Finding trade networks in Strabo's Geographica:
'Here we Rome'
Note on the edition of the Geographica used:
Loeb Classical Library, 8 volumes, Greek texts with facing English translation by H. L. Jones: Harvard University Press, 1917 thru 1932. The text is digitalized on the website of the University of Chicago, LacusCurtius, by Bill Thayer and is in the public domain: that of the earlier volumes because the copyright has lapsed; that of the later volumes, pursuant to the 1978 revision of the U. S. Copyright Code, because the copyright expired and was not renewed at the appropriate time. You can find Strabo's page on the website by clicking here.
Loeb Classical Library, 8 volumes, Greek texts with facing English translation by H. L. Jones: Harvard University Press, 1917 thru 1932. The text is digitalized on the website of the University of Chicago, LacusCurtius, by Bill Thayer and is in the public domain: that of the earlier volumes because the copyright has lapsed; that of the later volumes, pursuant to the 1978 revision of the U. S. Copyright Code, because the copyright expired and was not renewed at the appropriate time. You can find Strabo's page on the website by clicking here.
Nowadays, if you want to know something about foreign peoples or a country you can look it up on the internet, but back in Antiquity all they had were texts and books like the Geographica. This book is an encyclopedeia of geographical knowledge by the Greek geographer, philosopher and historian Strabo, who lived from 64/63 BC to c. AD 24. According to himself, he is the most travelled geographer of his time. During his whole life he has travelled westward from Armenia as far as Italy and southward from the Black Sea as far as the frontiers of Ethiopia. He therefore wrote his Geographica in the different regions of the Roman Empire during the reign of emperor Augustus and his successor Tiberius. It is made up of 17 books which all focus on the regions of Europe, the Middle East and even India. If you want to know more, some of the most important and recent publications on Strabo and his work are listed below.
I am discussing if you can find and construct a trade network in Strabo's description of the coasts of southern Gaul and eastern and southern Iberia. These involve the ancient cities Massilia (Marseille) and Emporion (Empúries) and the region around Gadeira (Cádiz), Hispalis (Seville) and Kordyba (Córdoba). We now know that there were actually several trade networks, but does Strabo mention them? With networking you try to find, construct and sometimes literally visualize a certain network. This can be economical, political and/or cultural/social. It is a fairly new and clarifying way to handle written sources. Trying to construct a trade network from Strabo's work has, as far as I know, never been done before. For more information about network theory in general/Antiquity, see references below.
I am discussing if you can find and construct a trade network in Strabo's description of the coasts of southern Gaul and eastern and southern Iberia. These involve the ancient cities Massilia (Marseille) and Emporion (Empúries) and the region around Gadeira (Cádiz), Hispalis (Seville) and Kordyba (Córdoba). We now know that there were actually several trade networks, but does Strabo mention them? With networking you try to find, construct and sometimes literally visualize a certain network. This can be economical, political and/or cultural/social. It is a fairly new and clarifying way to handle written sources. Trying to construct a trade network from Strabo's work has, as far as I know, never been done before. For more information about network theory in general/Antiquity, see references below.
So, we know now that there were several trade networks in the Mediterranean world at Strabo's time. The most famous people that were mostly traders were the Phoenicians from Arabia and the Phocaeans from Asia Minor. The first founded important cities like Carthage, known from the many Punic wars against Rome. The latter founded the cities of Massilia (Marseille) and Emporion (Empúries). There was a Phocaean trade network, as seen on the map, but does Strabo mention it? He does not even describe Phocaea, he just mentions the city when he is writing about the founding of Massilia. The most important subject in this description of Massilia is her friendship with Rome and the fact that she became a centre of culture in Strabo's time. He mentions in a few sentences that the city was known for her wine and olive products, but had to get grain from somewhere else. He then fails to mention wherefrom she got that essential product.
Strabo describes Emporion's history and so its connection to Massilia and Phocaea. Emporion was an important trading point for trade between the inland Iberians and the rest of the Mediterranean world, but apparently this is not worthwhile mentioning according to Strabo. Instead, he carries on describing what kind of crops grow along the coast from Emporion to Hemeroskopeion. In this description he speaks about a road running all the way from the Pyrenees to Kordyba (Córdoba). This was the Via Augusta. Again, Strabo doesn't mention if this road was used as a significant trade route.
Strabo describes Emporion's history and so its connection to Massilia and Phocaea. Emporion was an important trading point for trade between the inland Iberians and the rest of the Mediterranean world, but apparently this is not worthwhile mentioning according to Strabo. Instead, he carries on describing what kind of crops grow along the coast from Emporion to Hemeroskopeion. In this description he speaks about a road running all the way from the Pyrenees to Kordyba (Córdoba). This was the Via Augusta. Again, Strabo doesn't mention if this road was used as a significant trade route.
Strabo calls the region around Kordyba, Hispalis (Seville) and Gadeira (Cádiz), Turdetania. His description of this region is a whole different story compared to Massilia and Emporion. These cities were either colonies or allies of the Romans. He describes in detail exactly where each of the resources were. These were various metals, crops, grain, wood and so on. Turdetania was therefore a very prosperous region. You can see Kordyba, Hispalis and Gadeira (here Gades) on the map in the purple area. Emporion in is the top right corner. Strabo mentions one trade route, that from Kordyba via Hispalis and Gadeira to Rome. We know that Rome wasn't southern Iberia's only trade partner. Why does Strabo only mention Rome? And why is Rome in every description the main point of focus?
