Exploring Roman Churches from an Economic Perspective

Since day one of the trip I was anxiously awaiting our arrival to our final destination: Rome. I was excited to experience the bustle of a true European city, and to see landmarks I'd previously only seen in magazines and movies: like the Colosseum, and the Trevi Fountain, and the Vatican. My experience was in no way a disappointment. We were blessed with sun on our second day in Rome and were able to check off many bucket list items in one swoop on a walk together through the historical district.

 

The article Matt and I were assigned for Rome analyzed the Medieval Catholic Church from an economic perspective, looking at the powerful beast that was the Catholic Church from the year 1000 - 1500 as a monopoly instead of just a religious institution. It described the ways the church saught rent from its constituents, the most common being tithing and offerings, payment for sin forgiveness, and through the church's role in banning usury.

With this in mind, I spent my time wandering through the Vatican looking for ways that rent seeking exists in the church today that maybe were not accessible back then. Walking through the Vatican Museum, these were not hard to spot. The church, like any business, was taking full advantage of its ability to pull revenue from places other than its members. There was an entrance fee to the museum, and around every corner was a booth or full fledged souvenir shop. The Sistine Chapel (very underwhelming, by the way) was packed with guards waiting to pounce on any tourists brave enough to lift a phone or camera. It was obvious that Michelangelo's work was an asset they were unwilling to share freely. Whether you believe the church is in the business of collecting souls or cash, they are no stranger to collecting either.

This time in Italy has been a whirlwind experience I will never forget. I came into this trip apprehensive and unsure of what this month would hold, and left with new friends, an expanded worldview, and a plethora of great stories.  I cannot wait to come back and explore more of this captivating country.

Arrivederci, Italy!

Economics of Roman Concrete Buildings

Mortared Rubble Construction (aka concrete) can be seen as one of the greatest technical achievements of ancient Rome. The Roman concrete that was used back in early B.C did not consist of the same material that current day concrete is made of. It was made of local volcanic sand and pure high quality lime. Without this unique material, one could argue that these massively beautiful structures that we’ve seen throughout Italy, would not have existed.

Roman concrete was an economical substitute for ashlar masonry because the concrete was much cheaper and less dependent on highly skilled labor. The article that I read went into the small details of what it took to build these concrete stone walls and how that affected the economics of ancient Rome. These issues and topics were: the cost differences between different types of concrete, the relative cost of ashlar vs. concrete, and how the buildings were built and at what rate you could build them.

Pompeii

Examples of where this concrete brick was used are places like the ruins of Pompeii (especially the way the theater was built) and Ostia’s large baths.  It’s interesting to see that the Roman concrete was such a prominent economic factor back then. Because even in it’s fragile state today, these structures still have a huge impact on the economy of Italy. Tourists from all over the world come and pay to see these massive and outstanding structures to better understand our world’s history. Because of the high tourist traffic, some cities rely on tourists in order to stay afloat.

But, that’s not the only factor that effects the economy of Italy when it comes to these structures. The upkeep of maintaining the historical landmarks is also very taxing on the economy. When we went through Naples, we saw that there wasn’t enough funding to continue the restoration of the city that was below Naples. Who would have thought that these concrete structures from early B.C would still be impacting the economy of Italy in 2014? I know that this trip has opened my eyes to a lot of the economic issues that Italy undergoes on a yearly basis. –Amy Wooten

Ostia

Roman Grain Trade

For my final blog post, the article I read was about the organization of the grain trade in the early Roman Empire. The article begins by addressing the massive shortage of grain needed to feed the vast population of the Roman Empire. The population was predicted to be right around one million people and they estimate an average of 300 kg of wheat consumed per year per individual. Using these numbers we learn that not only could Rome not produce enough wheat for themselves, but if the entire country produced only wheat it still wouldn’t have been enough to feed Rome alone. The conclusion we draw from this is that Rome must have imported massive amounts to account for the deficit almost entirely by sea.

The main idea of this article is to discuss how they were able to overcome the severe informational issues relating to problems of adverse selection and moral hazard. Given the time period and the technology associated with it, merchants would have no idea if their shipments were successful or not until two to three weeks after either the accident or robbery occurred. The roman government succeeded in clearing pirates from the Mediterranean, essentially eliminating robbery from someone other than the agent, which leaves the bulk of the problem within trust between merchant and agent. This entails the problems associated with moral hazard in that the agent could just steal the load and never return. One interesting thing to note about the market system with the grain trade is that it was merchants.

The article then begins to get into the use of institutions and formal vs informal intervention. There were certain formal institutions in place such as the legal court system, which used fines and blacklisting as punishments. The formal institutions are rather self-explanatory as opposed to the informal institutions which are much more interesting. The article talks about a reputation based informal system where these merchants would for the most part converse with each other and discuss agents. Along the same lines, it was also a convenient way of using these networks to get word out if your agent stole your shipment and let other people look out for it.

The interesting thing about Rome is that they were one of the only civilizations to utilize this combination of both formal and informal institutions to regulate these informational problems. By blending the informal reputation based system with the formal legal based system, they were able to capture much more than those who relied only on one.

