Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 1 - The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution

The Mediterranean and the Roman Revolution 

periodofconquestsandcivilwars,andthepoliticaloreconomiclifeoflocal
communities.Thequestionposedinthisarticleis:canwegainanyserious
conceptionofhowandinwhatwaystheapparentlyearth-shakingeventsof
theperiodfromsayto..reallyaffectedthesocialandeconomiclifeof
ordinarypeople,groupedintheirlocalcommunities?Theanswer,whichat
anyseriouslevelisclearlyno,isareflectionofthedrasticlimitationsimposed
bytherestrictedvolume,andevenmorerestrictednature,oftheevidence
survivingfromtheancientworld.Allthatispossibleistopickoutanumber
ofdifferentdimensionsoraspectswhichareinvariouswaysrelevanttotry-
ingtounderstandsomethingabouttheMediterraneanworldinthelasthalf
centuryoftheRepublic.Forinstancewemayposethefollowingquestion:
if, as many people assume,we should envisage not a Mediterranean-wide
economy,ofwhichinter-regionaltradewasanessentialcharacteristic,buta
networkofstrictlylocaleconomies,howprofoundaneffectcouldpolitical
or militaryevents,or the demands of an ancient state, have had on them?
Short-term effects, of course. Even our severely political or military nar-
ratives allow us to catch a fleeting glimpse, for instance, of the bakery in
RavennafromwhichCaesarrequisitionedsomemulesforhisjourneytothe
Rubiconin..,^7 orthedruggist’sshopinGomphoiinThessaly,wherethe
leadingcitizensofthetowncommittedsuicidebytakingpoisonasPompey
gavetheplaceovertoberavagedbyhistroopsin..^8
Sometimeswecatchsimilarglimpsesoflong-distancetrade,suchasthe
exportoffigs,evidentlydriedfigs,fromCaunusinCariatoItalyinthes.
We know this only because when Crassus was embarking at Brundisium
for his Parthian expedition a man was standing in the harbourcalling out
‘‘Cauneas,Cauneas!’’—whichtosomeobserverssoundedalltoolike‘‘Cave
neeas’’(Bewarelestyougo).^9 Sometimeswegatherevenlessthanthat:when
Caesar’slieutenantCuriowasdefeatedandkilledinthecivilwarinAfrica
in..hisfleetpromptlysailedoff,andsomeofhisforces,tryingtomake
theirescape,beggedtobetakenonboardthemerchantshipswhichwereat
anchorintheharbouratUtica.Butwhentheshipscameinshorethatnight,
some of the ships’ boats were overloaded and sank; and as for the soldiers
whodidgetonboard,themajorityofthosewhohadanymoneyonthem
werethrownintotheseabythemerchants.^10

. Suetonius,DJ.
. Appian,BC,/.
. Cicero,Div.,;Pliny,NH,.Ciceromakesclearthatheistalkingaboutfigs
actuallyimportedfromCaunus(‘‘caricasCaunoadvectas’’)andnotjustatypenamedafter
theplace.Pliny,NH,,describesvariousmethodsofstorage.
. Appian,BC,/–.