Book Review: Federico De Romanis and Marco Maiuro, eds., Across the Ocean: Nine Essays on Indo-Mediterranean Trade

World History Connected ^ | 2016 | Anya King, University of Illinois

[SunkenCiv]

Federico De Romanis, "Comparative Perspectives on the Pepper Trade." ...compares quantitative data and other accounts of the pepper trade in Roman and Early Modern times and finds many broad similarities. Through his reading of both Roman and Early Modern European sources, De Romanis establishes that the Romans must have used both large and small ships carrying a very high proportion of pepper in their cargoes on the voyage from India. On the basis of recent readings of the Muziris papyrus, he argues that the Hermapollon, a large Roman ship, carried about 620 tons of pepper. De Romanis also considers the impact of the pepper trade on the lands where it was produced; he argues against the household production of pepper in the hinterland of the Western Ghats in favor of large-scale production there, which transformed agriculture within Malabar into a plantation system.

[SunkenCiv]

Also, btw, to all, kudos, when I posted this topic, I didn’t think we’d reach a page of posts for at least five years. Ya just nevah know.

[Covenantor]

Bttt

[SunkenCiv]

“There’s no DNA evidence for yersenia pestis, which differs from the various European outbreaks since the Middle Ages.”

Boy, I didn’t word that one well.

There is DNA evidence of The Plague in actual plague victim remains from the Middle Ages, but no such evidence exists from Roman remains.

Of course, there aren’t that many Roman inhumation remains — they mostly did bury their dead — that have survived to the current day. The largest cache of Roman dead are from 79 AD, Bay of Naples, but that volcano was the culprit. :^)

[rdl6989]

Thanks!

[SunkenCiv]

My pleasure! Note that I put in a link to the publisher’s page, which sells it for much less. I think my copy was shipped from there, but via Amazon — there was a card tucked in there that clearly was added by whomever shipped it. And it took a while to arrive.

[SunkenCiv]

I got thinking about the Justinian Plague, and since I live on Failing Memory Lane, tried a search on Justinian Yersinia Pestis, and hit the following link. Apparently the pest’s DNA has shown up in 6th century remains. I’d look in past GGG topics, but I don’t wanna know just how forgetful I am.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(13)70323-2/fulltext

Yersinia pestis and the Plague of Justinian 541–543 AD: a genomic analysis
David M Wagner, PhD
Jennifer Klunk, BS
Michaela Harbeck, PhD
Alison Devault, MA
Nicholas Waglechner, MSc
Jason W Sahl, PhD
et al.
Published:January 28, 2014

and, there’s Neolithic evidence as well, if the guy at the next linked YT vid can be believed.

[SunkenCiv]

What caused the Neolithic Decline in Europe? Was it the first great plague in history? And if so, did it cause a Neolithic apocalypse?

In the 4th Millennium BC, Neolithic Europe experienced a sustained decline. By about 3000 BC Western Steppe Herders like the Yamnaya and related groups migrated west into Europe, changing the genetics and culture forever, and bringing about the Bronze Age.

The male lineages of Neolithic Europe came to an end as the steppe herders had offspring with the Neolithic farmer women. Did this only happen because the settled farmers had already been brought to their knees by waves of plague?

In this video we look at the first recorded samples of the plague - Yersinia Pestis - the same bacterium that caused the Black Death and the Plague of Justinian and Bronze Age plagues.

Did the disease first become dangerous in the vast proto-cities of the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture in Eastern Europe?

The First Great Plague: A Neolithic Apocalypse?
Dan Davis Author | Aug 15, 2021 | 54,580 views

[SunkenCiv]

and, a reminder to get this while it’s still available (click the replied to link).

[SunkenCiv]

Infectious disease modeling study casts doubt on impact of Justinianic plague
EurekAlert! | May 1, 2020 | University of Maryland
Posted on 5/4/2020, 10:12:49 PM by SunkenCiv
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3841767/posts

https://freerepublic.com/tag/justinian/index

[Covenantor]

Aha...good work

[SunkenCiv]

It’s available at Barnes and Noble.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-roman-empire-and-the-indian-ocean-raoul-mclaughlin/1127961743?ean=9781526738073

[SunkenCiv]

PDF version:

https://www.ancientportsantiques.com/wp-content/uploads/Documents/PLACES/IndOc-Gulf/IndianOcean-McLaughlin2014.pdf