Sticky fingers : the investment structure of the Spanish oil business
- Author
- Wim Broekaert (UGent)
- Organization
- Abstract
- One of the main subjects of debate in the analysis of the Roman economy is the question whether the Roman aristocracy made investments in trade and industry and if so, to what extent this money supply was able to support economic performance. I will argue that the focus on elite money is flawed, because the available evidence does not allow a serial analysis of the origin of commercial investments. Nevertheless, the amphora epigraphy of the Spanish oil industry offers a promising avenue to counterbalance these limitations. First, it allows us to trace personal investments by elites in the oil trade and their strategies to increase efficiency and profitability, viz. the creation of family firms and vertical integration of production and distribution stages. Second, the evidence shows that the same two strategies were also implemented by entrepreneurs who, to our knowledge, did not belong to the aristocracy. Yet, as they were able to finance these investments, we can conclude that these entrepreneurs, whether being part of the elite or not, commanded financial reserves similar to or even superior to elite fortunes. In conclusion, the focus on elite investments in Roman trade can never be an argument to question the scale of exchange.
- Keywords
- roman aristocracy, merchant elite, baetican oil, trade, amphorae production, family business, vertical integration, MERCHANTS, EMPIRE
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-4429655
- MLA
- Broekaert, Wim. “Sticky Fingers : The Investment Structure of the Spanish Oil Business.” CAHIERS MONDES ANCIENS, vol. 7, 2015, doi:10.4000/mondesanciens.1598.
- APA
- Broekaert, W. (2015). Sticky fingers : the investment structure of the Spanish oil business. CAHIERS MONDES ANCIENS, 7. https://doi.org/10.4000/mondesanciens.1598
- Chicago author-date
- Broekaert, Wim. 2015. “Sticky Fingers : The Investment Structure of the Spanish Oil Business.” CAHIERS MONDES ANCIENS 7. https://doi.org/10.4000/mondesanciens.1598.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Broekaert, Wim. 2015. “Sticky Fingers : The Investment Structure of the Spanish Oil Business.” CAHIERS MONDES ANCIENS 7. doi:10.4000/mondesanciens.1598.
- Vancouver
- 1.Broekaert W. Sticky fingers : the investment structure of the Spanish oil business. CAHIERS MONDES ANCIENS. 2015;7.
- IEEE
- [1]W. Broekaert, “Sticky fingers : the investment structure of the Spanish oil business,” CAHIERS MONDES ANCIENS, vol. 7, 2015.
@article{4429655, abstract = {{One of the main subjects of debate in the analysis of the Roman economy is the question whether the Roman aristocracy made investments in trade and industry and if so, to what extent this money supply was able to support economic performance. I will argue that the focus on elite money is flawed, because the available evidence does not allow a serial analysis of the origin of commercial investments. Nevertheless, the amphora epigraphy of the Spanish oil industry offers a promising avenue to counterbalance these limitations. First, it allows us to trace personal investments by elites in the oil trade and their strategies to increase efficiency and profitability, viz. the creation of family firms and vertical integration of production and distribution stages. Second, the evidence shows that the same two strategies were also implemented by entrepreneurs who, to our knowledge, did not belong to the aristocracy. Yet, as they were able to finance these investments, we can conclude that these entrepreneurs, whether being part of the elite or not, commanded financial reserves similar to or even superior to elite fortunes. In conclusion, the focus on elite investments in Roman trade can never be an argument to question the scale of exchange.}}, articleno = {{1598}}, author = {{Broekaert, Wim}}, issn = {{2107-0199}}, journal = {{CAHIERS MONDES ANCIENS}}, keywords = {{roman aristocracy,merchant elite,baetican oil,trade,amphorae production,family business,vertical integration,MERCHANTS,EMPIRE}}, language = {{eng}}, pages = {{26}}, title = {{Sticky fingers : the investment structure of the Spanish oil business}}, url = {{http://doi.org/10.4000/mondesanciens.1598}}, volume = {{7}}, year = {{2015}}, }
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