Editing Merchant (section)

===Merchants in antiquity===
[[File:PhoenicianTrade EN.svg|thumb|Phoenician trade route map]]
Merchants have existed as long as humans have conducted business, trade or commerce.<ref>Demirdjian, Z. S.,  "Rise and Fall of Marketing in Mesopotamia: A Conundrum in the Cradle of Civilization," In ''The Future of Marketing's Past: Proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference on Historical Analysis and Research in Marketing,'' Leighton Neilson (ed.), CA, Longman, Association for Analysis and Research in Marketing, 2005</ref><ref>Rahul Oka & Chapurukha M. Kusimba, "The Archaeology of Trading Systems, Part 1: Towards a New Trade Synthesis," The Archaeology of Trading Systems, Part 1: Towards a New Trade Synthesis," Journal of Archaeological Research, Vol. 16, pp 339–395</ref><ref>Bar-Yosef, O., "The Upper Paleolithic Revolution," Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 31, pp 363–393</ref><ref>Alberti, M. E., "Trade and Weighing Systems in the Southern Aegean from the Early Bronze Age to the Iron Age: How Changing Circuits Influenced Global Measures," in Molloy, B. (ed.), Of Odysseys and Oddities: Scales and Modes of Interaction Between Prehistoric Aegean Societies and their Neighbours, [Sheffield Studies in Aegean Archaeology], Oxford, Oxbow, (E-Book), 2016</ref><ref>Bintliff, J., "Going to Market in Antiquity," In Stuttgarter Kolloquium zur Historischen Geographie des Altertums, Eckart Olshausen and Holger Sonnabend (eds), Stuttgart, Franz Steiner, 2002, pp 209–250</ref><ref>Shaw, E.H., “Ancient and Medieval Marketing," Chapter 2 in: Jones, D. G. B. and Tadajewski, M., The Routledge Companion to Marketing History, Routledge, 2016, pp 23–24</ref>  A merchant [[class (social)|class]] operated in many [[pre-modern societies]]. Open-air, public markets, where merchants and [[Trader (finance)|traders]] congregated, functioned in ancient Babylonia and Assyria, China, Egypt, Greece, India, Persia, Phoenicia and Rome. These markets typically occupied a place in the town's centre. Surrounding the market, skilled artisans, such as metal-workers and leather workers, occupied premises in alley ways that led to the open market-place. These artisans may have sold wares directly from their premises, but also prepared goods for sale on market days.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Olshausen |first1=Eckart |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IAMK1952av4C |title=Stuttgarter Kolloquium zur Historischen Geographie des Altertums, 7, 1999: zu Wasser und zu Land : Verkehrswege in der antiken Welt |last2=Sonnabend |first2=Holger |date=2002 |publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag |isbn=978-3-515-08053-8 |language=de}}</ref>{{qn|date=June 2019}} In [[ancient Greece]] markets operated within the [[agora]] (open space), and in [[Roman Empire|ancient Rome]] in the [[Forum (Roman)|forum]]. Rome's forums included the [[Roman forum|Forum Romanum]], the [[Forum Boarium]] and [[Trajan's Forum]]. The Forum Boarium, one of a series of [[forum venalium|''fora venalia'']] or food markets, originated, as its name suggests, as a cattle market.<ref>
{{cite book
 | last1 = Parker
 | first1 = John Henry
 | author-link1 = John Henry Parker (writer)
 | chapter = The Other Forums
 | title = The Forum Romanum
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ihU1nS9WZmgC
 | location = Oxford
 | publisher = James Parker & Company
 | date = 1876
 | page = 42
 | access-date = 29 June 2019
| quote = The Forum Boarium was the cattle-market or Smithfield of ancient Rome [...].
}}
</ref>
Trajan's Forum was a vast expanse, comprising multiple buildings with shops on four levels. The Roman forum was arguably the earliest example of a permanent retail shop-front.<ref>Coleman, P., ''Shopping Environments,'' Elsevier, Oxford, 2006, p. 28</ref>

