ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN THE FIRST AND SECOND
CENTURIES
PROMOTION OF COMMERCE
The first two centuries of our era formed the golden age
of Roman commerce. The emperors fostered it in many ways. Augustus and his
successors kept the Mediterranean free from pirates, built lighthouses and improved
harbors, policed the highways, and made travel by land both speedy and safe. An
imperial currency [23] replaced the various national coinages with their
limited circulation. The vexatious import and export duties, levied by
different countries and cities on foreign produce, were swept away. Free trade
flourished between the cities and provinces of the Roman world.
[23] For illustrations of Roman coins see the plate facing
page 134.
PRINCIPAL TRADE ROUTES
Roman commerce followed, in general, the routes which
Phoenicians had discovered centuries before. After the annexation of Gaul the
rivers of that country became channels of trade between western Europe and
Italy. The conquest of the districts north and south of the Danube opened up an
important route between central Europe and the Mediterranean. Imports from the
far eastern countries came by caravan through Asia to ports on the Black Sea.
The water routes led by way of the Persian Gulf to the great Syrian cities of
Antioch and Palmyra and, by way of the Red Sea, to Alexandria on the Nile. From
these thriving commercial centers products were shipped to every region of the
empire.
