L’approvisionnement en métaux de l’Occident méditerranéen à la fin de la République et sous le Haut-Empire. Flux, routes, organisation

Claude Domergue (1) , Christian Rico (1)

1 TRACES - Travaux et recherches archéologiques sur les cultures, les espaces et les sociétés

The existence of a dense network of maritime and land routes in the Roman Empire, especially in its western part, was the precondition for the development of an intense and well-organised metal trade in lead, copper, iron and tin during the late Republic and the early Empire. Our survey presents for the first time a complete panorama of the transport routes of all these metals, wherever they originated: Spain – undoubtedly the main production area for lead and copper –, but also Britain, Germany and Sardinia (lead) as well as Gaul (iron); for tin the situation is complex (Spain?, Gaul?, Britain?). We assess the economic impact of each region in the Roman metal trade, and also the framework in which the metals were purchased, sold and used.

Keywords: Copper; Ingots; Lead; Western Mediterranean; Late Roman Republic; Early Roman Empire; Metal Supply; Iron; Tean

Domains: History; Archaeology and Prehistory

Claude Domergue, Christian Rico. L’approvisionnement en métaux de l’Occident méditerranéen à la fin de la République et sous le Haut-Empire. Flux, routes, organisation. Infrastructure and Distribution in Ancient Economies, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Oct 2014, Vienne, Autriche. pp.193-252. ⟨hal-02053576⟩