The Romans imported a whole variety of materials: beef, corn, glassware, iron, lead, leather, marble, olive oil, perfumes, purple dye, silk, silver, spices, timber, tin and wine. The main trading partners were in Spain, France, the Middle East and North Africa. Britain exported lead, woollen products and tin.

What was the most important commodity in the Roman economy?

grain
The main commodity was grain.

What was the most traded item in Rome?

Some of the most traded amphorae born products are wine, olive oil, garum. Commodities like ivory, glassware, silk, spices are accepted as luxury products of Roman world and they show us how far traders reached to import these higly prized luxury goods.

What commodity would be valuable to trade during ancient times?

Early trade largely focused on luxury goods like precious metals, spices, and fine textiles, but eventually, as transportation by ship became faster, more reliable, and cheaper, even mundane items like olives and fish paste were exported across great distances.

What kind of trade items did China have?

What goods did the Chinese trade? Besides silk, the Chinese also exported (sold) teas, salt, sugar, porcelain, and spices. Most of what was traded was expensive luxury goods. This was because it was a long trip and merchants didn’t have a lot of room for goods.

Where did mercatores sell their goods in ancient Rome?

Apart from the marketplaces, the mercatores sold their goods by the side of roads, and were also present near Roman military camps during campaigns, where they sold food and clothing to Roman soldiers, and purchased war booty from them. A wall painting from Pompeii depicting everyday activities in a Roman marketplace. ( public domain )

What kind of exotic goods did Rome have?

Such exotic goods include silk, spices, ivory and jewellery. One of Rome’s trade partners was India, and a number of sites with Roman remains have been discovered in the south of that country.

Where did the goods of the Roman Empire come from?

Luxury goods also came from all over Europe, Africa and the Near East. Silk came on camel caravans from China. Ships brought spices, jewels and perfumes from India.

Why was trade so important to ancient Rome?

Trade and moving the Roman Army around were the two principle reasons for building roads. The most important port was Ostia as it was the nearest major port to Rome itself. Ostia was situated at the mouth of the River Tiber and was only 15 miles from Rome. Many ships travelled between Ostia and the major North African city of Carthage,…