Indo-Roman Trade - Rise and Demise - Masters Thesis

8/10/2019 Indo-Roman Trade - Rise and Demise - Masters Thesis

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INDO-ROMAN TRADE:

RISE AND DEMISE

by

Parisa Atighimoghadam

September 1st, 2012

A thesis submitted to the

Faculty of the Graduate School of

The University at Buffalo, State University of New York

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

degree of

Master of Arts

Department of Art History


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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my advisors, Professor Vance Watrous and Professor Stephen Dyson, for

their help and guidance throughout this project and the rest of my graduate work at UB. In addition, I

would like to thank the Visual Studies Departments Administrator, Peggy Moffitt, who led me through

the minefield of academic paperwork and bureaucracy with incredible grace and agility. Moreover, I must

thank my wonderfully patient husband, Morteza Asgarzadeh, for his love and support through this

journey. Finally I would like to thank my father and mother for their constant support and encouragement

through my education life.


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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ii

Abstract iv

Introduction- Indo-Roman Trade: Rise and Demise 1-5

Section I- Indo-Roman trade network: Significant ports 6-14

Section II- Chronology of Decline 15-22

Section III- Reasons for Decline 23-29

Conclusions 30-32

Images 33-36

Bibliography 37-39


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Abstract

This thesis offers an examination of the history of Indo-Roman trade from its rise in about second

century B.C.E., to its demise in the seventh century C.E. The main focus of this research is on the

chronology and reasons for the decline in the Indo-Roman trade. Through a consideration of the political

and economic history of the Roman world, the rise of Sassanians and later Arab Muslims, as well as the

diplomacy of Sogdians and Christian merchants with Indians and Chinese, it is argued that the decline in

Roman trade in the third century C.E. was merely a disruption in a long history of constant relations

between East and the West. In addition, the main decline in the history of Indo-Roman trade happened in

the late Sassanian period and early Islamic era when the diplomacy between Arabia and the Persians and

later Muslim rulers, made them the supreme rulers of trade.


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Introduction- Indo-Roman Trade: Rise and Demise

The history of Indian Ocean trade networks dates back to the third millennium B.C.E.

when the lack of important resources, such as timber and metals in Mesopotamia, spurred trade

with the nations in the Persian Gulf, Central Asia, and Indus Valley. A genial climate and fertile

soil, coupled with industry made the Indian people mostly independent of the foreigners. For

secondary needs such as glass, tin, lead, amber and some medicines, however, they were

dependent on trade with the West.1

Moreover, the connections with the Harappan culture in the

Indus Valley, orMaluhha,the name found used in Sumerian hymns throughout the Persian Gulf,

helped the smaller societies such as Oman, orMagan, to develop a complex trade system.

Approximately around 2000 B.C.E. a dramatic change occurred in the Near East and the

Indian Ocean trade system. The center of urbanization in India moved from Indus Valley to the

southeast, and to the Ganges plain; Cyprus replaced Oman as the main supplier of copper (hence

the wordKuprios: metal from Cyprus), and Assyrian and the Hittites emerged in the northwest of

Mesopotamia. Whatever the reason for all these changes, many scholars agree that the rapidity of

the changes, which occurred over a period of 100 years, is no coincidence. Information about the

Indian Ocean prior to the age of Periplus is not precise because of the scarcity of the written

sources. The Egyptian records of the Old Kingdom, however, mention the land of Punt as a

supplier of gold, myrrh, ivory and exotic animals. Though this land cannot be located precisely

in the modern map of the world, it should be somewhere in the Indian subcontinent. The Iron

Age is most important for the caravan trade between the Near East and the Mediterranean. There

are imitated coins from the Athenian owls discovered in the South Arabian Kingdoms as late

as the first century C.E. A. Avnazinis research provides a thorough understanding of the

1Mookerji, 1912: 82, 83


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relations between East and West in that period. In the second half of the first millennium B.C.E.,

Hellenistic and Parthian rulers established trade networks in the northern part of the Indian

subcontinent.2

Later, the Roman conquests of Syria and Egypt in the first century B.C.E. opened two

major routes for the emerging Roman Empire to trade with India. About a hundred years later,

Pliny the Elder describes India as The sole mother of precious stones.3The imported textiles in

the Roman world could be mainly divided into cotton and silk. The cotton textiles were imported

from Arabia, Persia and India, or were locally grown and woven in Egypt. The weaving patterns

in Egypt and India are different, thus it is possible to identify the origins of the textile

discoveries. In a late Roman trash deposit from a residential corner at Berenike, one garment of

resist-dyed cotton was discovered which shows similarities with two scraps found along the

Silk Road in Western China, and also with paintings from Ajanta Caves in India, all from the

fifth century. These similarities along with other findings in Berenike, China and Ajanta Caves

point to the existence of a mass production clothing factory in India which fed the domestic

market as well as the export of goods to the Roman world, Central Asia and China. No silk

textile has been discovered in Berenike but silk and silk imitating Chinese style textiles have

been found in Palmyra. Indian silk has been discovered in Dora Europas.4 Interestingly, the

Chinese believed the Romans had their own silk production.5

Pearls were one of the most demanded items in the Roman world. A beautiful gold-wire

earring with five small pearls has been discovered at Berenike, which is stylistically similar to

2Seland, 2007: 4, 5

3Mookerji, 1912: 131

4Sidebotham, 2011: 243, 244

5Leslie and Gardiner, 1996: 225-228


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the Fayum portraits of second and early third century C.E. These pearls came mostly from the

Persian Gulf as Pliny suggests, or from the Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka, as

Periplus indicates. Sri Lankan pearls were especially highly prized because of their large size,

according to a third century B.C.E ambassador and writer Megasthenes.6

As a result of Indo-Roman maritime trade, the Eastern African desert and Red Sea Coast

experienced its greatest population levels between the Roman annexations of Egypt in 30 B.C.E

and the later fifth and sixth centuries C.E. There were two major routes for Indo-Roman trade

(figure I). One route started in Alexandria, went down the Nile to Koptos, crossed the eastern

Egyptian desert by camels, and arrived at Berenike and Myos Hormos (figure II). The other route

was through Syria and started from Antioch, went down to Palmyra, from there to the mouth of