-Hayden        

Veni Vidi Vici

Days two and three in Rome added a great deal of contrast to the first. Visiting the Forum and Colosseum in stunning weather rapidly shifted the groups perspective on the city. The immense size of the Colosseum was breathtaking. Ordered by emperor Nero, the amount of manpower needed to build this construct was unbelievable, and although Nero did not live to see it to completion, the 75,000 person capacity structure will forever be a legacy.

The public structures produced by the Romans have all been quite impressive, and funds from the government stimulated the economy much like they do today. Many workers were brought into employment throughout these massive builds, from manual labor to artists, which helped to distribute wealth.

That night the group adventured into the Roman nightlife, and two girls from our group even found themselves plunging into a fountain and checking one item off of their bucket list. After sleeping in the next morning, we found ourselves with a free day, and enjoyed the slow unstructured pace. We did some shopping for gifts and foodstuffs, visited the Spanish Stairs, and enjoyed a final group supper in Rome.

I now find myself on an unexpected adventure at the airport- after parting ways with the group who left on an earlier flight, I made my way with two others to my terminal where I discovered my flight had been canceled (Who would have thought snow in Atlanta). What was first surprise and slight distress turned to a great deal of enjoyment; my flight was reimbursed and through some convincing I was rebooked on a different airline. As a result, I will be arriving in Seattle 30 minutes earlier than expected, and can enjoy some relaxation in the meantime. 

For the last time from Europe,

Arrivederci   

Salvation from the Sea: Roman Amphorae

Today we visited Monte Testaccio. At first glance, this appears to be nothing more than a grassy hill, except that there are broken fragments of clay pottery scattered upon it. Our guide revealed that this hill was once the equivalent of a land fill, where Romans deposited the fragments of old Amphorae, which were used to transport oil and wine. The fragments were carefully stacked until they formed this hill. Since then, soil has deposited and grass has grown on the hill, nearly disguising its intriguing past. 

Our article discusses the ancient amphorae in some detail, and analyzes trade patterns based on evidence from the amphorae. Ship wrecks were particularly useful in finding fragments of amphorae for analyzation. They indicated that Italy was dominant in the trade of goods with amphorae, particularly wine, in the middle of the second century BC to the end of the 1st century BC. The amphorae were shipped to both France and Britain, along the Rhone valley and across the Rhine. After the 1st century, Italian dominance in the markets began to diminish, which was marked by Italy's increased importation. Northern Italy differed from other regions as it was open to Greek imports from the Adriatic. 

Another interesting aspect of this article was its focus on the stamps found on the Amphorae. These stamps were often names or abbreviations, and some corresponded with Roman politicians at the time. Some believe this indicated a heavy involvement by these senators in the commerce of Amphorae. The article concludes, however, that these stamps more likely indicated the owners of the production equipment and land rather than the actual producers of the amphorae. The article notes that exploitation of the lower class amphorae producers, by the wealthier land owners was common place at the time and supported by the legal system. 

We compared the seemingly misleading labeling practice of the amphorae in which the land owners, rather than the producers, were marked on the pots with labeling practices today. We noted that misleading labeling is still commonplace, but often takes a different form. In the article, the wealthier more recognizable names were used on the amphorae, potentially as a marketing technique, whereas today bigger companies often hide their relationship with certain products by labeling them under the names of smaller companies they own. One example that was brought up was Fanta. Apparently, Fanta was started by Coca Cola to be marketed in Germany during World War II without any backlash. Bigger companies also hide their involvement with smaller companies in order to capture niche markets that are resistant to more mainstream penetration. 

Local Farmers and Fairness

Our second to last destination brought us to a small farm near the city of Sorento.  Compared to the nearby city of Naples, the farm was a quieter and more picturesque destination.  While we were there, we stayed in multi-person rooms on the property.  Although we had many issues with cold rooms and the water heaters, the space ended up being great.  Also, the ride up may have made some queazy, but the views were specacular.  

One of the great features of the farm we stayed at, was the fact that it produced local products.  It grew lemons, oranges, grapes and olives.  We always got to have a bit of the local tastes for breakfast or dinner.  Never have I tasted such fresh foods.  The idea of local farmers fits in nicely with the article Zach and I had to read.  Our article was titled Fairness, Farmers Markets, and Local Production.  Basically the article brought up the idea of organic, local, and non-GMO farming.  Fitting in very closely to our stay at the farm.  

With the article, it basically looks into whether people think inequality is considered when shopping for local products either at a farmers market or at a grocery store.  The authors state that people are adverse to advantageous inequality and disadvantageous inequality.  Basically the idea that we like to avoid inequality of wealth positive or negative.  

The study was performed in an Oklahoma town.  Basically the participants had to bid over four tickets.  The tickets represented tickets to local farmers and non-local farmers and also advantageous and disadvantageous inequality.  The experiment facilitators then created a secret price.  The secret price determined whether the participants won the bid.  This encouraged the participants to bid the highest to more accurately determine what they would actually bid.  

