Analyzing the Ptolemaic Trade Network: The Case of Crete (20 min)Adam Parison, University of California, Santa Barbara

Presenters

Adam Parison, University of California, Santa Barbara

Abstract

The Hellenistic period saw increasing economic connectivity in the eastern Mediterranean, and the movement of things can help us to understand how small states took advantage of this phenomenon. For instance, scholars like Willetts to Chaniotis see the island of Crete as trading with the outside world in only a superficial way. Evidence of trade has been discounted as artifacts from Cretan mercenaries, but recent excavations from east Crete have discovered imports from places like Asia Minor, Rhodes, and Cyprus, among others. These locations were all important points in the Ptolemaic trade network. This material evidence, combined with our knowledge of a Ptolemaic garrison on Itanos, a temple to Egyptian gods in Gortyn, and the foundation of the Ptolemaic settlement of Arsinoe near modern Rethymno, indicates that Crete may have been a greater player in the eastern Mediterranean trade network than previously believed. The introduction of digital humanities, in this case global information systems (GIS) and network analysis, can augment our understanding of this network. By mapping a network based on known trade routes and weighted by established features such as Ptolemaic garrisons, we can create a theoretical Ptolemaic trade network for quantitative analysis. Using the Python programming language, this network can be constructed and statistically analyzed to indicate key network features, such as major hubs, groupings of associations and minor subnetworks, and previously unrecognized critical points. This presentation will analyze this network and argue that Crete was one of these critical points. The movement of things, in combination with network analysis, shows that Cretans did not ignore this opportunity for economic engagement; they took advantage of their new connectedness and economically engaged with the Mediterranean world.