Includes bibliographical references and index.

Front Matter -- Preliminary Material / Nicholas K. Rauh and Peter Butler -- Table of Plans / Nicholas K. Rauh and Peter Butler -- Table of Figures / Nicholas K. Rauh and Peter Butler -- Preface / Nicholas K. Rauh and Peter Butler -- Introduction / Nicholas K. Rauh and Peter Butler -- Chapter One: “Hellenistic Roman Delos: The Creation of a Mediterranean Emporium, 166-87 B.C.” / Nicholas K. Rauh and Peter Butler -- Chapter Two: Secular and Religious Commercial Structures in the emporium at Delos. / Nicholas K. Rauh and Peter Butler -- Chapter Three: Gods, Oaths, and Contracts -- the Use of Oaths in Commerce. / Nicholas K. Rauh and Peter Butler -- Chapter Four: The Religious Mentality of the Roman Merchant / Nicholas K. Rauh and Peter Butler -- Chapter Five: Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous (the Domestic Remains of the Roman Slavetraders at Delos). / Nicholas K. Rauh and Peter Butler -- Chapter Six: Finance within the collegia. / Nicholas K. Rauh and Peter Butler -- Chapter Seven: Delian Society and the Italian Agora / Nicholas K. Rauh and Peter Butler -- Conclusion / Nicholas K. Rauh and Peter Butler -- Back Matter -- Bibliography / Nicholas K. Rauh and Peter Butler -- Index / Nicholas K. Rauh and Peter Butler.

This study analyzes the religious mentality, commercial practices, and social composition of Roman trade society at the celebrated Hellenistic Greek, Roman Republican emporium of Delos, 166-87 B.C. The remains of this site date largely to the late second and early first centuries B.C., when Delos was the nerve center of the trans-Mediterranean luxury and slave trade of Roman Italy. Repeated military assaults be-tween 87 and 69 B.C. de-stroyed the community and its trade importance declined. But as an archaeological site it offers the earliest and most detailed remains of a Roman trade community to survive anywhere in the Mediterranean world, including the city of Rome itself. This study marks the first re-assessment and interpretation of these remains from the vantage point of Roman trade in more than seventy years. Among the subjects discussed are the religious character of the remains of Delian marketplaces and their likely commercial function; the role of oaths and, more particularly, of the gods, Mercury and Hercules, in Roman commerce; the tendency of Roman traders to organize themselves according to religious fraternities and the manner in which this enhanced trade activities such as finance; the social status of these traders in wider Roman society as reflected by their house remains; and, finally the identity of the mysterious Agora of the Italians. See Less

English

Description based on print version record.