ABSTRACT
The Roman ‘Aqaba Project (RAP) was launched to contribute to the scholarly debate about the nature of the economy of the Roman Empire. So-called primitivist scholars suggest the predominance of a near subsistence agricultural economy and thus the absence of mass markets throughout the Empire. Trade was therefore limited in quantity, quality, geographical extent, and was largely a local affair. Long distance trade, due to the high cost of transport, was confined mostly to luxury items (Finley 1984). Others, however, have challenged these minimalist views based on archaeological evidence. They argue for a much more complex economy, with a correspondingly greater role for trade and industry, including the existence of mass markets and long-distance transport of bulk commodities in some quantity (Greene 1986).
