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7.1 - MASTERS, SUPERINTENDENTS, SHIPPERS, TRADERS, MERCHANTS

Below is a short overview of various names of professions and roles found in the mosaic inscriptions on the square.

Masters - domini

Inscriptions from Ostia and Portus mentioning domini navium are:

  • CIL XIV, 99 (141 AD): domini navium Carthaginensium ex Africa. Ex Africa probably to distinguish from Carthago Nova, modern Cartagena in Spain. Found in Portus.
  • CIL XIV S, 4142 (173 AD): domini navium Afrarum universarum item Sardorum. Item Sardorum was added later. Sardorum to be read with domini, or with navium and then intended as Sardarum. From the square.

    • There is general agreement that the domini were ship owners. Perhaps they were also ship builders. Those from Africa (Proconsularis) could act together and were later joined by the domini from Sardinia, who were added later to the second inscription. It is not surprising that the domini from Carthage could act as a separate group, in view of the scale and importance of the port. Why the two groups joined forces is not clear. Sardinia may have been a stopover on the route from Africa to Ostia, but that is not a sufficient explanation. The second inscription mentioned above is a dedication to a patron of the corpus curatorum navium marinarum. The inscription shows that the joint shipowners from Africa Proconsularis formed a formal organization (a corpus?). Had the dedication been a one-time initiative, then we cannot understand why the Sardinian ship owners were added later.

    Superintendents - curatores

    Inscriptions from Ostia and Portus mentioning curatores related to shipping and trade are:

  • CIL XIV, 309 (second century AD): idem codicariorum curator Ostis et III honoratus.
  • CIL XIV, 363 (138-161 AD): corporis [---] curatori navium marinarum.
  • CIL XIV, 364 (138-161 AD): patrono corporis curatorum navium marinarum et navium amnalium Ostiensium.
  • CIL XIV, 409 (135-150 AD): quinquennalis curatorum navium marinarum, gratis adlecto inter navicularios maris Hadriatici et ad quadrigam fori vinari.
  • CIL XIV, 430: curator negotiantium fori vinari quinquennalis collegi Geni fori vinari.
  • CIL XIV S, 4142 (173 AD): corpus curatorum navium marinarum.
  • CIL XIV S, 4626: curator navium Karthaginiensium. The tribus of this person is Carthaginian.
  • CIL VI, 9682: negotians vinarius item navicularius, curator corporis maris Hadriatici.
  • AE 1987, 191: curator naviculariorum maris Hadriatici idem quinquennalis.
  • AE 1988, 178 and AE 1996, 284: curator corporis naviculariorum maris Hadriatici.
  • IG XIV, 917: curator (epimelètès) of the Alexandrian fleet.
  • Cf. from Rome CIL VI, 1625b: negotiatores olearii ex Baetica, with two curatores.

    • Sirks has reviewed the legal sources and epigraphical evidence, and concludes that the curatores were not representatives of the domini, as has been suggested by some. They worked for the Imperial government. This is supported by a dedication (CIL XIV S, 4142) to the curatores by the domini, not the other way around. The curatores would have assigned ships to cargoes. Sirks concludes that each corpus naviculariorum had a curator, appointed by the Praefectus Annonae. Ostia was the natural place for their work.[1] Next to the curators of guilds there was also a guild of curators of sea-going ships and the river ships of Ostia (corpus curatorum navium marinarum et navium amnalium Ostiensium).

    It is not easy to understand how the curators were organized. Were all curators members of the guild of the curators? Why are the curators sometimes related to people, and sometimes to ships? Did the latter talk to shippers and merchants and ship owners? What was the relation between the curators of the sea-going ships (curatores navium marinarum) and those of the ships of Carthago and the fleet of Alexandria? Were the latter members of a single guild of curators, or did the curators of the sea-going ships focus on all other ships?

