First published in 1926, this book provides an outline of Roman economic life during the first two centuries of the Empire. Each chapter focuses on a different section of the Roman sphere of influence, including trade routes to China and India, the goods native to various areas, and the means by which they communicated and traded with Rome.

Utilising new archaeological research the author questions the traditionally held view that the imperial government had a strong political interest in eastern trade. Instead, he argues that their primary motivation was the tax income.

Studies the complex system of trade exchanges and commerce that profoundly changed Roman society.

In this volume, papers by leading Roman historians and archaeologists discuss trade within the Roman Empire and beyond its frontiers between c.100 BC and AD 350, focusing especially on the role of the Roman state in shaping the institutional framework for trade. As part of a novel interdisciplinary approach to the subject, the chapters address its myriad facets on the basis of broadly different sources of evidence - historical, papyrological, andarchaeological - demonstrating how collaborations with the elite holders of wealth within the empire fundamentally changed its political character in the longer term.