Spice Trade in the Roman Economy

By: David McConville

Origins

• Black pepper, cinnamon, saffron and other staple spices in the Roman world, were imported into the Mediterranean from the routes of the Silk Road and the Indian Ocean trade.

• Earliest known records from these regions were from Egypt and the Near East as they played major roles in the access and distribution along Afro-Eurasian trade. 1400-1200 B.C.E. onwards…

Early Stakeholders

• One particularly dominant group of civilizations to control the transportation of goods were those situated in the Arabian Peninsula, the Mineans (1200 B.C.E.), the Sabaeans (950 B.C.E.) and the Himyarites (200 B.C.E. – 600 C.E.) *important*

• Another important group was the collection of Greek city states that shipped spices across the Mediterranean Sea since 1400 B.C.E

• Lastly, another and very important groups to consider were the Egyptians. Egypt was a major hub for both camel convoys and ships traveling the Red Sea. This intensified during the 4th century B.C.E. when trade grew under Alexander the Great and the opening of the port Alexandria.

What does this have to do with Rome?

• Being in contact with Greco cultures, the Romans always had an interest in spices which eventually lead to the massive influx in 30 B.C.E. when Egypt folded and Alexandria was captured.

• Spices were such a huge economic force in the next century that writers such as Apicius (among oldest cook book authors to survive on record) and Pliny the Elder in his Natural History wrote extensively about them.

• They were consumed heavily for many reasons from the obvious uses like cooking, medicinal to taking part in religious rituals.

Capitalising

• Of course, heavy consumption of spices meant a steady flow of Rome’s coffers went to Arabia, India and China. Under Emperor Vespasian the Roman Empire tried to have this problem remedied due to Rome’s increasing economic shortcomings.

• Through careful manipulation of the flow of goods entering and leaving the empire via Alexandria, large scale manufactories for spices (particularly those that were needed for perfumes) were reorganised to help end certain trade monopolies.

• There was also new introductions to tributes and enlarging the bulks of exported goods like papyrus.

What went wrong?

• Despite the efforts by emperors like Vespasian and intellectuals such as Pliny, the Roman state(s) eventually fell under a total monopoly of the Arabian Peninsula for a number of reasons.

• First, the large increase of Christian conversions dampened the demand for many of the spices being exchanged. Their long use for religious rituals associated them with Pagan beliefs as well as decadence of the elites.

• Second, the decline of Roman power meant foreign merchants were able to gain a stranglehold. Spices that continued to prosper such as pepper heavily increased in price.

Results…

• When the prices for specialty spices like pepper went up, only the very few in the wealthy classes were still able to afford them, demand was drying up.

• As Rome’s central power faded in the West and partially in Byzantium, the spice trade in the Near East was used by the newly unified Muslim Empire (economically built on the trade itself) as a stepping stone for spreading new religious discourse and gaining influence in the Byzantine provinces of North Africa.

Bibliography

• Loane, Helen. Vespasian's Spice Market and Tribute in Kind. Classical Philology, Vol 39 (1) 1994: 10-21

• Mundigler, Chris. The Ancient spice Trade. Labyrinth, vol. 84, 85. 2011: Part I-IV.