The Mediterranean and the Roman Revolution goods,wines, and slaves,whose direction was—or so it seems—quite un-
affectedbyquestionsofpoliticalcontrolorcontemporarymilitaryornaval
operations. In the s ships sailing from the kingdom of Egypt to Puteoli
inItalymightcarrypapyrus,linen,andglass.InVerres’timeasgovernorof
Sicily, –.., ships both from ‘‘Asia,’’ which was a province, and from
Syria,Tyre,andEgypt,whichwerenotwithintheprovincialarea,cameinto
Sicily, bringingTyrian purple, pearls, Greek wines, and slaves from Asia.^59
Verreshimself,accordingtoCicero,wasabletoacquireandsendhomegoods
worth,,sesterces.Cicero’slistgivessomehintofthevariedforms
ofproductwhichmightembodysufficientvaluetobeworthtransporting
bysea:gold,silver,ivory,purplecloths,clothfromMalta,alargequantity
ofcoverings,tablewarefromDelos,Corinthianvases,corn,andampho-
raeofhoney.^60 Thislastisofsomeinterest,foritsuggeststhatanyproduct
whichcouldbesatisfactorilystoredcouldenterlong-distancetradebysea,
howevermodesttheoriginalunitsofproductionmayhavebeen.Theships
comingfromtheEastwillalsohavearrived,in–..,atwhatmusthave
been the height of the operations of the pirates—which, therefore,while
they must have hindered trade, clearlydid not stop it altogether. Bycon-
trast,statesseemrarelyifeverinthisperiodtohaveinterveneddeliberately
intradeexceptbywayofrequisitioning;theoneexplicitlymentionedex-
ceptionisPompey’sattemptin–..topreventshipssailingfromthe
MediterraneantoMithridates’onlyremainingpossession,theCrimea—his
objectivewastoachievebyfaminewhathehadnotfinallyachievedbywar.^61
Inotherwords,sofarasweknow,theRomanstatedidnotsystematically
intervene in seaborne trade; the significance of the effects of its activities
onthestructureordirectionoftraderemainsquiteuncertain.Moreover,as
MichaelCrawfordhasargued,itseemsthatRomansorItaliansdidnottry
toincreasetheprofitsofempirebyexportingtheirownproductstotheir
subjects;theItalianexportswhichcanbetracedarchaeologically—pottery
(asalways)—wentpredominantlytoplaceswhereRomansoldiersweresta-
tionedorItaliantraderssettled(suchasDelos).^62 However,ifthatisso,then
theextensivecolonizationwhichisoneofthemostdistinctiveactivitiesof
. Cicero,Rab. Post.;Cicero,Verr. II,–.
.Verr. II,,,.
. Plutarch,Pomp..
. M.H.Crawford,inA.GiardinaandA.Schiavone,eds.,Società romana e produzione
schiavistica,vols.(),III,–;cf.A.Tchernia,‘‘ItalianWineinGaulattheEndof
theRepublic,’’inP.Garnsey,K.HopkinsandC.R.Whittaker,Trade in the Ancient Economy
(London,),–.