FURTHER READING
Edward Bleiberg, “Th e Economy of Ancient Egypt,” in Civilizations
of the Ancient Near East, ed. Jack M. Sasson et al., vol. 3 (New
York: Scribner, 1995): 1373–1385.
Erik H. Cline, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: International Trade and
the Late Bronze Age Aegean, British Archaeological Reports
591 (Oxford, U.K.: Tempus Reparatum, 1994).
Barry W. Cunliff e, Facing the Ocean: Th e Atlantic and Its Peoples
(Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2001).
W. Vivian Davies and Louise Schofi eld, eds., Egypt, the Aegean,
and the Levant: Interconnections in the Second Millennium b.c.
(London: British Museum Press, 1995).
J. G. Dercksen, ed., Trade and Finance in Ancient Mesopotamia:
Proceedings of the First MOS Symposium, Leiden, the Nether-
lands, 1997 (Leiden, Netherlands: Nederland Instituut voor het
Nabije Oosten, 1999).
Francis Healy and Chris Scarre, eds., Trade and Exchange in Prehis-
toric Europe (Oxford, U.K.: Oxbow Books, 1993).
Panagiotis Kousoulis and Magliveras Konstantinos, eds., Moving
across Borders: Foreign Relations, Religion, and Cultural Inter-
actions in the Ancient Mediterranean, Orientalia Lovaniensia
Analecta 159 (Leuven, Belgium: Peeters, 2007).
W. F. L e e m a n s , Foreign Trade in the Old Babylonian Period as Re-
vealed by Texts from Southern Mesopotamia (Leiden, Nether-
lands: E. J. Brill, 1960).
David Mattingly and John Salmon, eds., Economies beyond Agricul-
ture in the Classical World (London: Routledge, 2001).
Michael McCormick, Origins of the European Economy: Communi-
cations and Commerce, a.d. 300–900 (Ca mbridge, U.K.: Ca m-
bridge University Press, 2001).
Helen Parkins and Christopher Smith, eds., Tra d e , Tra d e r s , a n d t h e
Ancient City (London: Routledge, 1998).J. N. Postgate, Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn
of History (London: Routledge, 1992).
Nicholas K. Rauh, Merchants, Sailors, and Pirates in the Roman
Worl d (Stroud, U.K.: Tempus Publishing, 2003).
Andrew Sherratt, Economy and Society in Prehistoric Europe: Chang-
ing Perspectives (Princeton, N.J.: University Press, 1997).▶ transportation
introduction
Means of transportation limited empires in what they could
do or expanded their horizons. Th e fi rst signifi cant empire,
the Akkadian Empire (ca. 2350–ca. 2100 b.c.e.) fell apart
partly because it was too large for effi cient communications
among its far-fl ung parts using the roads and transportation
of its time. Good, safe transportation became a matter of im-
portance for many civilizations.
Th e invention of the wheel was a crucial innovation
for transportation. Th e earliest record for a wheeled vehicle
comes from Uruk in the Near East, from about 3500 b.c.e.
Th e wheel probably was derived from the potter’s wheel and,
like a potter’s wheel, was originally solid. Th e wheel was im-
proved and modifi ed over centuries, with each change mak-
ing the wheel capable of surviving ever-longer distances and
moving faster. Speed and durability enhanced long-distance
trade, enriching many cultures, and allowed ideas and tech-
nology to travel farther faster.
Th e fi rst known indication of the domestication of the
horse comes from Ukraine and dates to about 3000 b.c.e. Th e1110 trade and exchange: further readingmade, larger, better, and luckier; that no one might say
I wasn’t a plucky fellow. A big ship has big strength—
that’s plain! Well I freighted them with wine, bacon,
beans, perfumes, and slaves. Here Fortuna (my consort)
showed her devotion. She sold her jewelry and all her
dresses, and gave me a hundred gold pieces—that’s
what my fortune grew from. What the gods ordain
happens quickly. For on just one voyage I scooped
in 10,000,000 sesterces and immediately started to
redeem all the lands that used to be my master’s. I built
a house, bought some cattle to sell again—whatever I
laid my hand to grew like a honeycomb. When I found
myself richer than all the country round about was
worth, in less than no time I gave up trading, and
commenced lending money at interest to the freedmen.
Upon my word, I was very near giving up business
altogether, only an astrologer, who happened to come
into our colony, dissuaded me.And now I may as well tell you it all—I have thirty
years, four months and two days to live, moreover
I’m to fall in for an estate—that’s prophecy anyway.
If I’m so lucky as to be able to join my domains to
Apulia, I’ll say I’ve got on pretty well. Meanwhile
under Mercury’s fostering, I’ve built this house. Just
a hut once, you know—now a regular temple! It has
four dining rooms, twenty bedrooms, two marble
porticoes, a set of cells upstairs, my own bedroom, a
sitting room for this viper (my wife!) here, a very fi ne
porter’s room, and it holds guests to any amount.
Th ere are a lot of other things too that I’ll show you
by and by. Take my word for it, if you have a penny
you’re worth a penny, you are valued for just what
you have. Yesterday your friend was a frog, he’s a
king today—that’s the way it goes.”From: William Stearns Davis, ed.,
Readings in Ancient History: Illustrative
Extracts from the Sources. Vol. 2: Rome
and the West (Boston: Allyn and Bacon,
1912–1913).(cont inues)0895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i1110 1110 10/10/07 2:31:07 PM