Editing Roman commerce (section)

== Commercial infrastructure ==
{{further information|Roman economy}}
[[File:Europe 180ad roman trade map.png|thumb|300px|Principal Roman trade routes, internal and external in 180 AD]]
The [[Roman Forum|Forum Cuppedinis]] in [[ancient Rome]] was a market which offered general goods. At least four other large markets specialized in specific goods such as [[cattle]], [[wine]], [[fish]] and herbs and vegetables, but the [[Roman Forum]] drew the bulk of the traffic. 
All new cities, like [[Timgad]], were laid out according to an [[orthogonal]] [[grid plan]] which facilitated transportation and commerce. These cities were connected by good [[Roman roads|roads]]. Navigable rivers were extensively used and some canals were dug, but neither leave such clear archaeological traces as roads. Consequently, they tend to be underestimated. Maintaining peace was a major factor in the expansion of trade. All settlements—especially the smaller ones—could be located in economically rational positions. Before and after the Roman Empire, hilltop defensive positions were preferred for small settlements and [[piracy]] made coastal settlement particularly hazardous for all but the largest cities.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

By the 1st century, the provinces of the Roman Empire were trading huge volumes of commodities to one another via sea routes. There was an increasing tendency for specialization, particularly in manufacturing, agriculture and [[Mining in ancient Rome|mining]]. Some provinces specialized in producing certain types of goods, such as grain in [[Roman Egypt|Egypt]] and [[North Africa]] and [[Ancient Rome and wine|wine]] and olive oil in Italy, [[Hispania]], and Greece.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

Knowledge of the [[Roman economy]] is extremely patchy. The vast bulk of traded goods, being agricultural, normally leave no direct remains. Very exceptionally, as at Berenice, there is evidence of long-distance trade in [[black pepper]], [[almond]]s, [[hazelnut]]s, [[stone pine]] cones, [[walnut]]s, [[coconut]]s, [[apricot]]s and [[peach]]es besides the more expected [[fig]]s, [[raisin]]s and [[date (fruit)|date]]s. The wine, olive oil and [[garum]] (fermented fish sauce) trades were exceptional in leaving ''[[amphora]]e'' behind. There is a single reference of the Syrian export of kipi stiff [[Quince cheese|quince jam]] or [[marmalade]] to Rome.<ref>{{cite book |first=Mark |last=Grant |title=Galen on Food and Diet |url=https://archive.org/details/galenonfooddiet00gran_408 |url-access=limited |location=London |publisher=Routledge |year=2000 |page=[https://archive.org/details/galenonfooddiet00gran_408/page/n139 129] |isbn=0415232325 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=R. T. J. |last=Cappers |title=Foodprints at Berenike: Archaeobotanical evidence of subsistence and trade in the Eastern desert of Egypt |series=Monograph |volume=55 |publisher=Cotsen Institute of Archaeology UCLA |year=2006 |isbn=1931745269 |location=Los Angeles }}</ref>

=== Land routes ===
{{see also|Sino-Roman relations}}
Even before the [[Roman Republic]], the [[Roman Kingdom]] was engaged in regular commerce using the river [[Tiber]]. Before the [[Punic Wars]] completely changed the nature of commerce in the Mediterranean, the Republic had important commercial exchanges with [[Carthage]]. It entered into several commercial and political agreements with its rival city in addition to engaging in simple retail trading. The [[Roman Empire]] traded with the [[Han dynasty|Chinese]] (via [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] and other intermediaries) over the [[Silk Road]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

=== Sea routes ===
{{Further|Indo-Roman trade relations}}
[[File:Neumagener Weinschiff.jpg|thumb|250px|River vessel carrying barrels, assumed to be wine]]
[[Maritime archeology]] and ancient [[manuscripts]] from [[classical antiquity]] show evidence of vast Roman commercial fleets. The most substantial remains from this commerce are the infrastructure remains of harbors, moles, warehouses and lighthouses at ports such as [[Civitavecchia]], [[Ostia Antica|Ostia]], [[Portus]], [[Leptis Magna]] and [[Caesarea Maritima]]. At Rome itself, [[Monte Testaccio]] is a tribute to the scale of this commerce. As with most [[Roman technology]], the Roman seagoing commercial ships had no significant advances over Greek ships of the previous centuries, though the lead sheeting of hulls for protection seems to have been more common. The Romans used round hulled sailing ships.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} Continuous Mediterranean "police" protection over several centuries was one of the main factors of success of Roman commerce, given that [[Roman roads]] were designed more for feet or hooves – with most land trade moving by pack mule – than for wheels, and could not support the economical transport of goods over long distances. The Roman ships used would have been easy prey for pirates had it not been for the fleets of [[liburna]] galleys and [[trireme]]s of the Roman [[navy]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

[[File:Corbita BM GR1850.3-4.32.jpg|thumb|left|A small coaster]]
Bulky, low-value commodities, like grain and construction materials, were traded only by sea routes, since the cost of sea transportation was sixty times lower than land.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Sociological Studies in Roman History|last=Hopkins|first=Keith|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2017|isbn=9781139093552|pages=169}}</ref> Staple goods and commodities like [[cereals]] for making [[bread]] and [[papyrus]] scrolls for book production were imported from [[Ptolemaic Egypt]] to Italy in a continuous fashion.

The trade over the [[Indian Ocean]] blossomed in the 1st and 2nd century AD. The sailors made use of the [[monsoon]] to cross the ocean from the ports of [[Berenice Troglodytica|Berenice]], [[Leukos Limen]]<ref>Young, Gary K. - "Rome's Eastern Trade: International Commerce and Imperial Policy 31 BC - AD 305" - Ed. Routledge, (2003) {{ISBN|1134547935}}, 9781134547937 p. 35-48</ref> and [[Myos Hormos]] on the [[Red Sea]] coast of [[Aegyptus (Roman province)|Roman Egypt]] to the ports of [[Muziris]] and Nelkynda in the [[Malabar Coast]]. The main trading partners in southern India were the [[Tamils|Tamil]] dynasties of the [[Pandyas]], [[Chola dynasty|Cholas]] and [[Chera dynasty|Cheras]]. Many Roman artifacts have been found in India; for example, at the archaeological site of [[Arikamedu]], in [[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]]. Meticulous descriptions of the ports and items of trade around the Indian Ocean can be found in the Greek work ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]'' (see article on [[Indo-Roman trade]]).{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

=== Standard weights and measures ===
{{main|Ancient Roman units of measurement}}

A standard [[amphora]], the ''amphora capitolina'', was kept in the temple of Jupiter on the [[Capitoline Hill]] in Rome, so that others could be compared to it. The [[Ancient Roman units of measurement|Roman system of measurement]] was built on the [[Ancient Greek units of measurement|Greek system]] with Egyptian influences. Much of it was based on weight. The Roman units were accurate and well documented. Distances were measured, and systematically inscribed on stone by agents of the government.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}

A fairly standard and fairly stable and abundant currency, at least up to circa 200 AD, did much to facilitate trade. (Egypt had its own currency in this period and some provincial cities also issued their own coins.){{Citation needed|date=July 2023}}