economic networks and cultural change
in the antique mediterranean
dr. S. Roselaar

 This seminar focused on economic networks in the Greek and Roman worlds and how these impacted on the identities of the people involved, both at the personal level as well as that of cities and states. Trade networks often lay at the base of further social and political relations, and economic relations of contributed to the spread of cultures and ideas throughout the Mediterranean world.  Who were the actors in these networks? Which locations or people can we identify as nodes or ties? How did the flow of information spread from one node to the next? Were ‘weak ties’ or ‘strong ties’ the most effective? In these sessions we considered these issues with regard to the economic role of emporia, defined as small settlements of traders from different cultural backgrounds (e.g. Emporion in Spain or Pithecusae in Italy), the role of state-organized trade (such as grain imports to Rome), and the role of free traders in exchanging cultural ideas. We examined the role of traders and political representatives as network specialists, and their contribution to the development of a larger oikoumene in the Greek and Roman worlds.

The pages here showcase the seminar's projects on antique Mediterranean networks.