10-29-2012-RomanPres-7-Roman-Merchant-Ships - Emmaf.org

Roman Merchant Ships
Dr. Kristian Lorenzo

Roman Merchant Ships: Today’s Topics
Roman Aristocratic Attitudes towards Trade
Monte Testaccio
Merchant Ship Design vs. Warship Design
The Madrague de Giens Wreck
The Commachio Wreck
The Torre Sgarrata Wreck
Why study Roman Merchant wrecks?

Roman Attitudes Toward Trade
The Roman aristocracy on the whole maintained a distance from direct
involvement in trade, however…
They could benefit from the profits of trade through intermediaries. For example
an aristocrat’s freedmen could manage their former owner’s investments in
potteries, mines, textile production, oil, wine, grain, etc.
Even people such as Cato the Elder (234-149 BC), despite his conservative
attitudes, began to invest in overseas trade. He went as far as investing in
speculative trading ventures by purchasing small shares in large mercantile
consortia thereby spreading the risk.

Cato the Elder, 123-49 BC
“He used to loan money out in the most disreputable of all ways, namely
in shipping, and according to the following formula. He required his
borrowers to form a large company, and when there were fifty partners
and as many ships for his security, he invested in one share of the
company. He event sent his freedman, Quintio, along on all their
ventures. In this way his entire security was not imperilled, but only a
small part of it, and his profits were large.”
Plutarch (Cat. Mai. 21.6)

Monte Testaccio
An artificial mound ca. 118 ft. tall and covering roughly 66,000 sq. ft. of
pottery sherds in Rome created by centuries of discarded, broken amphorae.

Monte Testaccio
Laid down from the 1 st to the mid-3 rd centuries AD, and mostly composed of oil
amphorae from Spain with a smaller amount from North Africa and evidence for
an estimated oil trade in the city of ca. 50,600,000 lbs

Monte Testaccio
Laid down from the 1 st to the mid-3 rd centuries AD, and mostly composed of oil
amphorae from Spain with a smaller amount from North Africa and evidence for
an estimated oil trade in the city of ca. 50,600,000 lbs

Roman Merchant Ships vs. Warships
Merchant ship designs are relatively
invariable like cargo boxes.
Warship designs are very variable
depending on the weaponry, fighting
force, and method of propulsion.

Roman Merchant Ships
Cargo ships are built heavily (or sturdily) with a normal length to beam of 1:3
(i.e. short and stocky)

Roman Warships
A Roman Trireme
Warships are built lightly with a normal length to beam ratio of 1:5 or 1:6 (i.e. long
and skinny)

Roman Merchant Ship: the Madrague de
Giens wreck
Discovered in 1967 of the
sounthern coast of France
near the little fishing port of
La Madrague de Giens
some 30 km. east of Toulon
Excavated from 1972-1982
at depth of ca. 54-60 ft.
300-400 ton ship over 120
ft. long and 27 ft. wide and
with a hull depth of 13.5 ft.
One of the largest ancient
wrecks ever found

The Madrague de Giens wreck
The cargo included about 6,000 to 6,500 wine amphora, all of Dressel Type 1B,
which were stacked in 3 layers, 9 ft. high

The Madrague de Giens wreck: Dressel Type IB
Key: 1 – rim; 2 – neck; 3 – handle; 4 – shoulder; 5 – belly or body; 6 – toe.

The Madrague de Giens wreck: Dressel Type IB
Many of the amphorae displayed potters stamps, the most frequent one was Publius
Veveius Papus, which allows the origin of the amphora to the traced to Terracina,
Italy.

Amphorae Stamps from the Villa of the Laecanius family
Located on the coast of Croatia at Fazana and Brijuni the Laecanii had villas with at
least one workshop producing amphorae for oil.