Euphrates and Tigris and into the Persian Gulf.7Though they didnt create the routes, Roman

merchants and sailors used the indigenous networks to make a great profit by importing various

goods (e.g. silk, spices, pearls, drugs, ivory and precious stones) from the east. The government

had its own profit share by getting a twenty five percent tax from all imported goods.8

In this ancient business, banks seem to have helped with the payment of taxes only, while

some businessmen individually or in groups, and also some of the temples provided the loans for

the risky commercial maritime ventures in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The rates of these

loans, ranging from 12 to 30 percent or more, increased with the high-risk trips. In Muziris

Papyrus, located in modern day Vienna, a price of 6,930,000-drachma was mentioned for a

single cargo.9A sum of 7 million drachmas was a typical load for such cargoes, and this would

6Sidebotham, 2011: 237

7Romanis and Tchernia, 1997: 166

8Seland, 2007: 4, 5, 206, 208



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have been sufficient to construct an aqueduct for the city of Alexandria Troas in Asia Minor

during the reign of Hadrian.10

This gives a good idea of the size of the Indo-Roman commerce

during its apex.

Very important sources for the study of Indo-Roman trade are the texts from Cornelius

Celus (mid-First century B.C.E. to mid-first century C.E.), Pliny the Elder (mid-first century

C.E.), Strabo (first Century C.E.), Claudios Ptolemy (first century C.E.), and the writer of

Periplus of the Eritrean Sea(mid first century C.E.).

Cornelius Celsus wrote a relevant book, a section of which has survived, called De

Menicina.In this section, Celsus uses a list of ingredients for prescriptions that are all imported

items from India, South Arabia, and the Horn of Africa. The regularity that he uses these items in

his list shows the abundance of these items and the substantial Roman commerce that took place

in Berenike and Myos Hormos. If one compares his notes with those from Dioscordes in

Matreria Medica, written half a century later (first century C.E), it is obvious that a much greater

knowledge of imported botanical species was obtained as a result of continued commerce with

the east during that time. A few decades later Pliny the Elder, in his bookNatural History(about

50 and 77 C.E), clearly had more information about commerce and imported items than both

Strabo and Celus. This fascination with eastern and exotic goods continued to the middle of the

second century C.E when Claudius Ptolemy published his Geography. His book is different from

his precedents in his use of geographical concepts such as longitude and latitude and degrees and

seconds. His book contains the names and locations of ports from beyond Britain in the

northwest to Southeast Asia.11

10Casson, 1990: 205 note 29

11Sidebotham, 2011: 14,15


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South Indian literature especially Tamil Sangam poems are also very helpful sources of

information about Indian trade with the Westerners. These poems talk about foreigners who

came to Muziris to collect black pepper. They call these westerners Yavanas, which describes

not only the Romans, but also the Persians.12

The term Yavana entered the Indian languages

from the west, being a Semitic and perhaps originally Hebrew term that was used for the Ionian

Greeks and later for Alexanders Hellenistic and Indo-Greek successors. In India it was mostly

used for the local Greek-speaking residents- but according to linguists, it had a broader meaning

of stranger or foreigner in Tamil areas in the south, where it was used from the days of

Alexander to 7

th

century C.E.

13

Indo-Roman trade, which is the subject of this research, reached its peak around the first

century B.C.E. to the second century C.E. Almost all of the evidence in India from the coins,

shipwrecks, amphorae and ceramic shreds, glass, beads, etc. indicate that The Roman commerce

faced a decline in the third century C.E., coinciding with the economic and political problems of

the entire Roman Empire. There are different ideas about the reasons for this decline and its

exact dates, which will be discussed in the following chapters.


13Seland, 2007: 72


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Section I- Indo-Roman trade network: Significant ports

During the late Julio-Claudian period, the Augustan idea of an orbis terrarium subiectus

imperio populi Romani, was subject to Roman imperialism and was combined with the concept

of the world as a sphere for the Roman merchants resulting from the commercial routes.14

The

Roman merchants, who sailed from Egypt to India, used a double dating system: one according

to the Egyptian revolving year, and the other according to the Roman Julian year, and it is

revealing to see that Pliny, as a non-Egyptian writer, showed an interest and respect for the local

Egyptian culture, and used both of the calendars in his notes.15

The roads of the Eastern African desert that were developed and repaired by the Romans,

were just a fraction of the vast Roman highway network which extended for about 80,000 km of

major and 32,000 km of secondary roads.16

The Romans, however, mostly used the existing

roads, refurbished and extended the older Ptolemic routes, and renovated the stations and ports to

develop their trade system. Sidebotham divides the major Roman trade networks into five

categories, based on the traded commodities: Amber, Salt/Slave, Trans-Arabian Incense, Silk,

and Maritime Spice.17

The two important Roman ports in Africa for trade, Berenike and Myos

Hormos,18

were located by the shores of the Red Sea.

Berenike and Myos Hormos: Berenike was located south of Ras (Cape) Benas. It was

founded in the first half of the third century B.C.E. and was abandoned around 550 C.E. Its

location was carefully chosen at a port protected from the strong alongshore current.

19

Pliny


15Romanis and Tchernia, 1997: 171, 172

16Hopkins, 1988: 759-76017

Sidebotham, 2011: 206, 20818

Romanis and Tchernia, 1997: 16619Sidebotham, 2011: 9


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describes the route from Juliopolis, sailing up the Nile for twelve days to Koptos, taking another

twelve days by camels and through the caravan route.20

The most significant import to Berenike was black pepper from southern India. Long

pepper was also shipped to Mediterranean from Barygaza on the northwest coast of India, and

was cultivated in northern India. It is mentioned, however, that the price for long pepper was

four times as black pepper, hence the preference for black pepper in the Mediterranean.21

Numerous ancient authors reported on Berenike and its relation with other areas in the

ancient world. Strabo, in his Geography, which was written at the time of intense Roman

commerce (late first century B.C.E and early first century C.E), talks about Berenike and Myos

