Roman commercial networks in the eastern Pyrenees in the Late Republic and Early Empire: A cost analysis of the transport of imports and exports

Alan Ward Koeck

doi:10.5565/rev/tda.110

Abstract

A computer model of the transport network in the eastern Pyrenees is drawn up, in association with a mathematical model of cost and speed of various means of transport and types of via. Results of these models include optimum routes for imports and exports to this region, and a breakdown of costs and transport times in each direction. The role of the port of Ruscino is noted in making Cerdanya and Iulia Lybica accessible from the sea, due to the higher cost of road transport in comparison to sea and river. So is the economic feasibility of the transport of merchandise such as imports of wine and exports of pernae ceretanae in relation with other regions of the Roman world, or quarried stone and salt between the region and neighboring regions in the central Pyrenees. The topic of a mountain range as a barrier to commercial activities is thus questioned.

Highlights

A computer model of the transport network in the eastern Pyrenees is drawn up, in association with a mathematical model of cost and speed of various means of transport and types of via
The second result set was a mapping of minimal time and cost for exports from the region, with a view to analyzing the cost of transport and economic feasibility of such exports, to nearby regions or further abroad to economic centers of the Empire such as the city of Rome itself
If we consider Iulia Lybica as a point in which we have archaeological evidence of various classes of imports, we observe that routes originating in the western section of the Central Pyrenees may arrive in the city either through the Segre river valley and Strata Ceretana, or from the north through Matemale