Editing Roman commerce (section)

=== 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}}