In antiquity, [[commerce|exchange]] involved [[direct selling]] through permanent or semi-permanent retail premises such as stall-holders at market places or shop-keepers selling from their own premises or through door-to-door direct sales via merchants or [[peddler]]s.{{citation needed|date=June 2019}} The nature of direct selling centred around transactional exchange, where the goods were on open display, allowing buyers to evaluate quality directly through visual inspection. Relationships between merchant and consumer were minimal<ref>
{{cite book
| last1                 = Shaw
| first1                = Eric H.
| chapter               = 2: Ancient and medieval marketing
| editor1-last          = Jones
| editor1-first         = D.G. Brian
| editor2-last          = Tadajewski
| editor2-first         = Mark
| title                 = The Routledge Companion to Marketing History
| chapter-url                   = https://books.google.com/books?id=zCZ-CwAAQBAJ
| series                = Routledge Companions
| location              = London
| publisher             = Routledge
| date      = 2016
| page                  = 24
| isbn                  = 9781134688685
| access-date            = 3 January 2017
| quote                 = Perhaps the only substantiated type of retail marketing practice that evolved from Neolithic times to the present was the itinerant tradesman (also known as peddler, packman or chapman). These forerunners of travelling salesmen roamed from village to village bartering stone axes in exchange for salt or other goods (Dixon, 1975).
}}</ref> often playing into public concerns about the quality of produce.<ref>Stabel, P., "Guilds in Late Medieval Flanders: myths and realities of guild life in an export-oriented environment," ''Journal of Medieval History,'' vol. 30, 2004, pp 187–212</ref>
[[File:Phoenician Merchants and Traders.jpg|thumb|left|Phoenician merchants traded across the entire Mediterranean region]]
The Phoenicians became well known amongst contemporaries as "traders in purple" – a reference to their monopoly over the [[tyrian purple|purple dye]] extracted from the [[murex]] shell.<ref>Rawlinson, G., ''History of Phoenicia,'' Library of Alexandria, 1889</ref> The Phoenicians plied their ships across the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]], becoming a major trading power by the 9th century BCE. Phoenician merchant traders imported and exported wood, textiles, glass and produce such as wine, oil, dried fruit and nuts. Their trading necessitated a network of colonies along the Mediterranean coast, stretching from modern-day Crete through to Tangiers (in present-day [[Morocco]]) and northward to [[Sardinia]].<ref>[https://www.worldhistory.org/article/881 Cartwright, M., "Trade in the Phoenician World", ''World History Encyclopedia'', 1 April 2016]</ref> The Phoenicians not only traded in tangible goods, but were also instrumental in transporting the trappings of culture. The Phoenicians' extensive trade networks necessitated considerable book-keeping and correspondence. In around 1500&nbsp;BCE, the Phoenicians developed a [[Phoenician script|script]] which was much easier to learn than the pictographic systems used in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Phoenician traders and merchants were largely responsible for spreading their alphabet around the region.<ref>Daniels (1996) p. 94–95.</ref> Phoenician inscriptions have been found in [[archaeological]] sites at a number of former Phoenician cities and colonies around the Mediterranean, such as [[Byblos]] (in present-day [[Lebanon]]) and [[Carthage]] in North Africa.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Discovery of Egyptian Inscriptions Indicates an Earlier Date for Origin of the Alphabet |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/111499sci-alphabet-origin.html |access-date=2024-07-04 |website=archive.nytimes.com}}</ref>

[[File:Fresco from the House of Julia Felix, Pompeii depicting scenes from the Forum market.JPG|thumb|left|Wall painting from [[Pompeii]] depicting every day activities at a market-place]]

[[File:Garum Mosaik Pompeji.JPG|thumb|right| Mosaic showing [[garum]] container, from the house of [[Aulus Umbricius Scaurus|Umbricius Scaurus of Pompeii]]. The inscription which reads "G(ari) F(los) SCO(mbri) SCAURI EX OFFI(CI)NA SCAURI" has been translated as "The flower of garum, made of the mackerel, a product of Scaurus, from the shop of Scaurus"]]

The [[social status]] of the merchant class varied across cultures; ranging from high status (the members even eventually achieving titles such as that of [[titles of nobility|Merchant Prince]] or [[Nawab|Nabob]]) to low status, as in [[Four occupations#The shang|China]], Greece and Roman cultures, owing to the presumed distastefulness of profiting from "mere" trade rather than from labor or the labor of others as in agriculture and [[Artisan|craftsmanship]].<ref>Oka, R. and Kusimba, C.M., "The Archaeology of Trading Systems, Part 1: Towards a New Trade Synthesis," The Archaeology of Trading Systems, Part 1: Towards a New Trade Synthesis," ''Journal of Archaeological Research,'' Vol. 16, p. 359</ref> The Romans defined merchants or traders in a very narrow sense. Merchants were those who bought and sold goods, while landowners who sold their own produce were not classed as merchants. Being a landowner was a "respectable" occupation. On the other hand, the Romans did not consider the activities of merchants "respectable".<ref>Tchernia, A., ''The Romans and Trade,'' Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2016, Ch 1</ref> In the ancient cities of the Middle East, where the [[bazaar]] was the city's focal point and heartbeat, merchants who worked in bazaar enjoyed high social status and formed part of local elites.<ref>Ashraf, A., "Bazaar-Mosque Alliance: The Social Basis of Revolts and Revolutions," ''International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society,'' Vol. 1, No. 4, 1988, pp. 538–567, Stable URL: {{JSTOR|20006873}}, p. 539</ref> In Medieval Western Europe, the Christian church, which closely associated merchants' activities with the sin of [[usury]], criticised the merchant class, strongly influencing attitudes towards them.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/society/structure/merchant_cult.php |title= Decameron Web – Society |work= Brown.edu |access-date= 8 February 2017 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130301203914/http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/society/structure/merchant_cult.php |archive-date= 1 March 2013 }}</ref>

