The Ecology of Exchange: The Monetization of Roman Egypt

Abstract

Abstract The Egyptian experience of monetization—especially during the Roman period—subverts colonializing historiographies in which the adoption of (Western) coinage autonomously subdued passive and ‘primitive’ reciprocity and redistribution-based economies at the periphery. Many scholars now argue that cultural, religious and economic contexts directed exchange practices in Roman Egypt. This article argues that these embedding elements were themselves cultivated in a meta-context of place—namely, the fluvial geography and ecology of the Nile Valley, Delta and Fayyum Oasis. The rhythmic inundations of the Nile and Egypt’s related agricultural cycle shaped the meanings inhabitants attached to instruments of exchange, including the invading coins of Greek and Roman polities. Coinage thoroughly permeated Egyptian institutions, and yet ecologically-determined rituals, customs and traditions preserved aspects of indigenous exchange culture. Ecological forces nurtured and strengthened the cultural, economic and political forces that constrained Roman monetary imperialism. The monetization of Roman Egypt is, therefore, a critical historical case-study of broader geographic, temporal and thematic interest—one which enables scholars to better understand how ecology intersects with cultural, economic and political embeddedness.