Bringing together specialists in ancient history, archaeology and Roman law, this book provides new perspectives on long-distance trade in the Roman world. Recent archaeological work has shown that maritime trade across the Mediterranean intensified greatly at the same time as the Roman state was extending its power overseas. This book explores aspects of this development and its relationship with changes in the legal and institutional apparatus that supported maritime commerce. It analyses the socio-legal framework within which maritime trade was conducted, and in doing so presents a new understanding of the role played by legal and social institutions in the economy of the Roman world.Bringing together specialists in ancient history, archaeology and Roman law, this book analyses the socio-legal framework within which maritime trade was conducted. In doing so, it presents a new understanding of the role played by legal and social institutions in the economy of the Roman world.1. Introduction: Roman Law and Maritime Commerce, Peter Candy and Emilia Mataix Ferrándiz; 2. Aspects of the Origins of Roman Maritime Trade, Gabriele Cifani; 3. Contingent Seas: Seafaring, Contracts and Law, Peter B. Campbell; 4. Pirates’ Captives in the Light of Roman Law, Anna Tarwacka; 5. The Personal Infrastructure of Maritime Trade, Annalisa Marzano; 6. On Dressel 20 and Beyond. Management, Punishment and Protection in the context of Roman Imperial Oil Distribution, Emilia Mataix Ferrándiz; 7. Roman Documentation Concerning Shipping in Bulk, Gianfranco Purpura; 8. Loans and Securities: Tracing Maritime Trade in the Archive of the Sulpicii, Éva Jakab; 9. Credit for Carriage: TPSulp. 78 and P. Oxy. XLV 3250, Peter Candy; 10. The Allocation of Risk in Carriage-by-Sea Contracts, Roberto Fiori.

1. Introduction: Roman Law and Maritime Commerce
Peter Candy and Emilia Mataix Ferrándiz

2. Aspects of the Origins of Roman Maritime Trade
Gabriele Cifani

3. Contingent Seas: Seafaring, Contracts and Law
Peter B. Campbell

4. Pirates’ Captives in the Light of Roman Law
Anna Tarwacka

5. The Personal Infrastructure of Maritime Trade
Annalisa Marzano

6. On Dressel 20 and Beyond. Management, Punishment and Protection in the context of Roman Imperial Oil Distribution
Emilia Mataix Ferrándiz

7. Roman Documentation Concerning Shipping in Bulk
Gianfranco Purpura

8. Loans and Securities: Tracing Maritime Trade in the Archive of the Sulpicii
Éva Jakab

9. Credit for Carriage: TPSulp. 78 and P. Oxy. XLV 3250
Peter Candy

10. The Allocation of Risk in Carriage-by-Sea Contracts
Roberto Fiori

A new and innovative examination of the conduct of Roman long-distance trade in its social and legal context Bringing together specialists in ancient history, archaeology and Roman law, this book provides new perspectives on long-distance trade in the Roman world. Recent archaeological work has shown that maritime trade across the Mediterranean intensified greatly at the same time as the Roman state was extending its power overseas. This book explores aspects of this development and its relationship with changes in the legal and institutional apparatus that supported maritime commerce. It analyses the socio-legal framework within which maritime trade was conducted, and in doing so presents a new understanding of the role played by legal and social institutions in the economy of the Roman world. Chapters cover: Roman maritime trade, the influence of commercial considerations on navigational decision making, Roman legal responses to the threat of piracy, the conduct of Roman maritime trade from a socio-legal perspective, the role of written documentation in the transport process, maritime finance and the insights provided by the juristic interpretation of contracts of carriage-by-sea into aspects of Roman private law. Peter Candy is a Fellow in Roman Law and European Legal History at the University of Edinburgh. Emilia Mataix Ferrándiz is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Helsinki, Finland, and Research Fellow at the Käte Hamburger Kollegium in Münster, Germany.Examines the conduct of Roman long-distance trade in its social and legal context

• Employs a robust and innovative methodology drawing on maritime archaeological remains and textual, epigraphic and papyrological sources
• Explores the relationship between Roman long-distance trade and the development of legal institutions
• Includes contributions from Peter B. Campbell, Gabriele Cifani, Roberto Fiori, Éva Jakab, Annalisa Marzano, Gianfranco Purpura and Anna Tarwacka

Peter Candy is Early Career Fellow in Legal History at University of Edinburgh. His research interests include Roman legal and economic history and the relationship between legal change and economic development through time.

Emilia Mataix Ferrándiz is Maria Zambrano Fellow in the Law faculty at the University of the Basque Country (Euskal herriko Unibertsitatea), and a fellow at the Käte Hamburger Kolleg Münster. She holds PhDs in both Roman law and archaeology from the Universities of Alicante and Palermo (2014) and Southampton and Lyon 2 (2018) respectively. Her research interests lie in the field of Roman law, with a particular focus upon its commercial and maritime aspects.