A Very Brief History of Trade by Edward G.

Engh
Review by Taylor Dalton
This excerpt of the history of trade begins with the Greek civilization and its cultural
sentiments toward the gain of material wealth. Increasingly, as the Greek civilization spread
through the conquests of Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Greeks found no moral issues in
the acquirement of material wealth. The prosperity of Greece established the excess that
granted the ability of trained artists, poets, and philosophers to thrive without having to
provide food for themselves through agriculture, as they could sell their own trade goods for
survival. As Greek culture spread, so did the colonies of Greece that spread throughout the
Balkans and the Italian peninsula. Eventually, due to internal conflicts and conflicts with Rome,
the Greek civilization dissipated in influence, and fell into the shadow of the Roman civilization.
The Roman civilization was first led by dynastic families that held power through
lineage. The Roman people desired a more reactive form of government that used its wealth
for the betterment of the people. In hopes of accomplishing this, Romans founded a republic
that lasted 500 years. The republic granted citizenship to individuals which provided them the
right to own land and acquire wealth. Citizenship also granted political freedoms such as civic
discourse, and full protection of the law.
Not all individuals benefitted from citizenship in Rome however. Rome employed the
use of slave labor in order to maintain its prosperity. The Social Wars, as Romans referred to
them, was a series of slave revolts that were quickly quelled through the use of the military.
Although the Social Wars failed to grant the slaves immediate citizenship, the Senate realized
the implications if these revolts were to gain further support in the future. In response, the
Senate created ways for a slave to become free. The slave revolts of Rome can be related to
modern, working-class struggles against corporations and/or government-controlled
economies.
The Roman legions responsible for quelling the Social Wars were not entirely for the
purpose of maintaining slave labor, but for protecting trade as a whole. The legions of Rome
often had to conquer new areas in order to gain resources such as land, labor, and capital.
Legions were also responsible for the protection of trade routes as Rome controlled vast
amounts of territory that included many economic centers. The legions protected these as
trade was one of the primary reasons for Romes prosperity. Trade began to expand even more
as the Roman Empire replaced the republic that had lasted for hundreds of years.
Due to the expanding size of Rome, some believed that the republic was ill-equipped to
handle the immediate needs of the nation. Following a civil war, the Roman Empire was
established under Octavian Augustus. The Roman Empire continued to garner trade as the
trade routes of the Mediterranean and land trade routes were repeatedly protected from
pirates and barbarians by the legionnaires. Eventually, areas as far as England prospered from
their own rise in population and became self-sufficient and trade with Rome decreased.
The fall of the Roman Empire did occur and there are many theories as to why. The
theory presented in this chapter reflects Edward Gibbons theory that Roman civilization fell
due to the declaration of Christianity as its sole religion. The tenants of Judeo-Christian
philosophy conflicted with the past Roman attitudes of gaining wealth indiscriminately, and
spreading the civilization through conquest. The effects of religion on the fall of Rome
influenced policy-makers following the Renaissance.
The founding fathers of the United States read Gibbon as the first volume was published
in 1776 and gained wide popularity. This contributed to the establishment of the United States
as a secular state in 1787. The implications of religion causing the Dark Ages affected later
societies and encouraged secularism in exchange for better economic growth. The founding
fathers wanted to protect individual liberty and property as opposed to religious idealism and
spirituality. Other writers such as Adam Smith and David Hume also influenced early Americans
and contributed to the secular state that grew in economic power.
While Smith presented his views on the benefits of capitalism in The Wealth of
Nations his ideas were based on 18
th
century information and did not include modern theories
such as the Game Theory. Searching works such as Smiths The Wealth of Nations for valuable
information must be done cautiously as new ideas and theories can change the way we
interpret and manage current economics.