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IMC 2012: Sessions

Session 507: Goods and Ideas: Bridging Continents in the Byzantine World (c. 300-1500), I - Economies Bridging Polities

Tuesday 10 July 2012, 09.00-10.30

Sponsor:University of Birmingham
Organiser:Daniel K. Reynolds, Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman & Modern Greek Studies, University of Birmingham
Moderator/Chair:Leslie Brubaker, Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman & Modern Greek Studies, Department of Classics, Ancient History & Archaeology, University of Birmingham / Institute of Archaeology & Antiquity, University of Birmingham
Paper 507-aEmporia and Ports: A Comparison between the North Sea Emporia and Trading Ports in Late Antique India
(Language: English)
Rebecca Day, Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman & Modern Greek Studies, Department of Classics, Ancient History & Archaeology, University of Birmingham
Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Economics - Trade, Maritime and Naval Studies, Numismatics
Paper 507-bThe Changing Role of the State in Exchange in the Mediterranean, 300-1200
(Language: English)
Chris Wickham, All Souls College, University of Oxford
Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Economics - Trade, Economics - Urban
Paper 507-cMaritime Spaces and Communities in the Mediterranean
(Language: English)
Matthew Harpster, Institute of Nautical Archaeology, Texas A&M University, College Station
Index terms: Byzantine Studies, Economics - Trade, Maritime and Naval Studies
Abstract

The infrastructure and administration of long-distance trade underpinned the exchange of goods and ideas. The creation of ports, the understanding of trade routes, and the involvement or neutrality of government forces in mediating contact across borders could shape the dynamic of global interactions. This panel looks at the significance of political involvement in long-distance trade, and explores the visibility of this involvement in the archaeological and historical record. From India to the Mediterranean, trade and exchange negotiated changing political environments and often hostile polities. Likewise, in modern scholarship, the administration of medieval trade often forms its own interpretative battleground.