Hormos as two of the most important Egyptian Red Sea ports.22

Some of the archaeological finds

at Berenike, such as formal inscriptions, ostraka, statues, graffiti, and papyri provide information

about the people involved in the commerce. There are even archives of the names of individuals

associated with the Berenike customs house, and a corpus of lists of the Roman military

members who were involved in the water supply of the city. Probably the most famous of these

archives, is the Nikanor Ostraka Archive, which belongs to a family of camel owners from

Koptos who were involved in the transportation of goods between the Nile valley, Berenike, and

Myos Hormos between late first century B.C.E to the 60th

decade C.E.23

Several generations of

the Nikanor family transported commodities, and indicated that Myos Hormos was in



22Sidebotham, 2011: 1323Sidebotham, 2011: 69


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competition with Berenike as a trade port.24

This is confirmed by excavation documents of

Roman activity in this city between the first and third centuries C.E.25

(figure IV)

Another very important port in Western Asia was Palmyra, which played a special role in

the late third century as a port between Persia and Rome. This port, however, finally leads to its

own destruction.26

The city was the major caravan port in the eastern Roman Empire, which is

documented as far as South Shields on Hadrians Wall (around the second century C.E), and

Rome. There is a bilingual Latin-Palmyrene dedication to the gods of Palmyra and a Palmyrene

sanctuary outside the Porta Portese of 236 C.E. There are also Palmyrene tombs recorded on

Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf and two grave stelae tombs from late second/early third century

C.E in Merv, Turkmenistan. The Palmyrene were soldiers and merchants at Nile cities and they

also may have had a settlement at the mouth of Indus River. The population of Palmyra was a

vibrant hybrid of Semitic, Hellenic, and Roman cultures. They were interested in a variety of

imported goods, such as Chinese silk, which has been uncovered at the early Roman tombs near

the city.27

Finally the last very important trading port for the Indo-Roman network was Khor-Roy,

which is located in southern Arabia and is known from the inscriptions as Sumhuram. Khor-Roy

is also known to be the outpost of the Kingdom of Hadramawt associated with the incense trade

in thePeriplus. This site was explored by archaeologists in 50s and 60s, but the excavations that

took place in 1996 by the Italian Mission in Oman headed by Alessandria Avanzini and

24Sidebotham, 2011: 18425 Whitcomb and Johnson (1979); Whitcomb and Johnson (1981); Whitcomb and Johnson (1981-1982); Whitcomb

and Johnson (1982a); Whitcomb and Johnson (1982b); Vogelsang-Eastwood (1989); Whitcomb (1996); Whitcomb

(1999); Meyer (1992); Hiebert (1991); Peacock et al. (1999; 2000; 2001b; 2002; 2003); Peacock and Blue (2006c);

Alston (2002): 341.26

Canepa, 2009: 8227

Sidebotham, 2011: 211, 212


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Alexander V. Sedov determined a new chronology for the city as being founded in the third

century B.C.E. and abandoned in the fifth century C.E. The architecture of the city including

temples, palaces, residential areas and strong walls of defense, showed that Sumhuram was

certainly an important trading post. The wealth of this city arrived from the export of

Frankincense in the early centuries C.E. to the Roman Empire.28

The Romans never controlled the Persian Gulf, except for two years towards the end of

the reign of Trajan (115-117 C.E), and only for a segment of the northern portion.29

There seems

to be little direct contact with the Persian Gulf and the east coast of India. These two regions

figure little inPeriplus. One of the rare examples of expeditions sent to the Persian Gulf is that

of a traveler of the Augustan era, named Isidore or Dionysus from Charax, near Basra at the head

of the Persian Gulf. He surveyed the Caravan routes down the Euphrates to Central Asia.

According to Pliny the Elder (NH 6.31.141), he wrote a report called Parthian Stations, a portion

of which survives today.30

In the Indian subcontinent itself, the most important ports that had direct contact with the

Romans were the ones located on the western, southern, and southwestern coasts.31

Geographically. India is comprised of two major sections: Deccan and Tamilakam. The most

important trading ports in these two regions, starting from the north are Taxila, Begram,

Barbarikon, Barygaza, Tamluk, Muziris/ Pattanam and Poduke/ Arkamedu.

Taxila and Begram: In Central Asia and near to the mouth of Indus River, which leads to the

Arabian Sea, there are two very important sites and trading ports. One of these is Taxila, located

28Seland, 2007: 23-27



Sidebotham, 2011: 190


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in modern day Pakistan, which lies on the route from Bactria to Indus, and served as the capital

of Gandhara, which produced a unique Hellenistic-Roman style during the Kushan period

(second century B.C.E. to the third century C.E.). In Taxila one can find, Persian, Indian and

Hellenistic elements merged with each other. The other is Begram, located in modern day

Afghanistan, at the crossroads of Mesopotamia and India, serving as the corridor from

Afghanistan to China. Most of the discoveries in Begram belong to the second century C.E.,

some with Egyptian and Mediterranean sources.

Barbarikon and Barygaza: The most frequently discussed ports by Periplus, in the

Western part of the Indian subcontinent, are Barbarikon and Barygaza, both located on the

western side of the subcontinent and close to the mouth of the Indus. A variety of imported

amphorae from Mediterranean and also the so-called Torpedo jars, which are found in large

numbers in the Persian Gulf, are among the discoveries from Barygaza. This shows the interest

for trade with Mediterranean, as well as the Parthian/Sassanian influence on the region.32

One of

the items found in Barygaza from Roman Empire is a wine amphorae. Most of the wine sold in

Barygaza was from Italy and Laodicia in Syria. Accordingly, the amphora fragments found in

west and central India seem to be a result of a barter trade between western and eastern

Mediterranean goods.33

Tamluk: Tamluk is located on the northeast Deccan Plateau and the west side of the Bengal bay.

In Tamluk, an intaglio, bearing the face of Augustus, was among the earliest discoveries.. This

however was lost in time, and no significant number of coins was ever found in the region.

