The Roman economic landscape has been a subject of intense debate in Roman archaeology and history, primarily drawing insights from literary and qualitative sources. Archaeological studies often focused on prestigious goods or specific sites and regions, lacking comprehensive, well-dated quantification of everyday material culture.
To address this gap, an examination of pottery distribution patterns across the entire Mediterranean during the late Republic and early Empire offers a means to discern economic trends, imbalances, and preferences. This approach enables the calculation of modern measures like balances of trade, providing clear insights into which regions benefited from the production and exchange of fine wares and amphorae-borne food products in the Roman Empire. The diverse patterns exhibited by these materials throughout the investigated period indicate varying economic focuses for different regions.
Beyond revealing the primary products crucial to each region, this analysis sheds light on economic performance and potential wealth values. By integrating this approach with idealized pattern distributions created by Agent-Based Models and based on factors such as transport and transaction costs, protectionist and imperialistic policies, and network structures, we can assess whether the distribution of pottery in the Roman Empire was influenced by deliberate economic policy-making or simpler factors.
Inequalities play a significant role in these considerations, as policies stemming from an overarching structure, such as the state, may either promote, disadvantage, or equalize the production and exchange among regions in the Empire. Multiple models, exploring how trade parameters acted in unison, will be presented. These models, informed by historical sources, allow for initial conclusions regarding how the Roman Empire either facilitated or impeded economic opportunities for participants in the Mediterranean exchange network.
Information on participating / attending:
Date:
01/16/2024 10:00 - 01/16/2024 12:00
Event venue:
Leibnizstr. 3, R. 123
24118 Kiel
Schleswig-Holstein
Germany
Target group:
Scientists and scholars, all interested persons
Relevance:
regional
Subject areas:
Cultural sciences, Environment / ecology, Geosciences, History / archaeology
Types of events:
Presentation / colloquium / lecture
Entry:
11/28/2023
Sender/author:
Jan Steffen
Department:
Media and Public Outreach
Event is free:
yes
Language of the text:
English
URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event75797
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