The author tries to identify, based on epigraphic sources, and particularly on amphoric inscriptions, for Roman salted fish trade, following the same pattern as in the case of wine trade and oil trade, several families (whose members are consanguine or are placed under the authority of the same patron), implied, in one way or another, in the same type of business.
Roman trade
North Italic settlers along the “Amber Route”
During the late Republic and the early Principate, the area under the direct control of Rome expanded considerably beyond the Alps, including a large portion of the north-werstern Danube basin. The situation offered the Aquileian trading families new opportunities to extend their sphere of activity. In this period, Italic merchants, most of them coming from Aquileian families, settled in the Roman centres along the “Amber Route”, establishing trade relationships with their hometown. The study of epigraphic evidence provides relevant elements in order to define the economic role of these families.