32Tomber, 2008: 126



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Nevertheless, according to the textual documents, such as Periplus, Gangetic cotton was

exported from Tamluk to Egypt, and from there entered the Roman Empire.34

Poduke/Arikamedu: The vessels found in Arikamedu, come from different places in Italy to the

Eastern Mediterranean, and the dates range from 10 B.C.E. to 50 C.E. The amphorae sherds also

belong to the second century B.C.E. (the Greek Koan amphorae), to the later second century

C.E., with the peak of occupation between 50 B.C.E. to 50 C.E.35

Muziris/ Pattanam: Muziris is the most important port in Periplusespecially for the export of

black pepper, and is located on the Kerala coast. A Sangam poem reports, the flourishing

town of Muchiri where the large beautiful ships built by Yavanas came with gold, disturbing the

white foams of the fair Periyar returned with pepper.36

. This port was operative from the first

century B.C.E. to the third century C.E. The excavation discoveries include Torpedo jars from

the Persian Gulf, storage jars from Yemen, Roman amphorae and four hoards of coins, extending

to the second century C.E. By the late roman period trade at Muziris had declined and was

eventually replaced by other ports on the Malabar coast.37

Amongst the archaeological discoveries in Western and southwestern India there are

certain nonperishable items which indicate Mediterranean contact. These items are the Roman

denarii and aurei, fragments of transport amphoras for wine and olive oil, fine dinnerware,

copper-alloy statuettes, glass and terracotta oil lamps.38

Raw glass, finished glass, and glass

stones are mentioned inPeriplus(6,7,17,39,49,56) as exported items to India and Arabia. Some

of this glass was manufactured in Upper Egypt at Diospolis (Thebes). Chinese texts and

34Tomber, 2008: 128, 129

35Tomber, 2008: 136, 137

36Tomber, 2008: 141

37Tomber, 2008: 142, 143



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archaeological discoveries also account for glass exports as far as China from Roman, Sassanian

and Islamic origins.39

There are about thirty sites in India in which fragments of amphorae have been

discovered. These sites are mostly situated on the Tamilnadu coast, where Arikamedu

excavations have taken place. There is little known about the consumption of wine in India, and

it is suggested that at least some of this wine was meant for the consumption of the few Greek

and Romans settled there.40

Indians and Arabians both highly prized the Mediterranean wines

and red coral as imports from the Roman World. Both Periplusand the Tamil Sangam poems,

roughly dated to the first century C.E, indicate this.41

The national archaeological museum of Chieti houses a bas relief fragment that depicts a

dromedary bearing two wine amphorae, with one man wearing a tunic, six wearing togas, and a

woman (Figure V). It is suggested that this is a picture of a family business, and it can illustrate

the type of transport between Koptos and Myos Hormos, which took twelve days according to

Pliny.42

The wine imported by India, mainly should have served the Indians themselves. In the

History of Alexander the Great(8.9.30), written from secondary sources during the first century

AD, Quintus Curtius describes an Indian king, Women prepare his food, they also serve his

wine, the use of which is lavish with all the Indian people.43

The wine, however, could be partly

for the consumption of the few Romans who stayed for trade. The merchants needed to settle

down for some time at some of these ports, until the monsoon for return arrived. For example,

some of the powerful Italian families may have had agents in Egypt for their trade. This is

39Sidebotham, 2011: 234, 235


41Sidebotham, 2011: 250, 251


43Tomber, 2008: 150


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confirmed by the discovery of a bilingual inscription on the wall of the Wadi Menih Cave,

between Koptos and Berenike. Another piece of evidence comes from P.A. Gianfrotta, who

related the name Peticius Marsus, inlaid on a Diano Marina Wreck in Liguria, to that of M.

Attius Peticius Marsus, inlaid in silver at the foot of a replica statue of Hercules (figure III),

found in the sanctuary of Hercules near Sulmo. He suggests that both of these belong to the same

person, who was a merchant from the first century C.E and a ship owner who wanted to donate

the statue of Hercules, the protector of the merchants, to protect his business.44

It is mentioned in the Peutinger Table that a temple of Augustus existed in Muziris,

which was probably dedicated to the contemporary emperor. Based on this temple, many of the

scholars have suggested that a population of foreigners or Yavans, as the Indian called them,

must have resided in this port at the time. There is also a Tamil Sangam poem that mentions a

Yavana settlement at Pahur. But this temple might also have been erected as a diplomatic

maneuver by the indigenous people or possibly be dedicated to an Indian deity whose name was

misunderstood by the Romans.45

But the most well-known emporium in India, which was also

active in long-distance trade with the Roman world and Southeast Asia was Poduke, or modern

day Arikamedu. Periplus(60) and Claudius Ptolemy (Geography7.1) called it Poduca

Emporium/Poduke, and there are indication of its involvement in trade from the second, or

more likely, the first century B.C.E through the Augustan era and into the fifth century C.E. In

Poduke, archaeologists have uncovered hundreds of Mediterranean-made amphorae sherds from

Spain, Gaul, and northern Adriatic and the Aegean regions, and even southern Arabia.46





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Eventually, Roman merchants got involved with southeastern Asia as well. Pliny records

the discovery of Taprobane (Sri Lanka) by a freedman of a certain Annius Plocamus. (N.H. VI,

84-5). In this record, the freedman was sent to collect the taxes of the Red Sea, where he makes it

to the harbor of Hippuri in Taprobane and was greeted hospitably by the king of that land. He

stayed for six months and learned about their language. The most interesting section of this story

is the extreme interest that the king shows in the Roman denarii, because of their equal weight in

spite of the difference of the images on the coins. This persuaded him to send four envoys in

order to extend his friendship with the Roman Empire.47

It seems that the money in circulation in the ancient and medieval Indian subcontinent

and modern day Sri Lanka, must have developed in different stages, by different provinces and

surrounding a variety of material. This caused serious problems when trade was intensified. For

example, the tax collectors and treasury officers would cut three percent from the value of the

coins which have been circulating for more than a year, and in this uncertain situation the

peasant would not know if the coin he is receiving for his crop, would be of any use to him when

he wants to pay his rent. So the Roman denarii basically satisfied the need in Indian society for

justice and stability, where the Indian monetary system was incapable of doing so.48


48Romanis and Tchernia, 1997: 183-185


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Section II- Chronology of Decline

