Ancient Somalia´s History with the Roman Empire

[Coeus]

After the Roman conquest of the Nabataean Empire and the Roman naval presence at Aden to curb piracy, Arab and Somali merchants barred Indian merchants from trading in the free port cities of the Arabian peninsula because of the nearby Roman presence. However, they continued to trade in the port cities of the Somali peninsula, which was free from any Roman threat or spies. The reason for barring Indian ships from entering the wealthy Arabian port cities was to protect and hide the exploitative trade practices of the Somali and Arab merchants in the extremely lucrative ancient Red Sea-Mediterranean Sea commerce.

The Indian merchants for centuries brought large quantities of cinnamon from Ceylon and the Far East to Somalia and Arabia. This is said to have been the best kept secret of the Arab and Somali merchants in their trade with the Roman and Greek world. The Romans and Greeks believed the source of cinnamon to have been the Somali peninsula but in reality, the highly valued product was brought to Somalia by way of Indian ships. Through Somali and Arab traders, Indian/Chinese cinnamon was also exported for far higher prices to North Africa, the Near East and Europe, which made the cinnamon trade a very profitable revenue generator, especially for the Somali merchants through whose hands large quantities were shipped across ancient sea and land routes.

Somali sailors were aware of the region's monsoons, and used them to link themselves with the port cities of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. Another navigational technique was denning the islands of the Indian Ocean to navigate through the ancient trade routes.


Merchants with goods from Rome would leave Egypt by boat sometime around the month of July so as to travel with favorable wind conditions. The summer monsoon winds blow from the southeast and the monsoon winds during the winter would blow northwest. Early sailors took advantage of their knowledge of the wind changes and learned to plan their trading schedules around these weather changes. Merchants during the summer months would sail down the Red Sea to the gulf of Aden (Southern tip of the Arabian Penninsula and Somalia), from there they either unload their goods and trade with the locals or would sail with the summer winds across the Indian Oceans to India.

The Romans traded gold and silver, various types of food, and cloth with the Arabs and Indus valley for silk, pearls, spices, slaves, incense, and ivory. There were over land routes that connected Rome with India, but the Roman traders preferred to take sea routes to India for a variety of reasons. At various times in history these overland routes fell under the control of various kingdoms that were or were not friendly with the Roman Empire. These rulers would sometimes exact heavy taxes on traders who used these overland routes and did much to or little to protect the traders. Also these overland trade routes were sometimes not very well maintained, which made travel very difficult and then there was the problem of raiders attacking traders. To bring large amount of goods overland required a large number of pack animals who could only carry so much, travel so far and fast, and required great attention to their physical needs. Even though traveling overseas could be treacherous, traders could carry more goods at a faster pace than they could by traveling overland.


The Eastern Desert played an important role in the history of Egypt. It was the source of gold, copper and many other minerals and precious stones that were highly sought after from the earliest of times. It was also the place through which trade with Arabia, Somalia and India was channelled. As a result, a large number of roads were built there throughout ancient times. These routes were especially important during the Roman occupation of Egypt, when many mines and quarries were reopened, and some new ones broken.

The economy of Somalia has always revolved around trade - since the earliest days, the Somali had been exchanging short-horned cattle for grain. With valuable ebony and cedar growing across Somalia, in the first millennium BC, it started satisfying the demand for these at the time strategic commodities, and quickly developed an own industry. Along with Ancient Egypt, the Ancient Somalia was one of the two greatest maritime and trading powers of the era, its trade routes spanning the entire hemisphere. It had a wide array of trade partners, ranging from Egypt and Greece to China and Java, and later adding the Roman Empire and India.

[Coeus]

double post

[LobsterUnit]

James Dahl Wannabe, iska fariso abowe

[Coeus]

James Dahl Wannab, iska fariso abowe

huh?