TRANSPORT AMPHORAS AND MARKET PRACTICES 265
the jar better ‘speak for itself ’.
Here I am thinking of ampho-
ras with stamps carrying infor-
mation as to place of origin, date,
and perhaps maker; graffiti or
dipinti added to the jar; and even
the specificity of the relation-
ship between the shape of the jar
and the producing region or city.
Equally important, however, is the
fact that such a speaking role for
the amphora was not a prerequi-
site for transactions; most ampho-
ras were either mute or lying.
Amphoras, Small-Scale, and
Large-Scale Purchases: Dealing
with Poor Information
Many features of modern bazaars
and other markets adapted to
poor quality of information fit
the situation of marketing the
contents of amphoras. Amphoras
as packaging are often uninfor-
mative especially with multiple
episodes of re-use. The capacities,
especially at the jar-by-jar level are unreliable. In ancient literary characteriza-
tions of ancient marketplaces, the quality of merchandise was a frequent point
of complaint (Van Alfen 2011c: 200). So how, under such circumstances, could
a merchant make a profit? Prices set in advance (Migeotte 1997 ; 2006 ; Descat
2000 ) might well build in some profit above the ‘farm gate’ price for the goods,
but each merchant would have his own variable overhead costs. To turn any
profit, the merchant could mix high- and low-quality goods, and this action
is facilitated by the more negative qualities of amphoras (opacity and variation
in capacity). So price as a variable might be held roughly stable, and demand
for most amphora-borne goods would also be relatively stable (as generally we
are talking about wants-traders, both buyers and sellers). As a result, merchants,
once they chose where and when to enter the market, only had the vari-
able of quality for manipulation. No wonder then that merchants are so often
criticized for how they adulterate products, no wonder that agoranomoi (and
other officials) should be so concerned with complaints about product quality
11.1 Black Figured Pelike, Obverse (no. RC 1063) Image cour-
tesy of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell’Etruria
Meridionale.