The results for this experiment were actually quite interesting.  Most of the people surveyed had shopped at a farmers market.  For those who shopped at farmers markets, they did so mostly for food quality and to support the local community.  one of the more interesting facts dealt with inequality.  From the results, the authors find that "people shopping at farmers markets were no more or less concerned about inequality of local farmers than were people shopping at a traditional grocery store."  That fact was actually quite surprising to me.  I'm guessing that the community that the experiment took place in was agriculturally focused.  With that being said, I bet the participants knew a local farmer or were interested in their sucess.  My guess is if you asked a person in a New York City grocery store about their concern for local farmers, they would have less concern than that of a person shopping at a farmers market.  I think It all depends where the question is asked.  Overall it was a very interesting study. 

On our way from Orvieto to Rome this afternoon, we stopped to explore the ancient ruins of the roman city Ostia, just 30 minutes or so out of Rome. Our article for today was an examination of the various options for accommodation in the city of Ostia throughout 3rd century B.C, a time when a large majority of the population lived in rented apartments. Unlike most housing markets that we are accustomed to today, the rental market was left to run its course without any significant governmental interference or regulation. Often today we see things such as rental price ceilings in large cities, subsidies for housing mortgage markets, or government owned housing, however this was not the case in Ostia. Instead, the government felt very little need to interfere in the housing market and only provided public housing in the case of extreme catastrophe.

There were essentially two options available, Cenacula, or apartment suites, and Deversoria which were essentially just rooms available for rent. The apartment suites were much like an apartment complex as we know it today. Landlords leased out each individual apartment within their suite and leasers were legally allowed to sublease rooms from their apartments to subletters. While walking around the ruins of the city, we were able to see lots of areas where such large apartment buildings existed. Though of course they were only partially there, it was cool to see their prevalence and strategic placement throughout the city. The Cenacula option was marketed more towards wealthier individuals or families because the lease agreements tended to be long, rent was expensive and payments were expected after periods of six months, instead of at the beginning as we now see today. This system relied heavily on the relationship between the landlord and his tenant as there was a fair amount of both risk and trust involved for the landlord with the contract.

            The second type of housing, Deversoria, housed more poor and lower class people and referred more generally to accommodations such as mezzanines, one or two bedroom flats, or the backrooms of the ground-floor shops in which people worked. The contract terms are less known, however because poorer people were less likely to be able to hold long leases and pay large lump sums of rent every six months, their contracts were probably much shorter. Further, often the landlord marketed his large building to an array of people, sometimes offering temporary rooms for travelers (like hotel rooms) or cheap, run down areas for more long term use. Rent was generally paid on a per night basis and for those who chose more decent quarters experienced a large increase in rent.  

            As you can imagine, this system led to an extremely inefficient rental market in Ostia. The rich paid more than they should have to compensate for the risk resulting from the longevity of their contracts, while ironically the poor also paid more because of the shortness of their contracts and the increased uncertainty and risk involved with renting to them. We found this to be interesting because often times, when governments do step in and begin to regulate or interfere in the market, it leads to inefficiencies as well. Particularly in the housing market, we can see shortages in the market as well as some “black market” activities in regards to rental properties. This forced us to wonder if there really is a right answer when inefficiency arises both with and without government intervention.

Marriage: A Loveless Look at Dowries

While touring Tuscany and enjoying the rich culture found there we have had many opportunities to examine the culture of today and how it relates to the culture of the 14^th and 15^th century. I was quite surprised to find out that dowries were common place until only a few decades ago. I was selected to present the ideas of an article examining dowries and the various ideas surrounding them.

 Dowries are sums of wealth transferred from the family of a bride to the family of the groom upon marriage. These transactions play a very substantial role in 15^th century Italy, as they represent significant (nearly nine times the average annual salary) movement of economic power between families often to a family of a lower class than the bride. In the 15^th century every single woman was expected to have dowry. Examples were given that there were public funds generated by wealthy persons leaving a portion of wealth to be used as dowries for orphans. A family would even be expected to have a dowry set aside for women who entered convents to become nuns. Dowries are interesting also because while the transfer of wealth is from one family to another at the time of marriage the bride retains ownership of the dowry even if her father in law is expected to manage it.

This paper looked at dowries in two different but related ways. The first from a net value perspective. The second is from an altruistic perspective.

From a net value standpoint the entire marriage arrangement was based on the value of a woman as compared to her expected benefit to the married household during her expected lifetime which essentially broke down to the older she is the less productive she will be. Thus the older a woman the larger her dowry would have to be to compensate for lost productivity in the marriage household. This creates a very strong pressure to marry young because the longer she lives with the parents the more she costs the parents (both in living expenses and a larger dowry) and the harder it is for her to find a “suitable” husband

This pressure in addition to a general shortage of women and a very small percentage of the population holding a large percentage of the country’s wealth leads women to often “marry down” selecting a man who would not necessarily be of the same social, political or financial status.

In the altruistic model the parents of the bride, caring about the future of their daughter, would provide a larger dowry proportional to how far she “married down” in order to ensure that the newly married couple would be able to get established and enjoy the same standard of living that the woman was used to but may be impossible for a lower class husband to provide.