    It is not surprising that Carthago was given its own curator. He may have been responsible for the entire Gulf of Tunis, with harbours such as Misua and Gummi, and beyond. I am inclined to think that the curator of the tug boats on the Tiber (codicarii) was the same as the curator of the river ships (naves amnales). The codicari are found in statio 43, next to the presumed statio of the curatores navium marinarum (42).

    Shippers - navicularii

    Navicularii were responsible for the actual sailing. They were owners or charterers. The navicularius could be on board, sometimes as captain. He could also be represented by a captain called gubernator (steersman, sailing master), or in legal terminology magister navis (shipmaster). For seagoing ships the magister could also hire a gubernator. In a graffito from Ostia the two terms are combined in one person.[2] So the navicularii may also have stayed on the shore as ship owner, charterer, or trader.[3] The situation is rather confusing. Navicularii could have several roles, depending on the scale of the business and the nature of the transport (seagoing, rivergoing, along the shore). The complexities are dealt with at length in the Digesta.[4]

    The navicularii or shippers, as I will call them, did not specify the commodity they transported, but the city or area where they came from or where they were active. It is the traders who mention the commodity. We do not hear of navicularii frumentarii, vinarii, marmorarii. Apart from the inscriptions on the square we hear of:

  • Ostia - AE 1955, 178 (period of Augustus)[5]: naviculariei Ostienses. They may have transported all sorts of commodities to the harbours and exported salt from the salt pans at Ostia and Portus.
  • Ostia - AE 2001, 633; AE 1987, 191; AE 1987, 192; AE 1988, 178; AE 1996, 284; CIL XIV, 409; CIL VI, 9682: corpus naviculariorum maris Hadriatici. In antiquity the Adriatic (also called Mare Superum) included the Ionian sea, perhaps extending as far as the coast of Libya.[6] The corpus seems to have transported wine, but not necessarily wine only.[7]
  • Portus - IG XIV, 918: navicularii of the Alexandrian merchant fleet.
  • Arles - CIL XII, 692, 672, 718, 853; CIL III, 14165,8: five corpora naviculariorum marinorum Arelatensium. The five corpora may have focused on different kinds of cargo or different areas.[8]
  • Lyon, Narbonne - CIL XIII, 1942; CIL XII, 4398: navicularius marinus.
  • Africa - CTh XIII, 5,10 (364 AD): navicularii Africani. With the addition qui idonea publicis dispositionibus ac necessitatibus ligna convectant, so they transported wood for the authorities.
  • Spain - CTh XIII, 5,8 (336 AD): navicularii Hispaniarum.

    • Traders - negotiantes, negotiatores

    Traders often mention the commodity in which they are trading, and also a place to which they are related. In Ostia we have:

  • AE 1940, 64: Lucius Caecilius Aemilianus, duovir Aeliae Uluzibbirae Africae, corporatus in templo fori vinari inportatorum negotiantium.
  • AE 1940, 66: collegium vinariorum inportatorum negotiantium.
  • AE 1955, 165: Genio corporis splendidissimi inportantium et negotiantium vinariorum. Set up by Caius Septimius Quietus, praeco vinorum.
  • AE 1974, 123bis: in corpore negotiatorum fori vinari rei publicae Ostiensium vetus negotians navicularius lyntrarius.
  • CIL XIV, 153: negotiatores ex area Saturni.
  • CIL XIV, 318: quinquennalis corporis (or corporum) vinariorum urbanorum et Ostiensium.
  • CIL XIV, 397: negotiatori ex Hispania Citeriore.
  • CIL XIV, 409: negotiatorum vinariorum ab urbe.
  • CIL XIV, 430: curator negotiantium fori vinari quinquennalis collegi Geni fori vinari.
  • CIL XIV S, 5336 and 5409: corpus importantium et negotiantium vinariorum.

