of these constructions (e.g. administrative, legal). However, regarding the available evidence of these structures, almost nothing is found in recent publications that tells us how a port worked, what its output was, how wholesale and retail sales were transacted, or what sort of accounting and registration of the transactions took place at ports. These gaps in the research are partly due to the lack of consideration of the legal framework in relation to commerce and distribution, and especially concerning the merchandise that was distributed between ports. In order to try to answer questions such as these, this study seeks to understand the
commerce roman mediterranean port evidence law aim_work study commercial_activity mediterranean_port first roman_empire increase_amount ancient port study increasingly show port view isolation simply relation sea conception impetus development interdisciplinary_study carry several port portus archaeologists recover many roman_era port structure reveal multiple function construction administrative legal however regard available_evidence structure almost nothing find recent_publication tell port work output wholesale retail sale sort accounting registration transaction take_place port gap partly_due lack consideration legal_framework relation commerce distribution especially concern distribute port order try answer_question study_seek