Amphorae Stamps from the Villa of the Laecanius family
Each amphora was stamped twice both on the rim, Laecanius’s at the center and the
estate manager’s above one of the handles

The Madrague de Giens wreck
A secondary cargo of black glazed pottery was placed in boxes above the amphora,
perhaps as a space filler?

The Madrague de Giens wreck: the Hull
A large section of the hull was preserved by being sandwiched between the layers
of amphorae and the sea bed and then buried my sediment, dead marine life, etc.

The Madrague de Giens wreck
Some of the wreck’s cargo in situ during excavation.

The Madrague de Giens wreck: Urinatores
The wreck also provided evidence that professional urinatores had attempted to
salvage some of the cargo.

The Madrague de Giens wreck: Ballast Stone
The evidence for this were ballast stones that were found throughout the cargo -
geological analysis showed that the stones came from the local coast (not shown).

The Madrague de Giens wreck: Urinatores
The urinatores used the stones to help them reach the seabed where they could
recover parts of the cargo. It is estimated that they managed to recover about
half of the amphorae, together with the ship’s anchors and various other pieces
of equipment, including the bilge pump.

A Local Trading Vessel: The Comacchio Wreck
Discovered in 1980, on the outskirts of
Comacchio, Italy on the Adriatic coast
south of Venice
Excavated from 1986-1989
Dated to ca. 12 BC, by dendrochronology
Ca. 60 ft. of the hull preserved
Beached near a river mouth during a
storm with all its cargo

The Comacchio Wreck: The Cargo
The primary cargo were 102 lead ingots of Spanish origin, amphorae for food
transport and boxwood logs. An ingot is a specific quantity of metal cast in a
form convenient for shaping, re-melting or refining.

The Comacchio Wreck: The Cargo
North Italic sigillata pottery was also found on board as well as a bronze balance
with which to sell merchandise by retail probably along a small local route in the
region of the Po valley

The Comacchio Wreck: Importance
The variety and rarity of the materials transported by the vessel make this one
of the most significant discoveries ever made in the Ferrara delta. They reflect
the complexity and liveliness of commercial contacts which were redistributed
along the Po River in the late 1 st century BC.

A Marble Transport: the Torre Sgarrata
Shipwreck
Excavated in 1967 in
the Gulf of Taranto, i.e.
Italy’s instep
Coins from the reign of
Commodus, indicate
the ship sank after AD
192
Sank in shallow water,
ca. 30 ft. deep

A Marble Transport: the Torre Sgarrata Shipwreck
The ship was loaded with almost 170 tonnes of rough-cut marble from Asia Minor,
which included 18 sarcophagi, 23 blocks of stone (six of which were alabaster) and
a huge column. There was also thin sheets of marble veneer.

A Marble Transport: the Torre Sgarrata Shipwreck
An unfinished garland sarcophagus from Ephesos in Turkey.

A Marble Transport: the Torre Sgarrata Shipwreck
An almost finished garland sarcophagus from the so-called Licinian tomb in
Rome, ca. AD 150-180. It is made of Dokimeion marble from Turkey.

A Marble Transport: the Torre Sgarrata Shipwreck
One of the ship’s iron anchors was also found and raised with the help of balloon lifts.

A Marble Transport: the Torre Sgarrata Shipwreck
One of the maritime archaeologist’s recording the dimensions of the ship’s iron anchor.

Why Study Roman Merchant Wrecks?
Yields important data about trade routes
Types of shipped items: oil, grain, olives, stone, ingots, pottery, etc.
The scale of trade, the size of boats and their carrying capacity
Yields important data about local trade

Why Study Roman Merchant Wrecks?
Yields Important data about international trade
The stamps on certain artifacts can be studied to determine who
produced the product and where it was produced, so
prosopographical* info and region specific economic data
Steps of production i.e. unfinished to finished sarcophagi and other
stone artifacts such as column drums also treated in the same way
*Prosopography – the study of persons or characters, especially their
appearances, careers, personalities, etc., within a historical, literary, or
social context.