Trade

Definition

Trade is believed to have taken place throughout much of recorded human history. There is evidence of the exchange of obsidian and flint during the stone age. Materials used for creating jewelry were traded with Egypt since 3000 BC. Long-range trade routes first appeared in the 3rd millennium BC, when Sumerians in Mesopotamia traded with the Harappan civilization of the Indus Valley.

The Phoenicians were noted sea traders, traveling across the Mediterranean Sea, and as far north as Britain for sources of tin to manufacture bronze. For this purpose they established trade colonies the Greeks called emporia. From the beginning of Greek civilization until the fall of the Roman empire in the 5th century, a financially lucrative trade brought valuable spice to Europe from the far east, including China.

Roman commerce allowed its empire to flourish and endure. The Roman empire produced a stable and secure transportation network that enabled the shipment of trade goods without fear of significant piracy.

Based on Wikipedia content that has been reviewed, edited, and republished under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 3.0 license. Last reviewed by Jan van der Crabben on 28 April 2011. Please help and improve this definition!

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Articles

• Financial Intermediation in the Early Roman Empire

  In this paper I use a theoretical hierarchy of financial sources to evaluate the effectiveness of financial markets in the early Roman Empire. I first review the theory of financial intermediation to describe the hierarchy of financial sources and survey briefly the history of financial intermediation...

• Cultural links between India and the Greco-Roman world

  Cyrus the Great (558-530 BC) built the first universal empire, stretching from Greece to the Indus River. This was the famous Achaemenid Dynasty of Persia. An inscription at Naqsh-i-Rustam, the tomb of his able successor Darius I (521-486 BC), near Persepolis, records Gadara (Gandhara) along with Hindush...

• Opening the Way to India

  Possibly being overjoyed by the tales of mythical exploits of Heracles, Semiramis, the fabled queen of Assyria, Cyrus, King of Persia and so on, Alexander the Great set out from the tiny kingdom of Macedon for a daring adventure, unheard of in the entire civilized world. His theatre of war was vast, extending...

• Trade in Ancient Greece

  Very early on, the geographic position of Greece and the necessity of importing wheat forced the Greek world to engage in maritime trade. The areas which provisioned Greece with wheat were Cyrenaica, Egypt, Italy (specifically the Magna Graecia area and Sicily), and regions surrounding the Black Sea. Athens...

• Coinage in Ancient Greece

  Originally, the Ancient Greeks employed a barter system in order to trade goods and services. This likely worked well before sea trade became prevalent in the region, and trading large goods such as sacks of wheat or large farm animals would have been quite cumbersome. Around the eighth century B.C...

Illustrations

Trade Books

• Chariots of the Gods Erich von Daniken Berkley Trade (01 January 1999) Price: $9.25

• Salt: A World History Mark Kurlansky Penguin (Non-Classics) (28 January 2003) Price: $10.11

• The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves Matt Ridley Harper Perennial (07 June 2011) Price: $10.87

• A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian... Victor Hanson Random House Trade Paperbacks (12 September 2006) Price: $11.56

• Myths of the Ancient Greeks Anonymous NAL Trade (01 April 2003) Price: $10.20