and crane,fish specialties including mussels and oysters, dates andfigs from
North Africa and Egypt, ham and pickled meats from Gaul, nuts from the
Black Sea, and gourmet vinegar from Greece.
Considerable profit could be had from the live-animal market provided the
difficulties in transportation could be overcome. The Romans had an appetite
for rare and exotic beasts intended for public displays, processions, shows,
and circus games. Wild animals included lions, leopards, elephants, ostri-
ches, and even hyenas; animals used for breeding included dogs from Britain
and India, cattle from Syria and Africa, horses from Spain and the Eastern
Mediterranean, and sheep from various places. Skins, hides, and furs came
mostly from northern lands.
The trade in metals, an essential engine in long-distance trade since the
beginning of metallurgy, reached a high level of intensity under the Roman
Empire. The Romans exploited all mines within their empire and took in
whatever was available from the outside, principally to satisfy the needs of
their military. They also exported vast amounts of precious metals, particu-
larly silver in the form of coinage, to pay for imports from Asia. The trade in
metals was one area of commerce that proved to be less susceptible to periods
of economic crisis than other commodities. The empire’s construction pro-
gram also kept quarries active, producing both cheap building material such
as cement and more valuable stone such as marble from Greece. Glass from
the eastern Mediterranean remained a luxury item with Alexandria exporting
exquisite containers; beads from that city have been found as far away as
northern France. Later in the Imperial period glass came into more common
use. Wood products such as timber, tar, and pitch from Macedonia and cork
from Spain also circulated. In textiles many of Rome’s needs were satisfied by
Italy and Sicily although luxury clothing, carpets, and footwear trickled in
from many areas. Although the city of Rome is often pictured as a parasite
sucking in a wealth of commodities of every description from around the
empire and returning little in the way of material goods, Italy continued to
send out exports including craft goods, iron and bronze tools, jewelry,
woolen textiles, lamps, building materials, wine, and olive oil.
When the commercial center of gravity shifted to Italy, Greece began a
slow if uneven slide. Individual cities did well so long as they were the
objects of Roman favor. Rhodes, located off the southwestern tip of Anatolia,
rivaled Alexandria for a time as an entrepot for trade. The Rhodians were in
the forefront of nautical advances, including better rigging and techniques in
navigation, and they devised thefirst code of maritime law. They also made
the most determined effort of any state of their time to combat piracy. Most
important to the Romans, Rhodes was an ally in their wars against the
Hellenistic empires. But when Rhodes tried to remain neutral in a later war,
Rome’s favor shifted elsewhere, and Rhodes’halcyon days were over.
The new object of Roman benevolence became the island of Delos 100
miles northwest of Rhodes. In 166 BCERome made Delos a free port,
78 Shifting cores and peripheries in the Imperial West