Now there were many problems with this study the largest of which is that it had a relatively small sample size consisting primarily of the upper class. The data collected by this study was from census data and compared against often illegible marriage contracts. The author expressed a desire to examine the archives in Florence where a larger more complete collection of census data exists in order to gain a better understanding of the role that dowries played in early Italian economics 

An Economic Analysis of the Protestant Reformation

The 8^th and final article that Sydney and I presented on is titled “An Economic Analysis of the Protestant Reformation.” It talked about a lot of things, but the first half mainly dealt with the sale of indulgences. The Medieval Roman Church modified doctrine to permit the monetary sale of forgiveness of sins, which was key for spiritual redemption. This was what the members were really purchasing from the church. It was very interesting to walk through the Vatican and see where a lot of that money went. There was a lot of incredible artwork and sculptures that would not have been cheap, and I would not have thought about where that money came from without the article. We were really able to see the immense wealth that church gained during this time, in large part due to the sale of indulgences.

It discussed the use of price discrimination, and how stable wealth dispersion and tight knit communities would help them set the indulgences prices. When cultures were pretty rural and family based, the church would know how much a person makes, and therefore how much they could charge for their product. They also used the idea of purgatory to convince members to buy indulgences for relatives that had passed, which would result in less time in “limbo” between earth and heaven.

It then started its main test, which was trying to create a link between the countries stance on primogeniture and the probability of converting to Protestantism during the reformation. Primogeniture is the act of leaving everything you own (most of the time land) to your first born son when you die. This is unfortunate if you do not have a son or if you are the second born son. The basis of this link was that people would be willing to pay a high price for indulgences if they could assure all of their children’s futures (ex. they could work in the church), but if your country did not practice primogeniture, you could already practice the freedom of dispersing your wealth as you pleased when you passed, so you would not be willing to pay a high price for indulgences, because there was a cheaper and very similar product (Protestantism).

Their second test tried to create an inverse link between the growing urban societies and the practice of primogeniture. They tried to do this because it would create a link between urban societies and conversion to Protestantism. They argued that a son’s inherited wealth was no longer measured by land, because there were more industries to work in and less land per person, primogeniture was less likely to occur, and therefore conversion would be more common. They also argued that in those societies, there was less reliance on the church to help them in legal areas, and more reliance on the community as a whole.

It is really interesting to walk around Rome and see all of the old (many of them Catholic) buildings. It is strange to think about where the money to build those came from, and how the immoral actions of the Catholic Church helped fund some of the best known religious buildings and art we have today. It is also really interesting to think about how much they still make from those buildings, with a line of hundreds of people to get into the Vatican museum during January to see that great art, and at least 7 gift shops throughout the tour.

Olive Oil Production Throughout Italy

Olive oil has always been a very prominent aspect of Italian culture. Olive oil production can’t just be done anywhere. The climate is a huge factor that can make or break a batch of olives. Italy has an ideal climate that is made for making olives and olive oil. Italy ranks 2^nd in the world for olive oil production (behind Spain) and in the last 4 years Italy has produced an outstanding 550,000 tons of olive oil. While they may be producing massive quantities, Italy is the worlds top consumer of olive oil so they are still importing these goods from other countries as well. 

There are three different production areas in Italy: Southern/Insular, Central Southern, and Central Northern. Southern Insular is the largest production area because it has the optimal climate conditions to obtain high yields of oil. This area includes Sicily to give you an idea of where this extraction occurs. Southern areas can produce the highest quality of olive oil, whereas Northern areas have an environment that changes so frequently that it is not ideal for olive oil extraction.

We had the opportunity to see an old oil press and learned a little about how olive oil was produced centuries ago. You can find the photo below of what this press looked like. It was run with donkeys that circled around the machine in order to get the press working. As of late, olive oil production has started to become more technologically savvy. This is extremely vital to keeping up with our ever changing environment. You won’t see olive presses like this one anymore.

As we toured a farm in Sorrento we were also able to see how newer technology is changing the olive industry. Below you'll see a photo of the nets that this farm used to "catch/pick" their olives. Olive oil is almost like wine here. We did a taste-test of olive oil as well and learned how there are a wide variety of oil tastes. The tasting has helped me understand and appreciate olive oil production a lot more.
-Amy Wooten

Economics of Religion- The Vatican

After a long day adventuring through the Vatican, enjoying a change in pace of meals with some Asian cooking, and some interesting historical insight provided by Professor Wurm, a game of cards over drinks with friends before a night of excitement and music was certainly called for. Monday night in Rome during the middle of winter might not be the most exciting time, but when you're nearing the end of a long trip abroad with a group of newly founds friends there isn't nearly enough time in the world.

Though there was an absurdly beautiful level of detail at the Vatican, I was taken off guard by some of my assumptions going into the city. The museum was much more of a traditional museum than I had anticipated, and although everything was either owned in the Pope's collection or was a part of the Vatican itself, I wasn't expecting the outing to be as much of tourist trap as it was. The Sistine Chapel was underwhelming, though I believe this was because of the lack of lighting. Where I had expected a large dome fresco of God reaching to Adam I found a naturally lit chamber filled with tourists and security that ranted the gospel of 'No Photos'. Economically this makes sense, as if I was unable to take photos then I would be more likely to purchase a keepsake photo of the painting. However, that rule has yet to stop me, and many photos were captured. 

