Worlds Apart Trading Together: The organisation of long-distance trade between Rome and India in Antiquity

227 Pages·2017·22.327 MB·English

by  Kasper Grønlund Evers

Evers
Worlds Apart Trading Together sets out to replace the outdated notion of
‘Indo-Roman trade’ with a more informed perspective integrating the new
findings of the last 30 years. In order to accomplish this, a perspective
focusing on concrete demand from the ground up is adopted, also shedding
light on the role of the market in long-distance exchange. Accordingly, the
analysis conducted demonstrates that an economically highly substantial
trade took place between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean in the
1st–6th cen. CE, altering patterns of consumption and modes of production
in both India, South Arabia and the Roman Empire. Significantly, it can be
documented that this trade was organised at the centres of demand and
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supply, in Rome and India, respectively, by comparable urban associations,
the transport in-between being handled by equally well-organised private o
networks and diasporas of seagoing merchants. Consequently, this study r
l
concludes that the institution of the market in Antiquity was able to d
facilitate trade over very long distances, acting on a scale which had a s
characteristic impact on the economies of the societies involved, their A
economic structures converging by adapting to trade and the market. p
a
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t
Kasper Grønlund Evers holds master’s degrees in History from Lancaster
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(UK) and Copenhagen, as well as a PhD from the latter. He has previously
r
published a monograph on the Vindolanda Tablets and the ancient a
economy. d
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n Worlds Apart
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The organisation of
long-distance trade
between Rome and
India in Antiquity
Kasper Grønlund Evers
Archaeopress Roman Archaeology 32
Archaeopress Archaeology www.archaeopress.com
Evers cover.indd 1 28/11/2017 15:19:56