One of the methods for studying the size and chronology of Indo-Roman trade is the

research on the distribution of the coins found in India. More than 6,000 silver and gold coins,

mainly in hoards, have been discovered in the Indian subcontinent. There are certain problems,

however, when one deals with the Roman coins found in India. Indians treated Roman coinage

as bullion, by their weight, and the reason for burying the coins in hoards, is to secure the wealth

of the merchant while he is away from his home during times of unrest. The merchant or his

family, however, may have never the chance to come back and regain their wealth because they

were either killed or deported.49Geographically, most of the coins were found in the western and

southwestern India. The mere discovery of Roman coins in a place, however, doesnt always

indicate the Roman presence in the region, as the Roman coins were easily accepted in the non-

Roman mercantile network and used by other merchants as well. The fact that the author of

Periplusdidnt have first-hand knowledge about Persian Gulf, or the eastern Indian subcontinent,

is an indication for Roman absence in these places, yet there are Roman coins discovered there

which show limited or indirect trade. On the other hand, in places such as Barbarikon, which is

located at the mouth of Indus River, and is discussed inPeriplusas an important trading port for

Lapis Lazuli and Chinese silk, Roman coins are nearly absent. This latter issue could be

explained by the fact that the Roman coins were melted down and didnt enter the open market

in these places.50

Turner identified three main hoard types for the Roman coins in India. The first type is

the early Julio-Claudian coins of Augustus and Tiberius, which are denarii, found in fairly good

49Seland, 2007: 62

50Seland, 2007: 63, 64


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condition. The second type is of the later Julio-Claudian, mostly Tiberius and Claudius, which

are aurei and found in fewer numbers. Finally the third type is post Julio-Claudian from second

century C.E., which is in excellent condition. The fourth hoard type, not discussed by Turner are

the gold solidi from the fourth and fifth centuries, and fewer from the sixth and early seventh

centuries C.E.51

Chronologically, the silver denarii show predominance during the early Imperial period,

from the reign of Augustus and Tiberius, and very little from the post-Nero reforms in 64 C.E.

when the percentage of silver in the coins was reduced. But the gold coins, aurei, show a later

distribution; there is a decline in the number of gold coins from post-Nero reforms similar to the

silver coins. There is a gap of evidence in the third century, but evidence from the fourth century

on, the Roman gold coins, solidi, reappear both in India and Sri Lanka. The latest Roman gold

coins in India belong to 7th

century C.E. and the reign of Heraclius.52

Some of the earlier authors such as R. Sewell, P.L Gupta and P.J Turner, who drew

conclusions about chronology and geography of Indian-Roman trade, merely based on

numismatic distribution, stated that there was a major thrust of trade in the later part of the

Augustan era, followed by minor trade activities in the second century C.E. and a new rise of

Roman trade in the fourth and fifth centuries.53

D.W. MacDowall, A. Burnett and J.C. Mayer provide a more complex image of the

Roman trade based on numismatic study, differing from that of their precedents. Their argument

is mostly based on the composition and condition of the coins found in India. 54

Scholars have

51Tomber, 2008: 31, 33

52Seland, 2007: 63, 64

53Seland, 2007: 59, 60

54Seland, 2007: 60, 61


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been interested in studying the composition of Roman silver coins from at least 1834 when

Ernest von Bibra published essays regarding 15 early imperial denarii.55

The Roman state

manipulated the silver bullion content of the denarius coinage under the pressure of meeting

public obligations, as a means for collecting taxes and preventing deficits. This was common in

slight amounts until the crisis of the late second century during which the state was forced to

reduce the silver content in the coins substantially.56

Firstly, most of the surviving denarii or

aurei of the Julio-Claudian period in India show extensive signs of wear, which reveals their

circulation for some time before their arrival in India. Secondly, the silver purity of the denarii

discoveries in India is higher than those common in the Roman Empire. This shows that the

Indian merchants were extremely knowledgeable and talented in choosing the pure coins, which

they would have been able to identify by their distinctive reverse type. These two facts about the

condition of the coins show that they were carefully selected from the Roman currency for this

purpose of trade with India. The calling of worn coins in 107 C.E. by Trajan not only marks the

end of the circulation of pre-Neronian coins in the Empire, but also the start of their export to

Indian subcontinent. This argument changes the date of the import of Roman coins to India to

later than what Turner and others supposed.57

In the excavations of Berenike between 1994-2001 and 2009-2010, most of the

identifiable coins were minted during the first three quarters of the first century C.E. If one

compares this with the numerous finds of coins in Tiberius in India and the reintroduction of

55Bowman and Wilson, 2009: 269

56Bowman and Wilson, 2009: 281, 282

57Seland, 2007: 60, 61


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tetradrachm in Egypt during his reign, one can suggest increased mercantile activity during this

period.58

This is conversely followed by a dramatic decline in the quantity of texts, coins, pottery

and other items after the early second century C.E. There is also very little evidence for trade

activity and nothing that indicates physical appearance of ships or harbor facilities at Berenike in

the later second, third and the first half of the fourth century C.E.59

There are different reasons

that can be suggested for this decline. Sidebotham suggests both political and economic unrest in

Egypt and generally in the whole empire (with Germanic tribes on the northern borders and

Parthians and Sassanians on the eastern frontier) for this decline, and finally a complete halt in

trade via Berenike. He says:

Political unrest and open rebellion along the Nile, including an attack on the Nile cities of Koptos

and Ptolemais by the nomadic Blemmyes; and increase in the banditry and Bedouin activities in the Eastern

Desert, which is evident from excavations along the Myos Hormos-Nole road; and a decline in the

international trade passing through Berenike may all have played a role in this decline in the fortunes of the

port.

Moreover, the problems in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, including the wars in southern

Arabia among the states of Saba, Himyar, and Hadramaut in the second century , and

Abyssinians attack against the Kingdom of Himyar during the early third century through 270

C.E that resulted in the annexation of Abbysinians, Saba and Hadramaut by Hymiar; and finally

the piracy in India exacerbated the constant piracy in the Red Sea. Piracy in India was considered

to be even more threatening, according to Periplus(53), and must have influenced the

accessibility of many of the ports in India and availability of certain imported products in the




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Roman Empire.60

In many cities along the Nile, this was also a time for rebellion against Roman

authorities and high taxes and duties, due to which many fled into the deserts. By the mid-forth

century, and into the fifth century, there are many archaeological indications that the commerce

in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean in general, and in Berenike in particular had revived.

