Illustrations: 1 B/w Illustration and 1 Map Description: The first two centuries of the Roman Empire witnessed the establishment and development of a profitable commerce between two great regions of the earth: the Mediterranean countries and India. This was the era of new discoveries and enterprises in form rule of Rome, and the welding of races of the West and the Near East into one well-governed whole. The account of the growth of this important commerce and of the establishment of trade routes during this formative era, novel developments for both Indians and Romans, us infolded in this authoritative work which has long been out of print but which now appears in a second edition newly revised and enlarged by the author in the light of recent knowledge and discoveries.

Studies the complex system of trade exchanges and commerce that profoundly changed Roman society.

This study of ancient Roman shipping and trade across continents reveals the Roman Empire’s far-reaching impact in the ancient world. 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 southern Arabia. Many continued their voyages across the ocean to trade with the rich kingdoms of ancient India. Along these routes, the Roman Empire traded bullion for valuable goods, including exotic African products, Arabian incense, and eastern spices. This book examines Roman commerce with Indian kingdoms from the Indus region to the Tamil lands. It investigates contacts between the Roman Empire and powerful African kingdoms, including the Nilotic regime that ruled Meroe and the rising Axumite Realm. Further chapters explore Roman dealings with the Arab kingdoms of southern Arabia, including the Saba-Himyarites and the Hadramaut Regime, which sent caravans along the incense trail to the ancient rock-carved city of Petra. The first book to bring these subjects together in a single comprehensive study, The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean reveals Rome’s impact on the ancient world and explains how international trade funded the legions that maintained imperial rule.

This book sets out to replace the outdated notion of 'Indo-Roman trade', integrating new findings from the last 30 years. Analysis conducted demonstrates that highly substantial levels of trade took place between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean in the 1st-6th c. altering consumption and production in India, South Arabia and the Roman Empire.

In this volume, papers by leading Roman historians and archaeologists discuss trade within the Roman Empire and beyond its frontiers between c.100 BC and AD 350, focusing especially on the role of the Roman state in shaping the institutional framework for trade. As part of a novel interdisciplinary approach to the subject, the chapters address its myriad facets on the basis of broadly different sources of evidence - historical, papyrological, andarchaeological - demonstrating how collaborations with the elite holders of wealth within the empire fundamentally changed its political character in the longer term.