To quickly rescue from some of the group's unimpressed sentiment, we arrived at the Church of St. Peter. Entering the building that required on tickets was refreshing, and with such immense size and history many jaws dropped. Though I do believe that the rest of the Vatican City that is closed off to the public would remedy some of the feeling of disappointment, the cathedral certainly was the cure.

Tomorrow we wake early again and attend a site of more brutal Roman history- The Colosseum.   

Patterns in Medieval Trade:The Commerce of Amalfi Before the Crusades

The Amalfi coast was a commercial powerhouse and major center for global trade during the eighth to 11th century, before the Norman conquest. The article that Amy and I read, called "Patterns in Medieval Trade:The Commerce of Amalfi Before the Crusades" by Armand Citarella, focused on the trade between the Amalfitan merchants and the Arabs in the markets of North Africa during this time period.

Trade in Amalfi was based on a triangular pattern, according to Citarella. Wheat, timber, linen and agricultural goods from southern Italy were exported to North Africa in exchange for oil, wax and gold from Tunisia and oriental spices and gold from Egypt. Since the beginning of the ninth century, Amalfitans have had significant influence on the commerce in southern Italy, as well as global political power for maintaining strong relations with the Arabs and the Byzantine empire. Grain, timber, linen cloth and agricultural products such as fruits, nuts and wine were the main exports of Amalfi, which were produced in other areas of southern Italy and then shipped from the Amalfitan ports.

The reason that the Amalfitans were so successful in trading with the Arabs was that there were consistent markets in North Africa for the products of southern Italy. Grain was of high importance to the Arabs due to the famine conditions in North Africa and the inability to grow crops consistently. Timber was another major export from Amalfi because the Arabs did not have access to a reliable supply of timber: the dry, arid climate did not lend itself to timber production well. High quality linen and cloth materials from Naples and Cava were also highly valued in the markets of North Africa, to the extent that the city of Naples was referred to as "the city of linen cloth." The last major export from Amalfi that the author mentions are agricultural products; specifically wines, seasonal fruits, and nuts like hazelnuts, walnuts and chestnuts. These products were in high enough demand in the North African markets that the agricultural industry was revived in the cities of Naples, Capua, Benevento, Caserta and Salerno.

Since the Amalfitans traded so heavily with the Arabs, it makes sense that they would adopt certain cultural elements from the Arabs. Citarella alludes to the adoption of Arabian currency in Amalfi during the peak of this trade empire. This seems quite sensible since the Amalfitans were doing a large amount of their business transactions in Arabian currency and thus had considerable local circulation of that currency.

In addition to the adoption of Arabian currency, the influence of Arabian architecture is also apparent in Amalfi still today. On our hike along the Amalfi coast, called "The Gods' Footpath," I noticed that the buildings that freckled the steep hillsides looked slightly different than some of the other coastal towns we have visited. The materials used for roofing and the stucco on the facades of some buildings were atypical of other towns, and the architecture in general was slightly less uniform, suggesting that external influences had affected the construction of the town.

Unfortunately, in 1343, Amalfi faced a tragic storm that destroyed much of the harbor and its ports. The strong trade industry that the region had built was never able to recover, and thus had to resort to other industries to keep the economy afloat. Similar to many other towns in Italy, tourism has become the main industry dominating Amalfi.

Even though much of the historical trade industry has disappeared from Italy, traces of the historic culture can still be found and appreciated. This is the case in many of the tourist towns of Italy, and it is difficult to maintain cultural heritage as well as inform tourists of said heritage. However, learning about the cultural and historical significance of a location can make for a much richer experience as a tourist. I am incredibly thankful that I have been able to learn so much about not only the economy in Italy, but also the rich and varied history of the country and will look back on this trip with very fond memories.

Romans On The Bay Of Naples

Today our class visited the underground ancient Greek “Macellum” ruins and
Naples National Archaeological Museum which contained archaeological finds from many of the luxury villas in Pompeii. The artifacts on display included mosaic tiles which were used to create elaborate pictures. There was a display of a sterling silver dinner set which had delicate artistic designs allover which showed their wealth. There were also huge marble statues that were made out of a single piece of marble which is simply amazing.

In “Romans on The Bay of Naples” Erik and I examined how luxury villas in the imperial age played a role in the local economy. You would think that the presence of these extravagant villas on the coast would play a large economic role, but it’s actually the opposite. At the initial stage there was a boost to the economy due to construction, decorations, and improved roads for communication. But once the villa was completed the boost to the economy ended. There were a few villas that were exceptions, such as productive estates engaged in agriculture.

Normally these luxury villas were nonproductive, which means that they were just villas where the elite would build an extra home. One reason why these villas did not contribute to the local economy was because the owners would only live in them for a short period of time and the rest of the time there might only be a couple servants/slaves that actually live there year round. When the owners did visit they brought their own fleet of slaves and stockpiles of food which hurt the local economy because everything was imported. Most of the economic strength in that region was due to the port and the amount of trade that went through it.

