Meet a Roman merchant
Hear about the life of a merchant from Carthage, a port city in the country now known as Tunisia, North Africa. His story is fictional, but it's based on real evidence!
[FILM BEGINS]
[♪HARP MUSIC ♪]
[00:00:00]
Ah yes, my servant did tell me you were coming. I’ve been so busy, I completely forgot.
Londinium is so crowded these days, don’t you find? 50,000 people from all corners of the Empire live here now. Anyway, ‘Salve’. Welcome to the home of Rufus Marcius Comitalis. I’m staying here whilst my own house is being prepared.
[Whispers]
Don’t tell Rufus, but mine will be much grander than this!
[Laughs]
[00:00:33]
I am a merchant. My name is Marcus Aurelius Saturnius and my wife, Abudia Megista, I’ve left her in charge of my business whilst I’m away. You see, we run an export business so we buy and sell goods from all across the Empire which means I have had to travel quite a lot, at least in the past.
You see, we’ve been very successful and now we are preparing to build our own home here in Londinium but, away from the Forum. I firmly believe in keeping home and business completely separate. And anyway, the Forum reeks of fish and leather and spices, urgh - too much, if you want a civilised home. Then there’s the hustle and bustle. Too, too much noise!
[00:02:21]
I suppose… I was always destined for a life of business and trade but I went about it in an unusual way. You see I started life in North Africa in the city of Carthage. My father gained citizenship and he ran an export business of his own, buying and selling goods all – from all across the Empire.
He was very keen that my brothers and I should be educated and so he hired a Greek tutor to teach us Latin, maths, how to run the business.
[00:01:56]
But as a young man, the thirst for adventure called me and I joined the army which meant that I had to serve for 25 years in all parts of the Empire, including this island of Britannia. Served me in good stead though, because when I retired – in the rank of Centurion – I was given a pension and a tablet to say that I had been discharged with honour.
[00:02:25]
So it made sense that I should invest my money in… running an export business! The contacts I’ve made in the army have served me in very good stead and I continue to foster those and develop new ones by attending the Mithraeum. If you want success my friends, you should worship Mithras.
[00:02:47]
Only if you’re a man of course. If you’re a woman – women are not allowed into our secret rituals. I am, unsurprisingly, in the role of ‘Miles’ – The Soldier – but I hope to gain further rank and favour there because it does the business no harm.
[00:03:06]
What do I trade in? I’ll tell you – olive oil, exotic fruits, garam – it’s a very rich fish sauce which I highly recommend – it’s wonderful, wonderful! Pulses, spices… from Numidia, Syria, Africa, Egypt. The trade routes with North Africa are going very well at the moment but… as is the case with all trade, some of the other routes are suffering.
[00:03:37]
That is why it’s important to stay in contact with the news from the Empire and those in the know – people who know about ships from the Mithraeum.
Speaking of which I have to meet with Marcius Alpius Peregrinus. He’s a decurion, a town councillor if you like, so I best not keep him waiting. And I’ve kept you long enough. Vale!
[00:04:08]
[FILM ENDS]
Londinium
Did you know that the Romans built Londinium – the city where London now stands?
In AD 43, the Romans invaded Britain and built this city on the banks of the River Thames. They stayed for almost four centuries, until AD 410. In that time Londinium became Roman Britain’s largest city and an international port.
It was a diverse city that developed and changed a lot. People travelled here from all corners of the Roman Empire. Roman citizens came from countries as far apart as England and Egypt and Persia and Portugal.
Look at this map of the Roman Empire to see how far it stretched at its height.
Merchandise and movement
Goods like olive oil, spices, pottery, glassware and cloth moved from country to country as people from different lands travelled and traded with each other.
In the Museum of London you can see all these items that were brought to Londinium from across the Roman Empire, such as this red Samian pottery from France:
Black History and Roman London
The emperor born in Africa
The Roman Empire included parts of North Africa. Some people from countries we now know as Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco were Roman citizens.
There was a Roman Emperor from Africa. Septimius Severus, who ruled from AD 193 – 211, was born in North Africa in the place now called Libya. This round painting called a ‘tondo’ shows Septimius Severus with his second wife and children.
Septimius Severus’s son Caracalla, also known as Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, was Emperor from 198 – 217.
Roman-African soldiers
African soldiers lived throughout Roman Britain. In the 3rd century AD, a troop of North African soldiers were stationed along Hadrian's Wall. They were known as the Aurelian Moors, taking their name from Emperor Marcus Aurelius and their origins in Mauretania, North Africa - modern-day Morocco.
- Just like our coins today, Roman coins often featured a portrait of the current ruler. Can you draw what a coin might look like if you were in charge?
Clues to the past
Archaeologists study objects found in the ground - even human skeletons - to discover more about how people lived many years ago. Archaeologists can learn a lot from studying these remains, such as whether someone was male or female, how tall they were, the age they were when they died and what their health was like.
Archaeologists can also tell where a person lived throughout their life. Skeletons store chemical traces in their teeth and bones from what the person ate and drank during their lives.
The enamel in teeth (the hard white outside) stores information from childhood while bones tell us about food and water from later in life. From this information, we can tell where someone lived as most food in the past didn’t travel as far as it does today.
Some bones from the Roman period have been found with traces of chemicals from food and water from the continent of Africa. This means that some Romans lived in this continent before settling in Londinium. By studying their DNA, we can also tell that there were Romans of Black African ancestry who grew up in London. Work is still being carried out to learn more about these Londoners.
African people have been living and building communities in Britain for at least 2000 years.
- What do you think archaeologists will be able to learn from skeletons in 100 years?
More to learn
Take a look at these real Roman coins! We've got thousands of them in our collections. Which do you like best?