ABSTRACT
For the existence of commerce as an independent occupation, specific technological conditions are prerequisite. In the first place there must be regular and reasonably reliable transport opportunities. On land the trader had recourse far into the Middle Ages to primitive transport media. The typical animal of the south is the ass or the mule; the camel does not appear until late, in the Egyptian monuments, and the horse; it was originally used for war and found application in the transport of goods only in more recent times. Traffic by sea had to make use of equally primitive means of transportation. After the introduction of the compass in the Mediterranean and Baltic seas it is true that a rapid development began. Rules of navigation were a trade secret. When at that time the western world took up ocean navigation, it was confronted by problems which for the time being it had to solve with very primitive means.