Worlds Apart
Trading Together
The organisation of
long-distance trade between
Rome and India in Antiquity
Kasper Grønlund Evers
Archaeopress Roman Archaeology 32
Archaeopress Publishing Ltd
Gordon House
276 Banbury Road
Oxford OX2 7ED
www.archaeopress.com
ISBN 978 1 78491 742 5
ISBN 978 1 78491 743 2 (e-Pdf)
© Archaeopress and Kasper Grønlund Evers 2017
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form or
by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of the copyright owners.
Printed in England by Oxuniprint, Oxford
This book is available direct from Archaeopress or from our website www.archaeopress.com
Contents
List of Figures ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ii
Preface ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������v
Abbreviations ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������vii
Introduction ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������1
Chapter 1: What’s in a name? A brief historiography of Indo-Roman trade ������������������������������������4
Chapter 2: Ancient history ‘from below’� Theoretical perspectives��������������������������������������������������7
Chapter 3: Turning the tables on Indo-Roman trade ����������������������������������������������������������������������13
The collegium of ivory- and citrus wood traders ..........................................................................................15
Beyond the mirror: the cultural biography of an ivory statuette ..............................................................22
Fitting Indian ivory with Roman furniture ....................................................................................................36
The shreni of ivory carvers ...............................................................................................................................43
Following the flows of people and products, fashion and furniture ..........................................................46
Chapter 4: The invisible hand of Roman organisations ������������������������������������������������������������������48
The collegium of goldsmiths and clusters of craftsmen in the jewellery trade .......................................50
The collegium of frankincense and perfume traders ..................................................................................55
The collegium of spice traders and the Pepper Warehouses .....................................................................57
The organisation of silk-weavers and traders ...............................................................................................62
Organising the world of consumption ............................................................................................................66
Chapter 5: Demand and supply in Rome and the provinces �����������������������������������������������������������68
Luxurious spices at everyday prices? ..............................................................................................................68
Pepper trade in the provinces ..........................................................................................................................72
Perfume trade in the provinces .......................................................................................................................75
The long reach of interlocking markets .........................................................................................................78
Chapter 6: The modus operandi of Roman long-distance trade ��������������������������������������������������������83
All routes lead to Rome—and India! ................................................................................................................83
Networks at work: from Campania to the Red Sea coast and beyond........................................................91
Eastern commerce, Western contracts: from Alexandria to Muziris .........................................................97
Taxes, the Alexandrian elite, and how it takes a fox to catch a fox ..........................................................109
The not-so-invisible hand of Egyptian organisations ................................................................................113
Big fish and small fry: well off merchants and small-time traders .........................................................115
Chapter 7: Towards a wider world of trade in the ancient Indian Ocean �������������������������������������117
Egyptian ports of the desert, gateways of the sea.......................................................................................117
Arabs, Axumites, and Indians in the desert .................................................................................................124
The long arm of organised commerce: Petra and Palmyra .......................................................................127
Allegory of the cave. An inside out view of maritime trade ......................................................................134
Taxes, trade, and contracting corporations of merchants ........................................................................142
Merchants making money at the margins ...................................................................................................145
Chapter 8: The invisible hand of Indian organisations �����������������������������������������������������������������148
Ivory carvers, weavers, and sea-going merchants in Western India ........................................................151
Producing pearls, precious stones, and pepper in South India ................................................................164
Organising the world of production ..............................................................................................................171
Conclusion: Worlds apart trading together �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������173
Maps �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������177
Bibliography ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������187
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List of Figures and Maps
Figure 1: Inscription of the collegium of negotiatores eborarii et citriarii. ....................................................................................................16
Figure 2: Ivory statuette from Pompeii .........................................................................................................................................................24
Figure 3: Same as Figure 2, back .....................................................................................................................................................................24
Figure 4: Same as Figure 2, detail of hole penetrating the crown of the head down to the waist. ......................................................25
Figure 5: Drawing of Pompeii figurine’s base ...............................................................................................................................................27
Figure 6: Begram ivory statuette ....................................................................................................................................................................30
Figure 7: Begram ivory statuette ....................................................................................................................................................................30
Figure 8: Ivory statuette encased in ivory frame at Begram ......................................................................................................................31
Figure 9: Elephant-headed ivory leg from Begram. .....................................................................................................................................32
Figure 10: Elephant-headed bed legs, stone relief from Gandhara ...........................................................................................................33
Figure 11: Drawing of detail from mural in Ajanta Cave 1 ..........................................................................................................................34
Figure 12: Drawing of detail from mural in Ajanta Cave 17. .......................................................................................................................35
Figure 13: Wooden, three-legged Roman table form Herculaneum, animal legs and griffins’ heads with ivory eyes .....................37
Figure 14: Roman bronze table converted into brazier ..............................................................................................................................39
Figure 15: Wooden armrest support from Loulan ........................................................................................................................................40
Figure 16: Ivory faun from the Naples area ..................................................................................................................................................41
Figure 17: Outside view of the vihara at Nashik ..........................................................................................................................................153
Figure 18: Inside view of the Karla chaitya hall ..........................................................................................................................................159
Figure 19: View of the drip ledge and cave shelter on Mangulam Hill ..................................................................................................167
Map 1: Overview of the Mediterranean World ...........................................................................................................................................177
Map 2: Overview of the Indian Ocean ..........................................................................................................................................................178
Map 3: Latium and Campania, Italia .............................................................................................................................................................180
Map 4: Central Mediterranean ......................................................................................................................................................................180
Map 5: Eastern Mediterranean .....................................................................................................................................................................181
Map 6: Western Provinces .............................................................................................................................................................................181
Map 7: Upper Adriatic Sea .............................................................................................................................................................................182
Map 8: Near East ..............................................................................................................................................................................................182
Map 9: Upper Red Sea .....................................................................................................................................................................................183
Map 10: Bay of Aden .......................................................................................................................................................................................183
Map 11: Western Indian Ocean .....................................................................................................................................................................184
Map 12: Western India ....................................................................................................................................................................................185
Map 13: South India and Sri Lanka ...............................................................................................................................................................184
Map 14: North India ........................................................................................................................................................................................185
Map 15: Eastern Indian Ocean .......................................................................................................................................................................186
Map 16: Central Asia and Tarim Basin .........................................................................................................................................................186
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Preface
This book is a revised and enlarged version of my PhD thesis in History (Worlds Apart Trading Together—the
organisation of long-distance trade between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, 1st–6th cen. CE; successfully
defended on May 30th, 2016), conducted at Copenhagen University’s Saxo Department in 2012–16 under
the guidance of Prof. Vincent Gabrielsen.
In the following chapters, an attempt is made to bridge disciplines and distances in time and space, and
although not able to be anywhere near exhaustive or expert on many of the issues, a glo-cal approach
(global perspective backed by local case-studies) strives to put the analysis on a sound empirical footing.
Thus, the hope is that experts within specific fields or regions will not find this study too exasperating
in its lack of depth within their particular area of expertise, but, rather, appreciate it for what it is: a
modest attempt to provide a common context for a number of issues traditionally studied in separation.
One consequence of the choice of narrative framework selected for this monograph, though, is a slight
tendency towards repetitiousness, as some issues are referred to and some evidence employed in more
than one chapter, but hopefully the reader will bear with this.
The numerous maps are quite simple and only show the most important places and routes explicitly
mentioned in the main text. On this note, copyright permissions for a number of photographs were,
unfortunately, not possible to obtain, so although the plates included illustrate the most important
objects and monuments dealt with in this book, the relevant footnotes refer the reader to publications
with better images in them. Translations are pulled from the Loeb Classical Library, if nothing else is
noted.
Before proceeding, however, I would like to thank the Saxo Institute at Copenhagen University for having
granted me a free PhD scholarship, making the kind of research conducted for this book possible. Second,
I need to extend my gratitude to the Royal Danish Library which has acquired immense amounts of books
and articles for me from abroad. Third, it has been a privilege to be part of the Copenhagen Associations
Project and enjoy the company of such excellent scholars as Stella Skaltsa, Annelies Cazemier, Mario
C. D. Paganini, Jan-Mathieu Carbon and Christian Ammitzbøll Thomsen. Moreover, special thanks for
advice, encouragement and invitations are due to Rolf M. Schneider, Eivind H. Seland, Jane Fejfer, Roberta
Tomber, Berit Hildebrandt and Matthew Cobb, as well as to my PhD assessment committee consisting of
Grant Parker, Sunil Gupta and Peter F. Bang, but I must emphasise that I am likewise grateful to a number
of other inspiring colleagues and academics from near and far who have been kind to me throughout
the last six years. Fourth, I can hardly begin to express the joy I feel at having had the occasion to study
and conduct my doctoral research under the aegis of my long-term supervisor, Vincent Gabrielsen. His
support and feedback has been crucial, his company always a pleasure.
And, as always, I must thank Marianne S. Winther who has shown me the world and made this study
possible. This time around, she has not only been patient with me and tried to improve my work with
clever anthropological insights, but has also joined me in excursions to far-away Indian villages, scaling
steep cliffs and avoiding the snakes, in order to explore rock temples and photograph inscriptions. She
and little Sigurd are owed a deep debt of gratitude for putting up with me (or, rather, making do without
me for much of the time) during the making of this manuscript.
The remaining errors and mistakes are entirely my own.
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