Nevertheless, the city was finally abandoned in the mid-sixth century C.E.61

The hypothesis for

the demise of Berenike is that the Axumite and Arab dominance over trade by the late fifth and

early sixth centuries, blocked Berenike from the competition completely.62

Archaeological finds, including coins and pottery, in Axum show that this city served as a

major trading port from the late third and early fourth century. The first Axumite minted coins

are from this period. Although Axumite coins were not found anywhere outside its Kingdom,

there are imitations of these coins minted in India and the eastern Roman Empire, which

indicates its political and commercial importance. There is also speculation that the king of

Axum originally came from Himyar, which if being correct, can together signify a very strong

dominance over trade and even control the Bab al-Mandeb, the narrow strait joining the Red Sea

to the Indian Ocean.63

In addition to the economic and political unrest, several other sources indicate that a

virulent plague, smallpox or measles, struck Egypt and the eastern Roman Empire, likely starting

in the spring of 166 C. E. This may have caused a decline in population of many parts of Egypt

and trade activity in Berenike as well.64

The steady silting of the harbor and pro-gradation of the


Sidebotham, 2011: 260, 26162


Sidebotham, 2011: 27864Sidebotham, 2011: 64


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20

coastline is another factor suggested by Sidebotham, in the decline of not only Berenike but also

Myos Hormos, throughout their history.65

The zenith of Indo-Roman trade in the Indian Ocean has been suggested to be between 38

B.C.E to 37 C.E, as indicated by the large number of Augustan and Tiberian denarii discovered

in India. As mentioned above, many of the scholars, however, have related this to the superiority

and purity of these coins compared to the ones from later periods. Indian merchants preferred

these coins because of their purity, and many of these coins must have arrived in India later than

the first century. Archaeological discoveries in Berenike, Myos Hormos and Koptos supports this

suggestion and shows that the climax of trade activity in this region occurred during the

Claudian, Neronian, and Flavian eras (41-96 C.E) and into the second century C.E.66

So the coins

could have arrived in India in bullion during later periods. It should be noted, to the contrary, that

none of the Roman denarii or aurei, which were in demand in India have been found in any of

the ports such as Myos Hormos, Berenike or Marsa Nakari. This suggests that the coins were

most probably destined for India and Arabia and were loaded carefully on the ships, so that they

werentlost on the way in Egypt.67

This is also confirmed by a Nikanor ostrakon dated 62 C.E.

that refers to a shipment of bullion to Myos Hormos, most certainly to export goods to the Indian

Ocean, and also by an early second century papyrus which deals with the price of silver bullion

at Koptos, destined again for eastern commerce.68

Most of the first century Roman coins in India

were found in hoards. This indicates political difficulties and military turmoil and war between






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21

major south Indian states, where the traders had to bury the coins to save them,; these wars are

mentioned in Tamil poems.69

In addition to the aforementioned issues in the Indo-Roman numismatic study, many of

the Roman silver coins found in India have been deliberately defaced, and here are two

suggested explanations for this. One suggestion is that the defacement was a test for the weight

and fineness of the coins. This is due to the fact that many of the early Indian coins were also

punch-marked. In India, the coins could have served a variety of roles, for temple offerings,

exchange purposes (as coinage or bullion), jewelry, symbolic purposes or gift giving.70

An additional good source of information is the number of shipwrecks. A. J. Parker

provides a graph of the shipwrecks that shows an impressive peak in the last two centuries

B.C.E. and the first two centuries C.E., with a decline in third century. Alan Bowman and

Andrew Wilson, however, mention that the shipwrecks should be studied with extreme caution,

as the wrecks are spotted under water usually by the mound formed on the seabed by their cargo.

This is why only those shipwrecks have survived, which were either amphora cargos, or loads of

architectural marble, while ships carrying perishable items never survive. Therefore, one can

argue that the move from amphora to wooden barrels, as the preferred container of trading

liquids, was the main reason for the decline in the number of surviving shipwrecks between

second and 7th centuries C.E.71

But comparing different sources of evidence with each other, it appears that the peak of

Indo-Roman trade in general must have been from the first to the mid second century C.E., while

this might be slightly different from one port to the other. A good example of the local issues,



71Bowman and Wilson, 2009: 219-221


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22

which may lead to the rise or demise of certain sites is the rise of Axumite and demise of

Berenike in the 6th

century C.E.

The demise of the Indo-Roman trade, however, happened in two phases. The first was a

mere interruption for about 100 years in the third century C.E. But the next one was basically the

end of Roman trade work in the Indian Ocean, which happened during the Christian era, in the

sixth and seventh centuries. The reasons for both of these problems are discussed in the next

chapter.


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Section III- Reasons for Decline

Pliny indicates that India received about 50 million sesterces (12.5 million denarii) every

year, in exchange for goods, which are later sold for one hundred times their original cost in the

Roman world. He also states that India, China and Arabia took 100 million sesterces (25 million

denarii) each year in this trade. It is suggested that this social criticism is related to a later decline

in trade. In addition to the above, Emperor Tiberius (14-37 C.E) is said to have proposed

stringent anti-luxury legislations to reduce the amount of money being spent on buying jewelry

for the Roman women. Other scholars such as Sidebotham indicate that these passages should be

seen as moralizing comments for the contemporary society.72It is true that the most precious of

the exports from India to Rome, silk, was exchanged by its weight in gold.73

After silk, other

highly valued items were cotton, pepper, cinnamon, other spices, gum, fur, wool, lapis lazuli

(that which came from modern day Afghanistan) etc. The Roman eastern commerce, however,

was not only about luxury, but rather ordinary commodities for the general population.74

Evidence of decline in the Roman economy is not only evidenced in the fineness of the

coins and number of shipwrecks in Mediterranean Sea, but also a decrease in the population of

the Empire.75

There are different opinions about the reasons for this demise. Ward-

Perkins(2005) explains it with the invasion of the Germanic tribes, Schiavone(2002) by the

abundance of free slave labor, while Hopkins(1980) points to the state imposed tax system, and

finally Cameron(2003), suggests the definition of a predatory system and exhaustion of the

resources.


