Worlds Apart Trading Together: The organisation of long-distance trade between Rome and India in Antiquity

Cover
Copyright Page
List of Figures
	Preface
	Abbreviations
	Introduction
Chapter 1
	A brief historiography of Indo-Roman trade
	What’s in a name?
Chapter 2
	Ancient history ‘from below’
	Theoretical perspectives
Chapter 3
	Turning the tables on Indo-Roman trade
		The collegium of ivory- and citrus wood traders
		Beyond the mirror: the cultural biography of an ivory statuette
		Fitting Indian ivory with Roman furniture
		The shreni of ivory carvers
		Following the flows of people and products, fashion and furniture
Figure 1
Inscription of the collegium of negotiatores eborarii et citriarii; CIL VI, 33,885. Source: Borsari 1887: pl. 1.
Figure 2
Figure 3
Ivory statuette from Pompeii, front; height 24.5 cm. Museo archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, in the ‘Gabinetto Segreto,’ inv.no. 149425. Photograph by the author.
Same as Figure 2, back. Photograph by the author.
Figure 4
Same as Figure 2, detail of hole penetrating the crown of the head down to the waist. Photograph by the author.
Drawing of Pompeii figurine’s base. Source: Maiuri 1938–9: 112, fig. 1.
Figure 5
Begram ivory statuette, height 45 cm; Hackin 1939: no. 320a. Source: Hackin 1954: fig. 234.
Begram ivory statuette, height 45.6 cm; Hackin 1939: no. 320b. Source: Hackin 1954: fig. 235.
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Ivory statuette encased in ivory frame at Begram. Source: Hackin 1939: fig. 75 (no. 320a in situ).
Elephant-headed ivory leg from Begram, height 26 cm; Hackin 1939: no. 342. Source: Hackin 1939: fig. 229.
Figure 9
Elephant-headed bed legs, stone relief from Gandhara. Source: Marshall 1960: pl. 91, fig. 127. Copyright: Cambridge University Press.
Figure 10
Drawing of detail from mural in Ajanta Cave 1, cf. Takata 1971: pl. 89.
Figure 11
Drawing of detail from mural in Ajanta Cave 17, cf. Takata 1971: pl. 36.
Figure 12
Figure 13
Wooden, three-legged Roman table form Herculaneum, animal legs and griffins’ heads with ivory eyes (= Mols 1999: cat.no. 18). Copyright: S. Mols.
Figure 14
Roman bronze table converted into brazier. Source: Pernice 1908: 108, fig. 1.
Figure 15
Wooden armrest support from Loulan, Xinjiang. Source: Stein 1921, IV: pl. XXXIV.
Figure 16
Ivory faun from the Naples area, approximate height 20–5 cm. In Museo archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, 1st floor, room LXXXVIII, ‘La collezione degli oggetti in avorio ed osso.’ Photograph by the author.
Chapter 4
	The invisible hand of Roman organisations
		The collegium of goldsmiths and clusters of craftsmen in the jewellery trade
		The collegium of frankincense and perfume traders
		The collegium of spice traders and the Pepper Warehouses
		The organisation of silk-weavers and traders
		Organising the world of consumption
Chapter 5
	Demand and supply in Rome and the provinces
		Luxurious spices at everyday prices?
		Pepper trade in the provinces
		Perfume trade in the provinces
		The long reach of interlocking markets
Chapter 6
	The modus operandi of Roman long-distance trade
		All routes lead to Rome—and India!
		Networks at work: from Campania to the Red Sea coast and beyond
		Eastern commerce, Western contracts: from Alexandria to Muziris
		Taxes, the Alexandrian elite, and how it takes a fox to catch a fox
		The not-so-invisible hand of Egyptian organisations
		Big fish and small fry: well off merchants and small-time traders
Chapter 7
	Towards a wider world of trade in the ancient Indian Ocean
		Egyptian ports of the desert, gateways of the sea
		Arabs, Axumites, and Indians in the desert
		The long arm of organised commerce: Petra and Palmyra
		Allegory of the cave. An inside out view of maritime trade
		Taxes, trade, and contracting corporations of merchants
		Merchants making money at the margins
Chapter 8
	The invisible hand of Indian organisations
		Ivory carvers, weavers, and sea-going merchants in Western India
		Producing pearls, precious stones, and pepper in South India
		Organising the world of production
Figure 17
Outside view of the vihara at Nashik whose verandah is inscribed with Ushavadata’s endowment along its upper walls, Maharashtra. Photograph by the author.
Figure 18
Inside view of the Karla chaitya hall, Maharashtra. Photograph by the author.
Figure 19
View of the drip ledge and cave shelter on Mangulam Hill sponsored by the president of the merchants of nearby Vellarai. His inscription can be traced (faintly) along the side of the chiselled cliff face. Tamil Nadu. Photograph by the author.
Conclusion
	Worlds apart trading together
	Maps
	Bibliography
Map 1: Overview of the Mediterranean World
Map 2: Overview of the Indian Ocean
Map 3: Latium and Campania, Italia
Map 4: Central Mediterranean
Map 5: Eastern Mediterranean
Map 6: Western Provinces
Map 7: Upper Adriatic Sea
Map 8: Near East
Map 10: Bay of Aden
Map 9: Upper Red Sea
Map 11: Western Indian Ocean
Map 14: North India
Map 15: Eastern Indian Ocean
Map 16: Central Asia and Tarim Basin
Contents Page