Contracts and costs for shipping marble in the Roman Empire
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J. C. Fant [1]
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[1] University of Akron
University of Akron
City of Akron, Estados Unidos
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- Localización: Interdisciplinary studies on ancient stone: proceedings of the IX Association for the Study of Marbles and Other Stones in Antiquity (ASMOSIA) Conference (Tarragona 2009) / coord. por Anna Gutiérrez García-Moreno, María Pilar Lapuente Mercadal, Isabel Rodà de Llanza, 2012, ISBN 978-84-939033-8-1, págs. 528-532
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
This paper explores the contracts of "locatio-conductio" (hire and lease), under which all goods were shipped during the Roman Empire, and their particular role in shipping marble. Each forms of the contract had its advantages. The relationship of the ship captain or owner to Imperial agents are also considered, in particular whether they enjoyed the incentives extended to grain carriers. We try to calculate freight rates and make an attempt to estimate costs through the example of the Pantheon columns. The literary stereotype of the shipowner gambling on speculative cargoes was not the real-life captain who carried cargo for others at good rates and with legal protections. Since ships had long service lives, the capital investment could be paid off with a few dozen voyages; the rest was pure profit