In [[Greco-Roman]] society, merchants typically did not have high social status, though they may have enjoyed great wealth.<ref>Barnish, S.J.B. (1989) "The Transformation of Classical Cities and the Pirenne Debate", ''[[Journal of Roman Archaeology]]'', Vol. 2, p. 390.</ref> Umbricius Scauras, for example, was a manufacturer and trader of garum in Pompeii, circa 35 C.E. His villa, situated in one of the wealthier districts of Pompeii, was very large and ornately decorated in a show of substantial personal wealth. Mosaic patterns in the floor of his atrium were decorated with images of [[amphora]]e bearing his personal brand and inscribed with quality claims. One of the inscriptions on the mosaic amphora reads "G(ari) F(los) SCO[m]/ SCAURI/ EX OFFI[ci]/NA SCAU/RI" which translates as "The flower of garum, made of the mackerel, a product of Scaurus, from the shop of Scaurus". Scaurus' fish sauce had a reputation for very high quality across the Mediterranean; its fame travelled as far away as modern southern France.<ref>Curtis, R.I., "A Personalized Floor Mosaic from Pompeii", ''American Journal of Archaeology,'' Vol. 88, No. 4 (October 1984), DOI: 10.2307/504744, pp. 557–566, Stable URL: {{JSTOR|504744}}</ref> Other notable Roman merchants included [[Marcus Julius Alexander]] (16 – 44 CE), [[Sergius Orata]] (fl. c. 95 BCE) and [[Annius Plocamus]] (1st century CE).{{Cn|date=August 2021}}

In the Roman world, local merchants served the needs of the wealthier landowners. While the local peasantry, who were generally poor, relied on open-air market places to buy and sell produce and wares, major producers such as the great estates were sufficiently attractive for merchants to call directly at their farm-gates. The very wealthy landowners managed their own distribution, which may have involved exporting.<ref>Bintliff, J., "Going to Market in Antiquity," In ''Stuttgarter Kolloquium zur Historischen Geographie des Altertums,'' Eckart Olshausen and Holger Sonnabend (eds), Stuttgart, Franz Steiner, 2002, p. 229, https://books.google.com/books?id=IAMK1952av4C : "The kind of model that Morley and other specialists in Greco-Roman marketing have been developing [...] sees the local market-town as primarily serving local peasantry. Here they unload their small surplus and purchase minor amounts of farm equipment and luxuries for their barns and homes; some of their needs are already met through travelling pedlars and non-urban periodic fairs held at long intervals. Major producers – the great estates – would be attractive enough foci for merchants to consider travelling directly to purchase commercially-focussed harvests 'at the farm gate', and some landowners were wealthy enough to handle their own distribution to urban markets in the country of production and even to other countries. These latter processes are documented both in the ancient sources and archaeological case-studies."</ref>  Markets were also important centres of social life, and merchants helped to spread news and gossip.<ref>Millar, F., "The World of the Golden Ass", ''Journal of Roman Studies'', Vol. 71, 1981, pp. 63–67</ref>

The nature of export markets in antiquity is well documented in ancient sources and in archaeological case-studies. Both Greek and Roman merchants engaged in long-distance trade. A Chinese text records that a Roman merchant named Lun reached southern China in 226 CE. Archaeologists have recovered Roman objects dating from the period 27 BCE to 37 CE from excavation sites as far afield as the [[Kushan Empire|Kushan]] and [[Indus River|Indus]] ports. The Romans sold purple and yellow dyes, brass and iron; they acquired [[incense]], [[balsam]], expensive liquid [[myrrh]] and spices from the Near East and India, fine silk from China<ref>McLaughlin, R., ''The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes: The Ancient World Economy and the Empires of Parthia, Central Asia and Han China,''South Yorkshire, Pen and Sword Books, 2016</ref> and fine white marble destined for the Roman wholesale market from Arabia.<ref>
McLaughlin, R., ''The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India'', South Yorkshire, Pen and Sword Books, 2014, p. 135: "The pure-white marble that was quarried in southern Arabia had a fine crystalline texture and Roman merchnts took aboard this heavy material as ballast to stabilise their ships. On their return to the empire, this valuable marble was sold to stoneworkers and carved into elegant unguent jars that resembled radiant alabaster."
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For Roman consumers, the purchase of goods from the East was a symbol of [[social prestige]].<ref>
McLaughlin, R., ''The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy and the Kingdoms of Africa, Arabia and India'', South Yorkshire, Pen and Sword Books, 2014, p. 222: "A further Roman criticism of eastern trade was that it created a consumer market for expensive foreign goods that were wastefully extravagant and ultimately unnecessary. [...] During the Julio-Claudian era aristocratic families competed for political status and prestige through the ostentatious display of wealth."
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