A picture from our visit to underground ancient Greek “Macellum” ruins

Today was a great day in Tuscany! We spent the first half of the day exploring a small Italian town called Pitigliano, a town of about 4,000 inhabitants that sits a top a cliff overlooking a vast and green countryside. The most interesting part of our time in the small town was our visit to the Jewish Ghetto. According to my article, Jewish families played a very prominent role in many Italian communities throughout the 15th century. They often supported the community and their neighbors in one of the most fundamental ways, by giving loans. Because of Catholic doctrine and many religious restrictions, Christian families were not allowed to lend money with interest, making money lending very unfeasible for Christians. Jewish people however, did not have to abide by these laws and were not only allowed, but often encouraged, to lend money to people throughout the community as well as the communal government.

            The Jewish Ghetto that we visited was established by the Medici Family in 1622 about 25 years after the Synagogue of Pitigliano was erected. Because nearly one fourth of the community was Jewish, the town soon became known was “Little Jerusalem.” The remnants of the ghetto that we were able to explore consisted of various rooms and chambers used in everyday life by the Jewish community. They had a ritual bath used to baptize new converts, a kosher cellar and butcher to handle food, a bakery for unleavened bread, and a special room for dyeing textiles. Next to these remains was a Synagogue that is still used today. Such ghettos, or Jewish quarters, were very common throughout many Italian villages in the countryside.

            During this time, over two-thirds of citizens in any given town had some form of a loan, and Jewish loans accounted for 20-30 percent of the local credit market. Jewish lenders had two distinct competitive advantages that allowed them to secure roughly 10 percent of the total debt of all households. The first was that their wealth was often very liquid, meaning they had large amounts of cash or easy to sell items. Their second advantage was that they had strong economic and social ties among themselves throughout the community and surrounding towns allowing them to share the risk of lending with numerous individuals.

            Jewish lending helped households to smooth consumptions, buy working capital, and provide dowries for daughters. They also often helped finance large, expensive governmental projects. In order to secure such public finance, city governments often required Jewish lenders to agree to lend favorably to governmental institutions and projects before they were granted a charter. Further, governments allowed Jewish lenders to charge high interest rates and then taxed them on their earnings, placing an indirect burden on the citizens who were borrowing money. This system provided steady revenue for governments without having to upset the general public by directly taxing them.

            It was really interesting to experience the community Jewish families inhabited, keeping in mind the integral role they played in their communes despite not being fully integrated into the community. It’s also important to note that indirect tax schemes, like those used by the Italian government through Jewish lending, still exist today. Our class discussed modern day examples of indirect taxes such as the alcohol tax or requiring people to get new license plates every seven years, as examples of how our government still tries to generate revenue from its citizens without directly collecting taxes from them. 

Economic Change in Pompeii

On January 23^rd we visited the excavated ruins of Pompeii, a flourishing port town destroyed and buried by the eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Hayden and I presented a blog post from an archeological dig in Pompeii depicting the change in the use of space over time. The neighborhood of sorts was originally excavated centuries ago and any artifacts, like tools of machinery, removed. Archeologists today have to rely on structural remains left behind to determine the purpose of a space and the change in use of that space over time.

One excavated room showed the remains of multiple small tanks lined with a waterproof plaster, indicating some sort of wet industry, though the tanks were not large enough for typical wet industries such as tanning. In the 1800’s the room earned the name of “The soap factory,” though little evidence exists to support the name. Underneath the floor of the soap factory are the remains of several walls that once divided the large room into multiple smaller rooms. While we cannot say what the use of the multiple small rooms may have been their presence indicates a change in the use of the space.

Many other building in the area show a movement away from production-based industries, like soap making, towards traveler services, like inns and bars. One building determined to be an inn at the time of the 79 A.D. eruption, was shown to have been a blacksmith at some earlier time. As the floor of the inn was excavated round, blackened patches were found. These areas were swept with a magnet, revealing metals rich in iron and indicating the location of the blacksmith’s anvil. Another building in the same neighborhood showed the transition from wet-industry (as indicated by plaster-lined pits) to a bar.

The transition from industry to tourism occurred in Pompeii just as it has in many other locations in modern-day Italy. Preceding the 79 A.D. eruption of Vesuvius, Pompeii transitioned from industry to bars and inns and today we see places like the Cinque Terre moving away from traditional industries (agriculture, in the case of the Cinque Terre) towards catering to tourists. While little or no written record of this change exists, we can interpret economic change from thousands-of-years-old ruins and see a pattern we recognize even today. 

A once-bustling street of Pompeii

Sorrento - Paper Making and the Amalfi Coast

January 24^th, 2014

Today we woke up early – too early in my opinion. The class, half-asleep, drug themselves on to Francesco’s tour bus and left the Le Tore vineyard at 8 am sharp. The night before, a serious rainfall caused a landslide that blocked our intended route to the paper museum that we had been planning to visit. After some debate about what we should do, our bus driver took us on a scenic route to the paper museum.

