Networks as Proxies: A Relational Approach Towards Economic Complexity in the Roman Period

Abstract

Preiser-Kapeller demonstrates how different types of source evidence (archaeological and written) can be used to model the inherent information on the interactions between economic actors and markets in the form of network graphs. Embedded in a larger discussion of the actual complexity of the Roman economy, he exemplary analyses a network of riverine routes and harbours, the “ORBIS Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World”, the network of markets and commodities in the “Periplus of the Erythraean Sea” and the network of potters from Roman potter shops (of terra sigillata ) of Rheinzabern. These examples illustrate the emergence of complex patterns of exchange, cooperation and competition from the multitude of interactions within and across various scales of the Roman economy.

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