Trading gods in northern Italy

This chapter will examine the role of trade networks in the diffusion of private religious cults in the Roman empire, focusing on Christian origins in northern Italy. ¹ Historians of early Christianity have sometimes supposed that merchants were instrumental in the spread of the church (e.g. Frend 1964). A foreign element in the early churches of the west is undeniable: until the late second century, the literary output of these communities was exclusively in Greek (Mohrmann 1965, 72–4). Yet the precise nature of the contribution of traders has been hard to define because they are difficult to identify in early Christian communities (Lane Fox 1986, 272–3). This chapter aims to move the debate forward by concentrating on trade networks rather than individual traders. To this end, it begins by describing the sort of circumstances conducive to the spread of religious information, showing how trade networks fit the criteria demanded. Then it demonstrates the correlation between north Italian trade networks and the distribution there of private pagan cults, especially that of Isis. Finally, it will be shown how Christianity fits into this pattern, and, by focusing on the well-attested congregation at Aquileia, it will argue for a connection between the origins of Christian communities in certain centres and the location of those centres in the north Italian trade network.