73Mookerji, 1912: 82, 83

74Sidebotham, 2011: 250, 251

75Paollili, 2008: 274


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24

It appears that all of these reasons together, resulted in the decline of Indo-Roman trade

during the third century C.E. Although the Sassanians took advantage of this decline, as

mentioned in the previous chapter, this was merely a short interruption, rather than a total

demise. Based on the study of the coins, and the rather late arrival of the pre-Nero reform coins

in India, the interruption could have been about 70-80 years.

The more serious problem occurred in the Byzantine period, starting from fifth century

C.E, and continuing to the sixth century. This later phase of demise was mostly due to the

political and economic interactions of the Romans and Persians, and later the Arabs in the trade

routes.

Michaeol Morony suggests that the demise of Roman trade in the mid-sixth century into

the seventh century started with the domination of Indian Ocean commerce by the Persians in the

late Sassanian era and continued to the Islamic period. The Sassanians helped to destroy the

Roman economy in Anatolia and Syria, and it was the rise of this economy in expense of the

other. The Sassanian campaigns of Khusraw II and the early Islamic conquests were just the

expressions of an expanding economy that overlapped the downfall of the late antique economy.

The expanding economy of the Islamic period basically overthrows the stable and retracting

economy of the Late Antiquity world.76

Although there is a lot of research on the Roman and

Arab commerce in India, very little is known about the Sassanian trade in the Indian Ocean. The

traders of Sassanian Persia were an important mercantile community in the Indian Ocean and the

commercial expansion of the Sassanians coincides with the decline of Roman trade in the third

century. This decline was profitably made use of by the emerging Sassanians in the ports of

Gujarat, Konkan, south Canara, Malabar, Coromandel and Sri Lanka. It was mainly the

76 Monory, 189


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25

pioneering research of D. Whitehouse and A. Williamson that started the debate on Sassanian

trade activity with India.77

Sassanian trade with India emerged with King Ardashir (224-241 C.E) who established

several ports in the Persian Gulf including Re Ardashir (Rishahr on the Bushire Peninsula),

Asarabadh Ardashir (formerly Charax), Bahman Ardashir (Forat of Maisan), Wahasht Ardashir,

Kujaran Ardashir (on the Iranian coast, and Batn Ardashir on the Arabian coast). People from the

Persian Gulf started to move to different places in Asia including Malabar as a result of the

introduction of trade with India.78

The traders who came to Malabar from West Asia were

required to stay in the city for a considerable amount of time, waiting for favorable wind. The

North-East Monsoon obstructed navigation between October and February, while in the Arabian

Sea helped with the voyages from May to September. There is some evidence of these Persian

merchants who had to stay in the west coast India for monsoon season, such as the stone crosses

with Pahlavi (archaic Persian) inscriptions which have remained from the earliest Persian

Christian settlements.79

As can be seen in the example of the Christians, the political relations

between Rome and Persia had a significant impact on the religious policy of the Sassanians

toward the Christians. When the Christians were persecuted in Rome up until 313 C.E (halted by

the edict of Milan), they were free to practice their religion in Persia. But with the freedom of

Christians in Rome, Sassanians started to look at Christianity as a religion of their enemies and

this initiated the persecution of the Christians in the Kingdom under the rule of Shapur II (310-

379 C.E).80This forced many of the Christians in the Sassanian territory to move to the east. The

kings of Malabar were very much eager to attract foreign traders and granted privileges to

77Malekandathil, 2010: 1





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26

promote trade. The most important maritime bases of operation for the Sassanians in the Persian

Gulf were Siraf, Rew Ardashir and Kharg Island. The two textual documents about Sassanian

maritime activity are the Palladius and Nestorian annals. The Christian merchants from Fars or

Seleucia-Ctesiphon were considered to be the main traders of Persian commodities to the ports in

the Indian Ocean.81

The role of Christian merchants is undeniable. Another group of Christians,

who were major traders in central Asia and Persia at a much later period, were the Armenians

who were deported to Iran during the Safavid-Ottoman wars of 1603-1605. These group of

merchants were eventually granted the exclusive right to export Iranian silk and many of them

eventually resided in India.

82

Therefore, the revival of Roman commerce actually started with the unification of the

Roman Empire by Constantine in the fourth century. The Byzantine emperors Justin (518-527

C.E) and Justinian (527-565 C.E) who wanted to break the Sassanian hold on Indian Ocean

trade, supported a group of Abyssinian Christians to go to the trading ports of south India and

Ceylon in order to bring silk and spices. Emperor Justine wanted to eventually control Bab al-

Mandeb by keeping a pro-Byzantine Abyssinian ruler in Yemen, but the Sassanian king Khusru

(531-578) foiled his plan by routing the pro-Byzantine Abyssinians from Yemen and appointing

his own governor there.83

Consequently, in the 6th

century C.E it seems that the exotic eastern

items would enter the Roman Empire only through the intermediaries. The port of Palmyra,

which was flourishing during the height of Roman trade, due to its contact through the Euphrates

81Malekandathil, 2010: 2, 3

82Aslan, Sebouh David, 2011: 1,46



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and Tigris rivers with the Persian Gulf, was reduced to a military stronghold on the roads during

the Sassanian control over Indian Ocean commerce.84

There were two different routes that Sassanians used to expand trade with the East; the

Caravan routes through Central Asia, known as the Silk Road, and the maritime route through

the Persian Gulf. The Silk Road, which was used intensely by the Parthians became limited

because of the Perso-Roman wars, namely those in 502-506 C.E., 527-561 C.E. and 602-629

C.E. Persians started to increase export tariffs upon the Romans on the Persian side and inflated

the cost of silk starting from the reign of Justinian. Romans also forbade the sale of copper and

iron to Persians, and although they tried to open new avenues through the Axumite Kingdom

(Eritrea) to Yemen and Hadhramaut, or buy silk form the Christians who resided in India instead

of the Persians, none of these tactics were successful and it all resulted in the monopoly of the

silk industry by the Persians enduring for a longer period of time. Additionally, Persians tried to

establish new ports, to avoid conflict with Romans, starting from the province of Fars to the

shores of the Persian Gulf. The most famous of these port in which archaeological excavations

have revealed Sassanian activity or are mentioned in textual documents of the early Islamic

period, are Bushihr, Kazerun, Siraf, Firuzabad, Sheraz. The maritime trade was a much faster

way to reach the eastern markets for both Persians and Romans and in this system Arabia,

became a very important location, in which both parties had ports.85

Byzantium and Sassanians

competed with each other over other markets as well. A good example is the competition of

these two powers over the trade with northeastern Russia, in which Sassanians had a greater

success because of the middlemen they had among the Ugrian-speaking people of south Russia.

