Christy Schirmer (The University of Texas at Austin)
River systems were critical for transport and connectivity throughout the Roman world. Although there have been several important studies of riverine landscapes in recent years (see Campbell 2012; Franconi 2017; Arnaud and Keay 2020), we know little about how they were fished in the diverse regions of the Roman Empire, or precisely what role freshwater fish played in local cultures. Literary sources are surprisingly silent on the subject of freshwater fishing; when ancient writers reflected on fishing, they referred almost exclusively to the sea, whose produce could bring in about twice the price of freshwater fish. But the evidence on the ground can tell a different story, and as more data become available we can begin to understand these diverse human-environment interactions at a much higher resolution than before.
This paper assesses regional patterns of river use, from the production and consumption of fish products to competition for access to river waters. Despite a constellation of evidence centering on the Tiber river in Rome, including literary references, inscriptions and legal texts, and physical remains of ports and embankments (e.g., Le Gall 1953; Keay 2012; Lonardi 2013), I demonstrate that regional commercial centers also adapted their own rich arrays of local fishing traditions and river use to suit their new place within expanding trade networks. Some similarities between institutions are apparent—the professional associations of elite river shippers in western provinces (see Liu 2017; Tran 2020) could feasibly be folded into those of their counterparts in Rome—but pockets of local traditions that persisted despite Rome are also visible in the material record. By using a bottom-up approach, making use of faunal evidence, local coinage, and inscriptions from sites along important commercial river corridors, a clearer view of localized practice comes into focus.
The Baetis river valley in Spain offers a useful case study in how local agency manifested even during periods of intense economic and cultural entanglement with Rome. The region is well known as a locus of production and export, and much of what we know about its economies comes from artifacts found on the Italian mainland and elsewhere. The river became a busy shipping route to Rome, the region’s olive oil, salted fish products, and precious metals in high demand (Fear 1996; Keay 1998). I consider how these local industries were balanced with longstanding consumption habits along this busy river, where access to the river’s banks and clear boat passage were essential for a number of commercial ventures. I examine how local elites and professional associations exerted influence over this important resource, considering epigraphic evidence and local coinage in dialogue with archaeological evidence for urbanism and foodways. A picture emerges of a river valley whose vibrant energy rivals the Tiber, with aspects of local culture that had deep roots but were adapted to take advantage of emerging trends. This paper’s targeted analysis of the evidence on the ground highlights the unique adaptations undertaken by regional commercial centers.