Introduction

For the study of transportation on the Mediterranean Sea there are some classic works. First and foremost Jean Rougé, Recherches sur l'organisation du commerce maritime en Méditerranée sous l'Empire romain, Paris 1966 (text; plates; index). In English we have Lionel Casson, Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World, Princeton 1971 and Travel in the Ancient World, Baltimore-London 1974. Since then a plethora of articles and books has seen the light, such as A.J. Parker, Ancient Shipwrecks of the Mediterranean and the Roman Provinces, Oxford 1992, Pascal Arnaud, Les routes de la navigation antique. Itinéraires en Mediterranée, Paris 2005, and E.J. Strauss, Roman Cargoes: Underwater Evidence from the Eastern Mediterranean, London 2006. For shipwrecks there is also an online database from 2013 by Julia Strauss (frozen version - Excel).

For an overall view of cargoes, a recent publication by Candace Rice is of great importance: "Shipwreck cargoes in the western Mediterranean and the organization of Roman maritime trade", Journal of Roman Archaeology 29 (2016), 165-192.

It is impossible to summarize all this work. Here we will have a very brief look at the Mediterranean Sea, harbours and ports, and ships and navigation. Next, we will dwell a little more on the transport of passengers, using ancient texts. Finally, a discussion of the cargoes follows, on the basis of Rice's article.

Reconstruction of the Madrague de Giens shipwreck, which was found on the southern coast of France.
Image: Ministère de la Culture - Underwater archaeology.