Economic Activity: Transportation

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Economic Activity: Transportation

Transportation. Any product an individual, household, or community does not produce on their own, they must acquire from somewhere else and have it transported. This principle remains true for basic necessities, desirable items, or luxuries. Transport thus stands as an essential mechanism of any economy. Efficiency and reliability of delivery in turn are necessary for a functioning economic system to flourish and grow. Three basic types of transport existed in the Roman world: by boat across a sea, by boat along a river, or by cart across land. Land

transport was the most expensive, costing five to ten times what river transport cost. River transport in turn could cost five times as much as sea transport, so Roman businessmen tried to use water transport as much as possible. For example, merchants would use several different rivers to reach their destination, or would have their merchandise carried from one river to another in order to capitalize on the cheaper shipping. As the Romans added to their conquests and expanded their empire, trade expanded and transportation became a larger and more complex industry in its own right.

Sea Transport. Travel over the sea meant predominantly transportation across and around the Mediterranean Sea. “We sit around a pond,” Plato had said once, “like frogs,” referring to the way peoples clustered around the borders of the Mediterranean. When the Roman Empire was at its broadest, trade could also include routes on the Black Sea to the Northeast, the Caspian Sea to the East, the Persian Gulf and Black Sea to the Southeast, and northward around the Western coast of Europe on the Atlantic Ocean. Cargo ships constantly traveled on the seas. To be most profitable, a ship would not simply cross a sea but would make multiple stops along the coast, selling and buying cargo at each stop. Such constant shipping would support full-time sailors, crewmen, captains, navigators, and others.

Piracy. Seaborne cargo offered a mechanism for profit that the carrier did not intend. Pirates made their living by capturing ships at sea and stealing their cargo, both material and human. While writers would romanticize the plight of sons and daughters ransomed or enslaved by pirates, real piracy posed a serious threat to sea travel and trade in Classical times. Pirates established coastal bases and resold the merchandise they captured, sold the people they captured as slaves, and sold or used the ships they took. As Rome solidified its empire, however, Roman efforts gradually suppressed pirate activities. Pompey earned fame for cleansing the Mediterranean basin of pirates in the 60s B.C.E. When the Roman Empire fragmented centuries later, piracy once again rose in the Mediterranean.

Shipbuilding. The use of so many ships by merchants, as well as by the military, provided for a robust industry in shipbuilding. Every ship required a vast amount of material and a huge number of workers. First, workers needed wood from several different types of trees for the keel, hull, frame, and treenails. The keel was shaped and laid first and then the hull built up with tightly fitted planks. Only with the hull completed did the workers add the internal supports (the “skeleton”). The mast and decking came last. Metalworkers labored throughout the process, adding joints, fittings, rigging, and a lead covering around the hull to guard against sea worms. The demand for ships, the constant risk of loss and damage to ships while sailing, and maintenance also would have supported units of carpenters, builders, and metalworkers.

Ports and Harbors. Larger freighters require protected, safe harbors and fixed dockworks so that they can pull to shore safely and securely for loading and unloading. The Romans used some relatively large freighters. Cargo ships for grain regularly could carry more than one hundred tons. Many ships could carry three hundred to five hundred tons, and a few super-size freighters had the capacity to carry more than a thousand tons. Few harbors could dock these largest ships, but smaller Roman harbors circled the Mediterranean. The Roman invention of concrete that sets under water advanced the design and construction of moles (protective walls that keep the waters near the harbor calm) and quays (reinforced banks where loading and unloading take place). Building such harbors called for designers, engineers, and construction workers. The regular dockwork of loading and unloading supported work crews. In addition, as in all areas and times, port cities provided lodgings, entertainment, and other support services for seamen while they were between voyages.

River Travel. The scale of trade along a particular river depended on its navigability and its proximity to settlements

or other waterways. Travel along rivers ran the range from small freighters to simple rafts. Rivers served as the highways for trade to and from the coast and between destinations away from coastal waters. Transport by river was vital enough to the Roman Empire that the state, especially for military purposes, would sometimes organize traffic on rivers or dig and construct canals to facilitate travel and commerce. Locals also organized, however. For example, boatmen formed guilds. Trade did not provide the only economic opportunity. Because travel over land was slow and uncomfortable, people would also travel in a boat along the river when they could. The poet Horace (65-8 B.C.E.) describes part of a trip he makes by boat, in this case a small barge pulled by a mule walking along the shore. Unfortunately, Horace does not find his trip going well:

Slaves hurled insults at the boatmen, and boatmen back at the slaves. “Put in here!” “You must have three hundred! That’s enough!” By the time the fare was paid and the mule hitched up, a whole hour had gone by. Evil mosquitoes and frogs in the marsh made sleep impossible. Meanwhile, a boatman and one of the passengers, both drunk from way too much cheap wine, took turns serenading their absent girlfriends. Finally, the passenger wore out and fell asleep. The slacker boatman let the mule go grazing, hung the harness on a rock, and commenced snoring on his back. It was already daylight before we noticed that the boat wasn’t moving. So one hothead jumped out of the boat and beat the mule (and the boatman, too) on the head and crotch with a willow stick. We barely arrived four hours after sunrise. (Horace, Satires 1.5.11–23).

“All Roads Lead to Rome.”. The city of Rome represented the economic hub of the Roman world every bit as much as the center for political and military power. With regard to road building, the Romans justly earned their fame. Their massive system of roads linked important sites wherever the Romans held control. Originally, the road system had the purpose of facilitating troop movement and making communication as efficient as possible (by a system of couriers). Like the interstate system in the modern United States, these roads had economic benefits as well. In times of peace and stability, trade and communication along these roads became reliable to a degree entirely unprecedented in the Mediterranean world. Even though water transport was cheaper and always remained more desirable, the lengthy trade routes, sometimes stretching hundreds or thousands of miles, could never have developed without the Roman system of high-quality roads. The Roman state initiated and maintained the best and most important roadways, but local communities and even wealthy individuals added to the complex. During the years of expansion under the Republic, the Romans linked together the entire Italian peninsula. Later, emperors continued the practice of constructing and maintaining large stretches of road-work all over the empire. Moreover, the Romans made a show of the way they would maintain straight roads even across or through difficult obstacles rather than divert the path of the road. Many roads had such strong foundations and construction that they still form the basis for important modern roads, and even some abandoned ones can be followed to this day.

Horses, Mules, and Oxen; Carts and Wagons. Large shipments always had to be delivered by boat, and water travel always remained much less expensive. Still, at some point carts and wagons had their part to play in delivery, and the dependability of Roman roads assisted economic development in this area. In urban areas, carts and wagons congested streets every bit as much as cars in cities today. As in modern times, related businesses flourished, such as rental companies, insurance, and legal wrangling over accidents. Between urban areas, carts and wagons drawn by oxen could transport loads, and indeed pack animals by themselves could carry substantial loads. Horses were more expensive and were used more for rapid transit, such as for postal couriers, who could ride horseback or in a small, light chariot. People could also travel in passenger chariots, though such travel had a reputation for being slow and uncomfortable.