Arnaud Pascal, Keay Simon (eds.). Roman Port Societies: The Evidence of Inscriptions

Cambridge University Press, 2020. — 466 p.In this book, an international team of experts draws upon a rich range of Latin and Greek texts to explore the roles played by individuals at ports in activities and institutions that were central to the maritime commerce of the Roman Mediterranean. In particular, they focus upon some of the interpretative issues that arise in dealing with this kind of epigraphic evidence, the archaeological contexts of the texts, social institutions and social groups in ports, legal issues relating to harbours, case studies relating to specific ports, and mercantile connections and shippers. While much attention is inevitably focused upon the richer epigraphic collections of Ostia and Ephesos, the papers draw upon inscriptions from a very wide range of ports across the Mediterranean. The volume will be invaluable for all scholars and students of Roman history.Pascal Arnaud is Emeritus Professor Roman History at the Université Lumière Lyon II and a senior Fellow at Institut Universitaire de France. His main fields of expertise are maritime history, economic history, epigraphy, papyrology, ancient geography and periplography. He has been co-directing the ERC Advanced Grant-funded Portus Limen project which has been investigating ports across the Mediterranean.Simon Keay is Professor of Roman Archaeology at the University of Southampton and a Fellow of the British Academy. His main areas of expertise are Roman trade, commerce and cultural change. Most recently, he has been directing excavations and survey at Portus, the port of imperial Rome, as well as the ERC Advanced Grant-funded Portus Limen project which has been investigating ports across the Mediterranean.