Land Transport in Roman Egypt: A Study of Economics and Administration in a Roman Province (Oxford Classical Monographs)

346 Pages·2007·1.64 MB·English

by  Colin Adams

OXFORD CLASSICAL MONOGRAPHS
Published under the supervision of a Committee of the
Faculty of Classics in the University of Oxford
The aim of the Oxford Classical Monograph series (which replaces
the Oxford Classical and Philosophical Monographs) is to publish
booksbasedonthebestthesesonGreekandLatinliterature,ancient
history, and ancient philosophy examined by the Faculty Board of
Classics.
Land Transport in
Roman Egypt
A Study of Economics and Administration
in a Roman Province
COLIN ADAMS
1
3
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For Jo and Caitlin
Contents
Preface vii
NotesfortheReader ix
Maps xii
PART I. SETTING THE SCENE
1. Introduction:TransportandtheEconomy
oftheRomanWorld 3
2. TheGeography,TopographyandLand
TransportNetworksofEgypt 17
PART II. TRANSPORT RESOURCES
3. TransportAnimalsandWagons 49
4. AnimalUseandMaintenance 70
5. AnimalTradeandOwnership 91
PART III. THE ORGANIZATION OF TRANSPORT
6. StateControlofAnimalOwnership 119
7. AnimalRequisition 135
PART IV. CASE STUDIES
8. StateGrainTransport 159
9. DesertsandMilitarySupply 196
10. TradeandTransport 220
11. TransportandtheLandEconomy 254
Conclusion 283
Bibliography 292
IndexLocorum 315
Index 327
Preface
This monograph began as an Oxford DPhil thesis, written at Christ
Church and completed in December 1996. It is much revised and
rewritten, for on many points of detail I have changed my mind,
eitherinthelightofevidencepublishedsubsequentlyor becauseon
reconsideration Ithought myoriginal interpretations wrong. I have
tried as far as possible to include all relevant ancient evidence and
modern literature that has been published since 1996. In some
areas—principally with relevance to the Eastern Desert—consider-
ablematerialhasappeared.Iamawarethatlandtransportisonlyone
part of the transport system in Egypt, and therefore this study can
onlypresentpartofthepicture.Itmightserve,however,asastudyof
a major part of the economics of transport, and provide a starting
point for other work. As such, it is intended to be both a point
of reference for papyrologists engaged in reading texts, but also
hopefully of some interest to economic historians, for it considers
issuesfundamentaltotheworkingsoftheRomanimperialeconomy.
Anumberofpublicationscametoolatetobeincorporatedfullyin
thetext.Severaldocumentsofclearrelevancehavebeenpublishedin
P. Oxy. LXIX. I have not been able to see the recent Oxford DPhil
thesisbyMichelCottierontaxesandcustomsduties.
Manydebtshavebeenincurredduringthelongprocessofworking
onthismaterial.InOxfordas agraduate studentIbeneWtedgreatly
from the help and advice of John Rea, Revel Coles, and Fergus
Millar (who has constantly encouraged me to bring the study to
publication). My friends and contemporaries Nikolaos Gonis and
MichaelSharpprovidedaforumfordiscussion;Nickcontinuestobe
of great help as an advisor on papyrological matters. My examiners
PeterParsonsandDominicRathbonemademanyusefulcomments,
ofwhichIhavetriedtoincorporateasmanyaspossible.Theformer
keptmewellnourishedatHighTableinChristChurch.Manyfriends
at Oxford and elsewhere—Tom Harrison, Kevin Bradshaw, Jon
CoulstonandHazelDodge,RogerandAileenRees,BrianCampbell,
JohnCurran,AnneKolbandJohnVanderspoel—providedcompany,
viii Preface
advice, and support in many ways and over many years. Steve Side-
botham kindly read the whole text and oVered many useful sugges-
tionsforitsimprovement,andIbeneWtedgreatlyfromhisunrivalled
knowledgeoftheEasternDesertofEgypt.TomandClareLittprovided