84Seland, 2007: 6

85Daryaee, 2003: 4, 5


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There are plenty of Sassanian silver plates discovered in places such as Perm and Kama, whereas

the number of Byzantine vessels is in a much smaller scale.86

Another group of traders who emerged in the trade routes were Sogdians, who were

basically active in the overland trade, in which Byzantine and Sassanians interrupted each other

continuously. Sogdians took advantage of this situation and became the dominant intermediaries

of the Silk Road. While the seventh and eighth centuries mark the fullest extent of Sogdian

activity as tradesmen in Central Asia, records of their activity is found from the third and fourth

centuries in Mount Mugh and northwestern Dunhuang. It seems like the Sogdians were the most

successful intermediaries for Chinese trade with the west, in the middle of the conflicts between

The Roman Empire and Persia; Chinese officials even encouraged them to stay in places such as

Changan in order to supply the Chinese army with goods. This success in direct trade with

China, however, was eventually stopped after the rebellion of a certain Sogdian borne named

An-Lushan in the 8th

century.87

The sack of Guangzhou and murder of foreign merchants by the

Chinese officials in 878 C.E., led to the end of direct trade between the westerners and Chinese.

Beginning in the ninth century there was indirect trade between the Muslims and Chinese

through Southeast Asia and in the western Indian Ocean. A ninth century shipwreck excavated in

1998-1999 off the Indonesian island of Belitung between Sumatra and Boren is a good example

of the emerging archaeological evidence of trade between the Chinese and the Arab world.88

Finally the Egyptians allied with the Arabs, and with the decline of Byzantium, the Persians and

86Frye, 1972: 265

87 Hansen, 2003: 150, 151,158

88Flecker, 2001: 335, 3350, 353


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the Jewish Phoenicians, who were once very active in western Asia, Arabs retained the

monopoly of commerce for 900 years.89

89Mookerji, 1912: 95


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Conclusions

Indo-Roman trade had its origins long before the establishment of the Roman Empire.

Romans, however, were very successful in this network, and Roman merchants earned lots of

profit due to the Roman demand for exotic items and the Indian demand for silver and gold. In

India the archaeological evidence related to Indo-Roman trade includes, coins, shipwrecks,

amphorae, pearls, beads, vessels, glass, etc. All of these items have been studied to determine the

size and chronology of the Indo-Roman trade. The Roman denarii, however, have received the

most attention. Nevertheless, study of the coins has its own problems. Indians received the coins

in bullion and only accepted the more pure coins. Therefore, the coins from before the reforms of

Nero were the most in demand in India. Romans, on the other hand, brought these coins to India

after they were already used. Because the Indian merchants preferred to bury the coins in order

to prevent loss, most of the coins in India are found in worn condition, and buried in hoards.

The study of the condition distribution and purity of the coins, however, shows that the

apex of Indo-Roman trade continued to the late second century C.E. when the diplomatic,

political and economic issues stopped them from trade for a short period of about one hundred

years. In order to trade with India, Romans also had to establish relations with other locations in

this network. Roman emperors showed keen interest in learning about the Near East and sub-

Saharan Africa too: not only for political reasons, but also economic. The efforts of the Romans

in order to circumvent the Parthians, and later the Sassanians as the middlemen in the trade,

between the east and the Mediterranean world, are obvious from several expeditions they sent to

these areas. Two of these expeditions were launched by Augustus when he learned of the wealth

of southern Arabia, one of the sources of frankincense and myrrh; one of which being a military


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expedition under commander, Aelius Gallus who was a good friend of Strabo.90

Arabia was so

highly important to the Romans, thatPeriplusdevotes most of the 12 sections to Arabia. By the

third century C.E. Hadramawt and Himyar had unified south Arabia and sent embassies to

Ethiopia and Persia. Despite the disruption in their trade work, the Romans returned to trade

during Byzantine period, by sending embassies to Arabia during this time to promote

construction of churches for merchants in Himyar and to develop a trade work.91

From early the

sixth century to the mid sixth century, Ethiopia had the dominant presence in Arabia, during

which Ethiopians served as middlemen for the Romans.

The second phase of demise for the Roman trade started in the late sixth century, when

they lost control of their diplomacy with south Arabia, and the Persians took over. Thereafter,

Persia had more control over south Arabia, and from 628 C.E. it was in the hands of Arab or

Persian Muslims who took over the trade routes all together. Finally the Muslims became the

dominant merchants in the Indian Ocean and overland network from the seventh century.

Nevertheless, the people who profited from all of this competition the most were the Sogdians,

who acted very successfully as middlemen in the over-land trade of the Silk Road, between

Western to Eastern Asia. It will be revealing for the future studies, to investigate in detail the

diplomatic interactions of Sogdians with Sassanians, Romans and Arabs.

Carten Niebuhr, who sailed across the Indian Ocean in the 18th

century, was shocked by

the similarity between the ship he was sailing and the records of Periplus. He reports: Actors


Tomber, 2008: 100, 101


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and appearances change, the Monsoon remains.92

It is the nature of the history, where the actors

come and go, but the scene stays.

92Seland, 2007: 7


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33

Figure I- Map of major Indo-Roman trade routes (After Sidebotham, 2011: figure 11-1)

Figure II- Map of Roman ports in Egypt (After Sidebotham, 2011: figure 1-2)


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34

Figure III- Replica statue of Hercules, found in the sanctuary of Hercules near Sulmo (After

Romanis and Tchernia, 1997: Plate 1)


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35

Figure IV- Amphorae found at Myos Hormos, Egypt (AfterTomber, 2008: Cover Illustration)


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Figure V- Bas-relief at LAquila depicting a family of merchants transporting wine amphorae.

(After Romanis and Tchernia, 1997: Plate 4)


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37

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Indo-Roman Trade - Rise and Demise - Masters Thesis

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