Periplus Maris Erythrael

Nick Clark April 25, 2013

Term Paper

After reading “Periplus Maris Erythraei” it was clear that Rome had many trade partners and traded with various other communities. The list of various cultures and items seemingly goes on and on. Roman Mediterranean trade bordered as far East as Thinae (modern day Asia) and as far South as Raphta (Africa). They traded with various cultures of people as well which meant they received many different goods in return. The people who they traded with varied form the Berbers and Azania to Dakinabades. The trade system that the Roman Mediterranean people had in place gave them the ability to create large amounts of profit as well as bringing many different good and supplies. This allowed their civilization to grow and created a mixing pot of cultures, beliefs, and ethnicities.

In the time of the Roman Republic, trade with other countries was happening but it was very minimal, incense from Arabia, Ivory from East Africa, pepper from India and small amounts of silk from China. However, this all changed when Augustus became king. This was because the Roman states were all finally united as one and allowed them to achieve goods by the more peaceful means of trade rather than previous ways of war. Augustus wanted to expand the Empire in terms of land and trade. The Romans however made a large mistake when they used large amounts of money to buy things from the Far Eastern empires instead of keeping it in their Empire and using it for themselves. However, Augustus pursued trade with these Asian Empires anyway. One major issue with trading to these Empires was the way to get to the places and buy the goods, because a major trade route was through the Empire of Parthia, who the Romans did not have good relations with. In 20 B.C Augustus solved this problem by fostering better relation with the Parthian people which expanding required. Still the Parthians often didn’t let Roman merchants through their territory. Although...