hospitality on many trips to the libraries of Oxford, and Matthew
Gibbsprovidedfrequenthelpwithreferencesandphotocopies.
The monographwas largely completed during a British Academy
Postdoctoral Fellowship, for which I thank the Academy, and work
continued during my appointment at the University of Leicester. A
periodofstudyleaveallowedformorerevisions.Mycolleaguesinthe
School of Archaeology and Ancient History provided a supportive
and friendly environment in which to work, and I must thank
especially Graham Shipley, Lin Foxhall, Graeme Barker, David Mat-
tingly, David Edwards, Jonathan Prag, and Marijke van der Veen.
Graham Shipley read and commented upon a number of sections;
Lin Foxhall and Hamish Forbes discussed matters of animal hus-
bandry;andMarijkevanderVeenadvisedonthefoodsupplyofthe
EasternDesert.DavidEdwardscastaperceptiveeyeover thewhole.
My thanks to Debbie Miles Williams for preparing the maps and
to Helen Foxhall Forbes for compiling the Index Locorum. Final
corrections were made after my appointment at the University of
Liverpool,andIthankChrisMeeforhisallowingmetimefreefrom
teachingandothercommitments,whichallowedforcompletion.
Mygreatestdebt,however,istoAlanBowman,whosupervisedthe
thesis and has given much needed advice and support in the years
since. He has constantly urged me to complete what follows, and
most importantly helped to convince me that it is worthwhile. If
thereisanymerit,itisduetohim.Foranyshortcomings,neitherhe
noranyoftheaboveareresponsible.
My family has always provided support. My mother, father and
brotherhavebeensupportiveineveryway,andtheirloveandencour-
agementmeanseverything.MywifeJoanddaughterCaitlinareatthe
centreofmylife.Theytirelesslyendurethedemandsofacademia,and
they, with the ever-willing support of Heidi and Jasper, create an
environment without which nothing would be possible. The book is
dedicatedtothemwithlove.
ColinAdams
Notes for the Reader
ABBREVIATED REFERENCES
Papyri,ostracaandotherdocumentsarereferredtoaccordingtothe
conventions listed in J. F. Oates, et al., Checklist of Editions of Greek,
Latin, Demotic and Coptic Papyri, 5th edn (BASP Supp. 9, 2001).
This is regularly updated and available on the World Wide Web at
http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus/texts/clist.html. Also indis-
pensable is H-A. Rupprecht, Kleine Einfu¨hrung in die Papyruskunde
(Darmstadt, 1994). Where reference is made to commentaries of
documents in papyrological editions, these are signalled by the use
ofpagenumbersratherthantextnumbers,withthecustomaryp.or
pp. References to the standard work on corrections to papyri,
F.Preisigke,etal.,BerichtigungslistedergriechischenPapyrusurkunden
(Berlin-Leipzig, 1913–), are made according to volume and page
number,andwhereitisnecessarytoprovideanumberofcorrections
in volumes I–VII, the reader is referred to the concordance
(W. Clarysse, R. W. Daniel, F. A. J. Hoogendijk and P. van Minnen,
Konkordanz und Supplement zu Berichtigungsliste Band I–VII
(Leuven,1989)usingtheabbreviationBLKonkordanz).
Abbreviations used for periodicals can be found in the Checklist
(101–2) and in Rupprecht, Kleine Einfu¨hrung, 221–2. Abbreviations
for periodicals not speciWc to papyrology can be found in L’Anne´e
Philologique (Paris, 1927–). When referring to inscriptions, I have
chosentouseIGRRandOGISratherthanthemisleadingIGRomor
OGI.Booksandarticlesarereferredtoinfullinthefootnoteswhen
theyWrstoccur,andthereafter byabbreviatedtitles.
TECHNICALTERMS
Someimportanttechnicaltermsaredescribedbelow.Ihaverefrained
from quoting extensive passages in Greek, but technical terms are