contacts and political alliances. In Germany, like Gaul at an earlier time,
new power structures were developing in which control over prestige goods
was an important status symbol. Roman imports from Germany, on the
other hand, appear to be something of a hodgepodge with amber still a
major item and hides, skins, and leather also arriving in significant quan-
tities. As an interesting comment on Roman society, upper class women
were known to decorate their hair with imported blonde curls. Slaves were
probably also an important German export. In his commentary on the Suebi,
Caesar claims that this tribe traded with foreign merchants“more because
they want to sell their booty than because they stand in any need of
imports,”the booty likely referring to slaves. Among common items consumed
in the immediate area, geese and soap are mentioned. In an interesting twist,
some Germans exported their agricultural surpluses for use by units of the
Roman army, thus helping to support the imperial presence on the other
side of their own borders.
After 180CEthe Roman Empire entered a period of recurring crises. One
problem was political instability and civil war as the empire turned its
military might inward against itself. Even larger economic issues were man-
ifested by out-of-control inflation and ruinous taxation compounded by
depopulation. Above all, the empire had one insoluble problem: it couldn’t
pay for itself. As the empire rotted from within, only the military kept it
from collapsing in the face of growing threats from the outside. The army
became enormous, stretching across a huge frontier, and eventually it became
all powerful, making and unmaking emperors at will. The whole apparatus
of imperial government became focused on this one overarching imperative:
to pay for the military.
Political upheaval and economic crisis did not create an especially propi-
tious environment for long-distance trade although decline did not occur all
at once and varied from region to region. Also it impacted much more
strongly on mass-consumption goods such as foodstuffs and handicrafts than
on luxury goods. Increasingly local areas satisfied their own immediate needs
by producing cheaper goods than could be brought from outside; regional
trade replaced imperial trade, and eventually local trade replaced regional
trade. The traffic in luxury goods continued toflow at a steady pace unaf-
fected by downturns and crises. Over time the transportation system began
to decline as new road and harbor construction ceased and maintenance faded
in the face of strained imperial budgets. Customs payments became an
increased burden for remaining traffic as the empire attempted to squeeze
out whatever money was available to continue its doomed existence. Security
diminished, and eventually the roads became largely deserted, their stones
ripped up by local folk to recycle for building material.
The Roman state responded by assuming greater control over large sectors
of the economy, including trade. The state was foremost concerned with
covering its own needs but also with the distribution of primary
82 Shifting cores and peripheries in the Imperial West