Description: The papers here examine questions relating to the extent and nature of Byzantine trade from Late Antiquity into the Middle Ages. The Byzantine state was the only political entity of the Mediterranean to survive Antiquity and thus offers a theoretical standard against which to measure diachronic and regional changes in trading practices within the area and beyond. To complement previous extensive work on late antique long-distance trade within the Mediterranean (based on the grain supply, amphorae and fine ware circulation), the papers concentrate on local and international trade.
Review Quotes: '... this volume will remain for a long time to come the best assessment of present knowledge on early and mid-Byzantine trade. ... The symposiarch should be congratulated for impeccable editing, a rare feat when dealing with a multilingual bibliography and of course for such a comprehensive collection of papers.' The Medieval Review