Roman Silk Trade and Markets

Abstract

This contribution will deal with the evidence for Roman silk trade and markets from the 1st century bce to the 5th century ce, with a focus on the written sources. While earlier studies often focused on the terminology of silk in Ancient Greek and Latin and the use of silk in Antiquity, especially in the context of luxury discourses and sumptuary legislation, more recent research has drawn attention to the maritime and overland trade routes along the so-called Silk Roads and the traders of silk. This shift is partly due to the large increase of our knowledge about the sea and land routes of the Silk Roads as well as new insights into the organization of textile production and the long distance trade.1Moreover, the information gathered from ancient texts is increasingly complemented by technical and scientific analyses of archaeological textiles in the Mediterranean regions that shed new light on the origin of raw materials and the places of production.2This study aims to bring these recent studies together in order to give an overview over the kinds of silks that were traded in Antiquity, their origins, traders and trade routes as well as their places of production and consumption.