Inside the museum a rather lively guide stood waiting for our arrival. At first, I wasn’t too thrilled to be visiting a paper museum but as soon as the guide took us underground, I began to gain interest. He explained how the old paper factory worked and how each machine ran by hydropower (he even demonstrated). Next, he brought us to a large basin filled with a liquid substance he said was used to make paper. One by one he let us dip a metal screen into the opaque liquid and pull it out, revealing what looked like a liquid sheet of paper. We then transferred the paper on a felt sheet for the paper to dry. After this, we squeezed the excess water out of the paper using a large manual crank made entirely of wood. Our guide explained to us after that the residence of the Amalfi coast learned this paper making process from their close trading partners, the Arabs. The process was nothing like I had ever seen.

Sam and I read an article earlier today relating to the unusual relationship between the Amalfi and Arabs. During the first half of the 9^th century, Arab raiders ransacked much of what is today the Italian coast, but leaving the Amalfi coast unharmed. The Amafli and the Arabs created an intricate trading web that benefited both communities quite well. Because of this, the Arab pirates did not attack the Amalfi community in exchange for the use of Amalfi ports. This relationship was strange because much like the rest of the mainland, the Amalfi was predominately Christian, while the Arabs were Muslim. This trading relationship was so strong that even when Pope John VIII summoned the Amalfi to help defend against the Arab pirates, the Amalfi declined. The Amalfi’s commercial interest with the Arabs was of more importance than the fear and political motives of the pope.  

If it had not been for this close relationship between the Amalfi and the Arabs, the early history of the Italian people would have been very different. One can only imagine how different their lives would have been if this essential skill had not been learned due to trade. 

Orvieto - Heritage and Mass Tourism

January 19, 2014

Today our class arrived in the city of Orvieto, a small well-preserved city because of its rich history. Once the class arrived in the city, we were immediately escorted to our home for the next three nights. We were staying in what was once an ancient convent, which was later converted into a catholic college of some sort. Today, the building acts as what would be best described as a modern day bed and breakfast, which is still run by catholic nuns.

After in the evening Sam and I gave a presentation on the effects of mass tourism on heritage sites. Recently tourism has seen an increase in demand for cultural destinations which has in turn raised discussion about the conservation and management techniques for these pieces of heritage. In our presentation we explained that if resources (money, capital) are expended on heritage to justify tourist activity and the benefits from the tourists are enjoyed by the surrounding community, the residents’ quality of life are protected (revenue, employment). With this being said, well organized tourism leads to positive effects on the regional economy. On the other hand, poorly managed tourism does not create a positive development factor for the surrounding community. Fortunately there are economic tools, such as charges and fees, which can be used to control tourist flows.

Following our presentation I had the opportunity to wonder off by myself and visit the Duomo di Orvieto. The Duomo, or cathedral, was built and blessed by Pope Nicholas IV in 1290. The immaculate black and white striped marble cathedral offered beautiful reliefs, bronze sculptures, bronze doors, 14^th century mosaics, and gorgeous left and right wings that were covered in detailed frescos. When I got to the door of the Duomo, I did not realize that I had to pay to get in to see these works of art. I was angered at first that this church was charging tourists to enter and observe the inside of the cathedral. I felt like I was being scammed. Then I realized that this fee was necessary to preserve the precious heritage that was the 13^th century cathedral. Once I came to this understanding I was much more willing to play the tourist fee in order to walk around.

It is important to give back to the community in which you are visiting. If tourists came by the flock day in and day out to visit priceless pieces of heritage without paying fees , there would be no restoration process and these works of art would one day become destroyed. I was glad I was given the opportunity to see this beautiful cathedral today, as well as give back to the community. 

The Rental Market in Early Imperial Rome

Today we visited the ancient ruins of Pompeii! It is incredible how well preserved the whole place is. It's unimaginable how much we know about a civilization that existed so long ago. I was particularly enthralled by the clay casts of the people of the time. It was amazing to see their facial expressions frozen in time. Another incredibly interesting thing I learned during our visit to the ruins of Pompeii was about the rigidly standardized nature of Roman architecture. When our guide explained how every house was built with essentially the same floor plan only varying by size, I was very surprised. It seems so contradictory to the value we place on uniqueness today. 

Our article described one particular excavation in Pompeii-that of a Vineyard. This excavation was geared toward gaining a better understanding of the planting pattern of vineyards in pompeii at the time. Before the excavation there had been disagreement between the people of the areas and the fruit scholars at the University of Naples over how the grape vines were planted. The locals claimed that the ancient people of pompeii staked their grapes just as they do today, whereas the fruit scholars claimed it is more likely that they pruned the vines low and left them without stakes. The excavation revealed that the people of Pompeii had in fact been using stakes as the locals suggested. The other thing the article stressed was how how uniformly distributed the root cavities of the plants were. Each was four Roman feet apart from the next one. This pattern, like that of the architecture seen at the ruins, again suggests a great desire for uniformity and consistency. 

I found this sense of rigid order and repetition to be interesting, and found myself comparing this with our attitude today. While I think that in a lot of ways, we still value a sense of order, when it comes to many products, we place individuality over set designs. For example, when it comes to home design, no one would want the same floor plan that everyone else has. In fact, people often have their homes custom designed for them. On the other hand, I imagine farm layout and design is done just as meticulously today as at the time. 