We can find the possible explanations for this in different things. First of all, Strabo did not visit any of these places. He is therefore completely reliant on written sources. In his time, these came from several Greek, but mainly Roman authors. Related to the explanation of the sources, is the purpose and audience of Strabo's work. According to himself, he wrote this for the Roman elite and especially for political figures. He therefore only describes what he thinks is useful for Roman political leaders. Strabo has lived in the Roman Republic/Empire his whole life. He stayed in Rome for several years. Throughout his whole text you can sense the connection he feels with, what he calls, the glorious and powerful Italy. These are all reasons that make Strabo's choices for his descriptions more logical. Trade which was not essential to Rome was not in his interest. Therefore these descriptions in Strabo's Geographica alone are not sufficient to make up a trade network.
We can find the possible explanations for this in different things. First of all, Strabo did not visit any of these places. He is therefore completely reliant on written sources. In his time, these came from several Greek, but mainly Roman authors. Related to the explanation of the sources, is the purpose and audience of Strabo's work. According to himself, he wrote this for the Roman elite and especially for political figures. He therefore only describes what he thinks is useful for Roman political leaders. Strabo has lived in the Roman Republic/Empire his whole life. He stayed in Rome for several years. Throughout his whole text you can sense the connection he feels with, what he calls, the glorious and powerful Italy. These are all reasons that make Strabo's choices for his descriptions more logical. Trade which was not essential to Rome was not in his interest. Therefore these descriptions in Strabo's Geographica alone are not sufficient to make up a trade network.
A. v/d W.
Further reading on Strabo:
- Dueck, D. Strabo of Amasia: a Greek man of letters in Augustan Rome. London: Routledge, 2000.
- Dueck, D., H. Lindsay and S. Pothecary ed. Strabo’s Cultural Geography: The Making of a Kolossourgia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. (Contains various interesting articles on Strabo and his Geographica)
- Radt, S.L. Strabon’s Geographika: Mit Übersetzung und Kommentar. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2002-2011.
- Van der Vliet, E. Strabo over landen, volken en steden. Assen: Van Gorcum, 1977.
Further reading on (or using) network theory:
- Barabási, A.-L. Linked. How everything is connected to everything else and what it means for business, science and everyday life. New York: Plume, 2003.
- Scott, J. and P.J. Carrington, The SAGE handbook of social network analysis. London: Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2011.
- Brughmans, T. "Facebooking the past. A critical social network analysis approach for archaeology." In: A. Chrysanthi, M.P. Flores and C. Papadopoulos ed., Thinking beyond the tool. Archeological computing and the interpretative process. Oxford: Archaeopress - British Archaeological Reports, 2012.
- Demetriou, D. Negotiating Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean: The Archaic and Classical Greek Multiethnic Emporia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
- Erskine, A. and L. Llewellyn-Jones ed. Creating a Hellenistic World. Oxford and Oakville: The Classical Press of Wales, 2011.
- Malkin, I. A small Greek world. Networks in the Ancient Mediterranean. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Sources of images:
- Strabo the geographer: Portraits from the Dibner Library of the History and Science of Technology. Taken from here.
- The Phocaean Trade Network: https://peripluscd.wordpress.com/tag/celts/. Taken from here.
- Roads in Roman Iberia in AD 10: Chronoatlas: Historical Atlas of the Mediterranean. Taken from here.
- Dueck, D. Strabo of Amasia: a Greek man of letters in Augustan Rome. London: Routledge, 2000.
- Dueck, D., H. Lindsay and S. Pothecary ed. Strabo’s Cultural Geography: The Making of a Kolossourgia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. (Contains various interesting articles on Strabo and his Geographica)
- Radt, S.L. Strabon’s Geographika: Mit Übersetzung und Kommentar. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2002-2011.
- Van der Vliet, E. Strabo over landen, volken en steden. Assen: Van Gorcum, 1977.
Further reading on (or using) network theory:
- Barabási, A.-L. Linked. How everything is connected to everything else and what it means for business, science and everyday life. New York: Plume, 2003.
- Scott, J. and P.J. Carrington, The SAGE handbook of social network analysis. London: Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2011.
- Brughmans, T. "Facebooking the past. A critical social network analysis approach for archaeology." In: A. Chrysanthi, M.P. Flores and C. Papadopoulos ed., Thinking beyond the tool. Archeological computing and the interpretative process. Oxford: Archaeopress - British Archaeological Reports, 2012.
- Demetriou, D. Negotiating Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean: The Archaic and Classical Greek Multiethnic Emporia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
- Erskine, A. and L. Llewellyn-Jones ed. Creating a Hellenistic World. Oxford and Oakville: The Classical Press of Wales, 2011.
- Malkin, I. A small Greek world. Networks in the Ancient Mediterranean. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Sources of images:
- Strabo the geographer: Portraits from the Dibner Library of the History and Science of Technology. Taken from here.
- The Phocaean Trade Network: https://peripluscd.wordpress.com/tag/celts/. Taken from here.
- Roads in Roman Iberia in AD 10: Chronoatlas: Historical Atlas of the Mediterranean. Taken from here.