    • Examples from other places:

  • CIL VI, 712: negotias vinarius.
  • CIL VI, 814: negotiatores frumentari.
  • CIL VI, 1035: negotiantes boari.
  • CIL VI, 1065: negotiantes vasculari.
  • CIL VI, 1101: negotiantes vini supernatis et Ariminensis.
  • CIL VI, 8826: negotiantium cellarum vinariarum.
  • CIL VI, 9664: negotiator aerarius et ferrarius.
  • CIL VI, 9666: negotiatori ferrario.
  • CIL VI, 9668: negotiatori frumentario.
  • CIL VI, 9670: negotiator lintiarius.
  • CIL VI, 9672: negotianti perticario.
  • CIL VI, 9675: negotiator sagarius.
  • CIL VI, 9676: negotians salsamentarius et vinariarius Maurarius.
  • CIL VI, 9671: negotiator penoris et vinorum.
  • CIL VI, 9677: negotians salsarius quinquennalis corporis negotiantium Malacitanorum.
  • CIL VI, 9683: negotiatrici frumentariae et legumenaria.
  • CIL VI, 29722: negotiatori vinario Luguduni.
  • CIL VI, 1625b: negotiatores olearii ex Baetica.
  • CIL VI, 33885: negotiator eborarius aut citriarius.
  • CIL VI, 33887: negotiatori suariae et pecuariae.
  • CIL VI, 33927: negotiatorum vinariorum.
  • CIL XIII, 1911: negotiatores vinarii Luguduni.
  • AE 1973, 71: negotiatrici oleariae ex provincia Baetica item vini.
  • Cf. Digesta 50.5.9.1: privilegium frumentariis negotiatoribus concessum.

    • Guilds involved in the wine trade are discussed in a separate section about the Forum Vinarium.

    Merchants - mercatores

    We also encounter traders or merchants called mercatores. Some examples from Ostia and other cities:

  • Ostia - CIL XIV, 161 (151-200 AD); CIL XIV, 303 and CIL XIV S, 4620 (130-146 AD): corpus mercatorum frumentariorum.
  • Ostia - CIL XIV S, 4234 (101-150 AD): mercator frumentarius.
  • CIL VI, 1620: mercatores frumentarii et olearii Afrari.
  • CIL VI, 1935: mercatori olei Hispani ex provincia Baetica.
  • CIL VI, 9675: mercator sagarius.
  • CIL IX, 4680: mercator omnis generis mercium transmarinarum.
  • CIL X, 545: mercator vinarius.
  • CIL X, 1797: mercatores qui Alexandriai, Asiai, Syriai negotiantur.
  • CIL X, 6493: mercator vinarius.
  • AE 1972, 74: mercator purpurarius.
  • Cf. Digesta 50.4.5: navicularii et mercatores olearii.

    • The mercatores frumentarii seem to have formed a local guild in Ostia. Meiggs points out that they were men of substance, with important political and economic positions in the city.[9] The difference between negotiatores and mercatores is still being debated. A summary was written by Rico.[10] Rico maintains that often, in the Imperial period, there was no distinction.

    In Spain (Hispalis, Sevilla) we also encounter the diffusor olei ad annonam urbis. He was a member of the corpus of the diffusores olearii. Possibly the function was a creation from the Severan period, when changes are seen of the tituli of the amphorae of Monte Testaccio, when distributions of olive oil were introduced, and when membership of the corpora naviculariorum became a munus (a public duty).[11]

    The administration of the harbours

    A primary concern of the Emperor was the annona, the food supply, of Rome. An inadequate supply could lead to riots and endanger his position. His involvement could be in the form of distributions, and through measures stimulating the import as such. The historical debate has focused not only on the organizational aspects, but also on the commodities involved: grain, wine, olive oil, meat, fish, fish sauce, marble, metal. For some scholars the annona is almost synonymous with grain, but recent research indicates that at least olive oil was also treated in a special way, with increased Imperial attention in the Antonine and Severan periods.[12] The related administration of the harbours of Ostia and Portus is discussed in a separate section.

