Tag: Punic Wars

Articles

A comparative perspective on the determinants of the scale and productivity of maritime trade in the Roman Mediterranean

I argue that imperial state formation was the single most important ultimate determinant of the scale, structure, and productivity of maritime commerce in the Roman period. Hegemony and subsequent direct rule created uniquely favorable conditions for maritime trade by cutting the costs of predation, transactions, and financing to levels that were lower than in any other period of pre-modern Mediterranean history.