Interest in the ancient Indian Ocean trade has grown over the last few decades. Asignificant driver behind this has been the greater availability of evidence resulting from recent archaeological work at a range of international sites, coupled with a raft of new epigraphic, papyrological and numismatic material. In this work, Federico De Romanis fruitfully draws upon this floruit of scholarship and newly available evidence to offer a valuable contribution to the study of Roman–South Asian trade links (these links forming part of a wider nexus connecting the western Indian Ocean region).
Unsurprisingly, this book devotes considerable space to analysing the so-called Muziris Papyrus, a document acquired by the Austrian National Library in 1980. The papyrus contains texts on its recto and verso, although unfortunately it is lacunose. These texts were written in different hands, but likely connect to a single trade venture sometime in the mid-second century AD. The recto contains details about a loan relating to goods acquired from Muziris (a port on the Malabar Coast) and stipulates arrangements concerning their transport from one of the Red Sea ports to Koptos, then Alexandria. The verso details the assessment of customs dues (notably a quarter tax or tetartē) on this Indian cargo, which had been transported by a ship called the Hermapollon. Some of the information, particularly on the verso, is quite technical, a point that De Romanis lays out clearly in the introductory synopsis. As such, there have been varied interpretations of both sides of the document since it came to light, including whether the recto represents a loan taken out in Alexandria to fund a trading venture to Muziris, or a supplementary (or superseding) contract on return to one of the Red Sea ports (see, among others, H. Harrauer and P. Sijpesteijn, ‘Ein neues Dokument zu Roms Indienhandel. P. Vindob. G40822’, AnzWien 122 (1985), 124–55; L. Casson, ‘New Light on Maritime Loans: P. Vindob G40822’, ZPE 84 (1990), 195–206; and D. Rathbone, ‘The “Muziris” Papyrus (SB XVIII 13167)’, in M. Abd-el-Ghani etal. (eds), Alexandrian Studies in Honour of Mostafa el Abbadi (Alexandria 2000), 39–50). De Romanis himself argues that the loan specifically relates to the transport of goods within Egypt (168–72, 188–208).
The commodities transported in the Hermapollon included Gangetic nard, ‘sound’ ivory (that is, whole tusks) and schidai (most probably ivory cuttings, although Harrauer and Sijpesteijn had interpreted the term to mean cloth). However, De Romanis, and other scholars like F. Morelli (‘Dal Mar Rosso ad Alessandria’, Tyche 26 (2011), 199–233), have argued that black pepper, malabathrum and tortoiseshell were also among its cargo (based, in part, on an examination of the spacing and faint lettering on the verso), although they differ on what this represented in terms of weight and value. To the reviewer’s mind, De Romanis offers the more convincing reconstruction since his reading of six Egyptian drachmae (equivalent to six sestertii) per mina (511 grams), as opposed to 24 drachmae per mina (argued by Morelli), offers a more realistic markup value between its fiscal valuation in Egypt and its retail price in Rome.
This book, however, is not merely confined to scrutinizing the minutiae of the Muziris Papyrus but also demonstrates the significance of this document for a range of interconnected issues. Among the themes explored are the sea routes and schedules adopted by Mediterranean merchants in the Red Sea and western Indian Ocean (chapters 1 and 2), the harvesting, exchange and transport of black pepper and other commodities (chapters 3, 4 and 5), the practicalities of the loan contract (recto), logistical and security issues, and its repayment (chapters 6, 7 and 8), the content, weight and value of the cargo (verso) carried on the Hermapollon (chapters 9, 10 and 11) and finally the nature of the tetartē (and related surcharges) collected on Indian Ocean imports, and those involved in its collection (chapters 12 and 13).
One of the most important arguments made by De Romanis relates to Strabo’s comment about the levelling of double duties (τέλη διπλάσια) on Indian Ocean imports (Geography 17.1.13). He suggests that this refers to an initial tetartē (25% tax) on Indian Ocean goods when they entered Egypt (via the Red Sea ports), and then a subsequent tetartē for those goods shipped from Alexandria to other provinces of the empire (132–33, 180–81, 277–97, 312). However, in the case of any goods exported from Alexandria to the rest of the empire (i.e., not consumed within Egypt and liable for the second tetartē), it is argued that adjustments were made to the assessed weight of the cargo. As a result, the total amount of tax levied on the goods carried in the Hermapollon was ostensibly the equivalent of 43.75% rather than 50% (240, 283–97, 322–24). This argument is important for our understanding of Roman tax collection procedures, but also has implications for some (problematic) attempts to assess Roman state revenue derived from the Red Sea trade (for example, R. McLaughlin, ‘Indian Ocean Commerce in Context’, in M. Cobb (ed.), The Indian Ocean in Antiquity (London 2019), 117–34).
To conclude, this work is a must-have for any researcher or student interested in Roman participation in Indian Ocean networks of exchange. De Romanis does a good job at presenting complex, technical arguments in a comprehensible manner and several of the interpretations offered are sure to stimulate rich debate. The accompanying translation, tables, maps and charts also make this a useful reference work.