    The involvement on the square of the local city council is shown by the formula "LDDDP", with which many inscriptions end: L(ocus) D(atus) D(ecreto) D(ecurionum) P(ublice). Many harbour- and food-related activities were carried out by guilds, collegia. Several had the special status of corpus, through which they were entitled to exemptions from munera (public duties). Cargo ships were operated by private people, there were no Imperial cargo fleets. Their work for the private market remains somewhat neglected in the literature.[13]

    North Africa and Sardinia

    The cities in North Africa and Sardinia documented in Ostia and Portus are discussed in separate sections. Sardinia was part of the province Sardinia et Corsica. The western part of North Africa was named after the indigenous population, the Mauri:

    First to third centuries AD

    Mauretania Tingitana
    Modern country: Morocco
    Capital: Tingis (Tangier)
    Mauretania Caesariensis
    Modern country: Algeria
    Capital: Caesarea Mauretaniae / Iol Caesarea (Cherchell)
    Africa Proconsularis
    Modern country: north-eastern Algeria, Tunisia, north-western Libya
    Capital: Utica (near Bizerte, Tunisia)
    Creta et Cyrenaica
    Modern country: Crete and eastern Libya
    Capital: Gortyna (Gortyn, Crete)
    In the fourth century the situation was different, mostly because of reforms by Diocletian
    Mauretania Tingitana
    Modern country: Morocco
    Capital: Tingis (Tangier)
    Mauretania Caesariensis (made smaller)
    Modern country: western part of Algeria
    Capital: Caesarea Mauretaniae / Iol Caesarea (Cherchell)
    Mauretania Sitifensis (formerly part of Mauretania Caesariensis)
    Modern country: middle part (north/south) of Algeria
    Capital: Setifis (Setif)
    Numidia (formerly part of Africa Proconsularis)
    Modern country: eastern part of Algeria
    Capital: Cirta (Constantine) (with the harbour Rusicade)
    Africa Zeugitana (still also called Africa Proconsularis)
    Modern country: northern part of Tunisia
    Capital: Carthago (Tunis)
    Africa Byzacena (formerly part of Africa Proconsularis)
    Modern country: middle part (west/east) of Tunisia
    Capital: Hadrumetum (Sousse)
    Africa Tripolitana (formerly part of Africa Proconsularis)
    Modern country: southern part of Tunisia, north-western Libya
    Capital: Leptis Magna (Khoms, Libya)
    Libya Superior (formerly part of Creta et Cyrenaica)
    Modern country: western Libya
    Capital: Cyrene (near Shahhat) (with the harbour Apollonia)
    Libya Inferior (formerly part of Creta et Cyrenaica)
    Modern country: eastern Libya
    Capital: Paraetonium (Marsa Matruh, Egypt), later Derna (Darna, Libya)

    (1) Sirks 1991, 61-80, 106.
    (2) Magister Menophilus, Menophilus gubernator, Eusebias (of the ship Eusebia). The text is accompanied by the drawing of a tug boat (navis codicaria) (Molle 2014, 216-220).
    (3) Casson 1971, 314-318. For several topics I refer to Casson only, but of course Rougé 1966 is also to be consulted.
    (4) See the section "The shipping business in law".
    (5) Meiggs 1973, 276.
    (6) Sirks 1991, 96.
    (7) Meiggs 1973, 275-276; Sirks 1991, 81-82, 96-97.
    (8) Sirks 1991, 97-103.
    (9) Meiggs 1973, 277.
    (10) Rico 2003.
    (11) Sirks 1991, 128-145, 388-391; Rico 2003; Etienne 2003; Broekaert 2011; Rodriguez 2018.
    (12) Broekaert 2008 ("tituli picti"); Broekaert 2008 ("creatio"); Broekaert 2011; Broekaert 2013.
    (13) See for example Erdkamp 2005, 244-257.