From the Adriatic to the Alps: Transport and Trade Networks in Roman and Late Antique Northern Italy

Contents

Introduction

Past Research on Trade in Northern Italy

Towards a Quantitative Approach           

The MADINI Dataset

Methods and Approaches

Transport and Infrastructure: The Backbone of Economic Networks

The Road Network

The River Network

The Canal Network

Interconnected Infrastructure

‘The Richest District’. Production and Exports from Northern Italy

Transforming the Landscape: Adaptation and Exploitation

Staple Goods: Wine, Cereals, and Oil

Exports: Northern Italic Produce in the Roman World

Amphorae: Containers and Consumables

Zones of Production

Chronological Trends

Geographic Trends

Amphora-borne Trade in Northern Italy

Conclusions

Red-Slipped Finewares: Local and Long-Distance Consumption

Fineware Types and Zones of Production

Chronological Trends

Geographic Trends

Trade in Red-Slip Finewares in Northern Italy

Conclusion

Decorative Stone: Indulgence and Compromise

Zones of Extraction

Exploring Stone and Marble Trends

The Stone Trade in Northern Italy

Conclusions

Trade, Transport, and Economy in Northern Italy

Transport Costs and Networks

Zones of Consumption

Inland Trade: Costs and Other Factors

Chronological Variation: Amphorae and Finewares

A Disconnected and Isolated Region?

Conclusions

Appendix A: Fluvial Navigation in Northern Italy

Appendix B: Values Used in the Hierarchical Clustering

Amphorae

Red-Slipped Finewares

Decorative Stone

Bibliography

About the Author

James Page is an early career Roman archaeologist and currently a Maria Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at the Centro Nacional de Supercomputación, Barcelona. He achieved his PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2022, before going on to become a Rome Fellow at the British School at Rome. His research explores Roman economic and societal interactions with waterways, ranging from transport and trade networks to community vulnerabilities and responses to hydrological risk. An active excavator, he is involved in several field projects, most recently the Upper Sabina Tiberina Project excavations at the Roman villa at Vacone, Lazio, Italy.