Reputations and Coalitions in Medieval Trade: Evidence on the Maghribi Traders

Today we got the chance to visit the beautiful Amalfi Coast. We started off the day by visiting the Paestum ruins, famous for their well-preserved Greek temples. After a brief lunch we journeyed to an old paper mill (now a museum), made our own paper, and of course, purchased from their gift shop. The Amalfi region is famous for their paper making, which they learned from the Arabs. They gained this knowledge through trade. The article Connor and I presented looks at trade, specifically why a specific group called the Maghribi traders, were so successful in trade in the 11^th century through the use of a coalition.

Alessio making paper

Our article discusses this economic institution of coalitions. Medieval merchant-agent relationships were characterized by a lack of contract structure that the courts were unable to attend to, leaving the respective parties unsatisfied. Agents are those hired to actually travel and execute the trade for merchant.The Maghribi traders were Jewish traders who lived in Baghdad who had a distinct identity within the Jewish community. These traders emigrated from that area and proceeded to only trade with other Maghribi traders. The coalition’s power stems from their effective use of information transmission. Because they would only trade amongst themselves, they would have all the information regarding the honesty of the agents involved. Nonmembers of the coalition (non-Malgribi traders) would not hire members as agents because they did not have access to the information about who they were hiring.

The coalition worked not because the traders necessarily trusted each other, but because their reputations were on the line. If the agent was found to have cheated a merchant (by running off with the capital for example), the merchant would make it known to all other Malgribi traders that the agent was dishonest, and that agent would never be hired by someone in the coalition again.

Paestrum, the ancient city we visited early in the day, was situated on the Sele River and may very well be a river city that a Malgribi trader immigrated to and set up shop, although it seems the city was more of a defensive outpost. Standing on one end of the city, three grand Grecian temples rose clearly in the distance, surrounded by the foundations of what used to be homes. It was interesting that the organized pile of rocks we were looking at was of such great importance in the past. Although that aspect was a little sad to be honest, I had a great time being able to walk through history.

Temple of Athena, Paestrum

Thriving Viticulture in Southern Italy

After the longest bus ride of the month we have finally found ourselves in breathtaking Southern Italy, home of Naples, our farmhouse/hotel in Sorrento and the ruins of Pompeii. One of the most surprising things about our time in Sorrento has been the lack of meat at meals. Up north every course was extremely meat heavy, but down here ham and steak have majorly been replaced with fresh fruits and vegetables. This isn’t too surprising when you see the vast amount fruitful farmland covering this area of the country. Unlike the farms I’m used to back home in Montana, these aren’t fields of monotonous wheat but a mix of citrus fruits, wine and olives.

 The article Matt and I were assigned for this portion focused on the viticulture of ancient Italy. It was questioning why, despite the difficulty of growing grapes, Italian farmers continued to choose to use their land to grow them when it could at times be very unprofitable. An example of period scholars’ opinion on the farmers’ decisions is Cicero talking to Rullus in 63 B.C. saying “Sell of his woodlands and keep the vineyards – how about that for a prodigal son!” Due to the risk associated with growing grapes, it was deemed unwise to enter the market as a producer. However, the demand for Italian wine, both of poor and great quality and everything in between, made its production impossible to avoid. So it continued, and became a staple of the Italian economy despite its many obstacles.

 After visiting Pompeii, it was obvious why it was one of the few areas of Italy where producers won more than they lost in the wine game. The volcanic soil was a great environment to grow everything under the sun, and the dense population made for an immediate market. It was a blast to roam through the ruins and imagine the bustling port town that once stood beneath Vesuvius, and the wine industry that thrived there.

From Ashes to Sorrento

Though the lack of wifi came as a surprise, a certain amount of utility was found by staying offline during our four-day stay at a small farm-inn on the Sorrento countryside. Defined by fresh organic meals and a friendly lab-mix named Tex, our stay at Le Tore felt like home and provided a wonderful base camp to return to each night.

Our first full day was spent adventuring the ruined city of Pompeii. After Mt. Vesuvius blew its top, the city was flooded with ash, decimating the population and preserving the city. As the ruins were uncovered, many advanced techniques were used, including one plastering procedure that I was particularly impressed by: archeologists would drill small holes down into the earth and pour in plaster, filling crevices crated by organic matter decomposing over time. Through this method many items and individuals were able to be recreated in the position which they resided when the mountain erupted. 

After a great meal and a good nights sleep we were off to the Amalfi coast to see a traditional paper mill. Using hydropower and cloth fragments, paper was produced sheet by sheet that lasted for centuries; a method still implemented to generate paper by the Vatican.  

Day three was highlighted by a three hour trek on the Footpath of The Gods. The views were astonishing, and although Zephyr blew her wrath, Apollo blessed us with warm rays and a clear sky.

We've arrived in Rome and after a four course meal that might have been the best of the trip, I'm caught in a battle of wanting to experience the Rome nightlife and the calling of my bed. The tour of the Vatican will be bright and early tomorrow, and although our trip soon comes to a close, I look forward to reliving this satisfying adventure through these posts and pictures.