Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.1, 2018

 

Maritime Trade between Egypt and the Indian Subcontinent and Its Role in the Economy of the Roman Empire (Abstract)

 

Chen Siwei

 

In the first and second century AD, with the discovery of the regularity of the Indian Ocean monsoon, the spread of the shipbuilding technology of the Mediterranean world on the Egyptian Red Sea coast, the improvement of transportation between Red Sea ports and the River Nile, and the expansion of the eastern commodity consumption market, the maritime trade between Egypt under the Roman Empire and the Indian subcontinent developed rapidly. According to the Muziris papyrus, the participants in the maritime trade of the second century took various measures to avoid risks and maximize profits. Merchant ships sailing between Egypt and the Indian subcontinent were loaded with a diverse and valuable range of goods, so the traders were economically powerful. With the advent of the Pax Romana, increased consumption intensified political competition and the fashion for luxuries, the Roman demand for oriental products grew, and the eastern trade via Egypt became increasingly prominent in the Roman economy. In the heyday of the Roman Empire, the eastern trade was on a larger scale and its operations were more complex than scholars have generally emphasized; it held a vital position in the imperial economy.