Before, However, We Enter On This Subject, We Shall Briefly Consider The
Ideas Entertained By The Romans On The Subject Of Commerce.
We have already
had occasion incidentally to remark that the Romans thought meanly of it,
and that their grand object in all their conquests was the extension of
their territory; and that they even neglected the commercial facilities and
advantages, which they might have secured by their conquests.
This was most
decidedly the case during the time of the republic. The statue of Victory,
which was erected in the port of Ostia, and the medals of the year of Rome
630, marked on the reverse with two ships and a victory, prove that at this
period the Roman fleets that sailed from this port were chiefly designed
for war. The prefects of the fleet were not employed, nor did they consider
it as their duty to attend to commerce, or to the merchant ships, except so
far as to protect them against the pirates. Of the low opinion entertained
by the Romans respecting commerce we have the direct testimony of Cicero:
writing to his son on the subject of professions, he reprobates and
condemns all retail trade as mean and sordid, which can be carried on
successfully only by means of lying. Even the merchant, unless he deals
very extensively, he views with contempt; if, however, he imports from
every quarter articles of great value and in great abundance, and sells
them in a fair and equitable manner, his profession is not much to be
contemned; especially if, after having made a fortune, he retires from
business, and spends the rest of his life in agricultural pursuits:
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