Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Contents; List of Plates; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Ancient Figures and Modern Estimates; Ancient Greek and Roman Authors; Introduction: The Ancient Economy; Chapter 1: Revenue and the Roman Economy; Chapter 2: Roman Prosperity; Chapter 3: Incense: A Unique Product; Chapter 4: The Intermediaries: Petra and the Nabataeans; Chapter 5: Beyond Egypt: The Nile Route and the African Kingdom of Meroe; Chapter 6: The Red Sea Route; Chapter 7: The Scale and Significance of Indian Ocean Trade; Chapter 8: International Business
Chapter 9: East Africa and the Aksumite KingdomChapter 10: Southern Arabia and the Saba-Himyarites; Chapter 11: Arabia Felix and the Hadramawt Kingdom; Chapter 12: The Indo-Parthians; Chapter 13: The Saka and Satavahana Kingdoms; Chapter 14: The Tamil Kingdoms of Southern India; Chapter 15: The Anuradhapura Kingdom of Sri Lanka and the Far East; Chapter 16: The Antun Embassy to China and the Antonine Pandemic; Conclusion: Assessing the Roman Economy; Appendix A: The Roman Economy; Appendix B: Reconstructing Roman Revenues; Appendix C: The Expense of the Roman Legions; Notes; Bibliography
Summary
The ancient evidence suggests that international commerce supplied Roman government with up to a third of the revenues that sustained their empire. In ancient times large fleets of Roman merchant ships set sail from Egypt on voyages across the Indian Ocean. They sailed from Roman ports on the Red Sea to distant kingdoms on the east coast of Africa and the seaboard off southern Arabia. Many continued their voyages across the ocean to trade with the rich kingdoms of ancient India. Freighters from the Roman Empire left with bullion and returned with cargo holds filled with valuable trade goods, i
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 266-269) and index
