With the funds from my Dean's Award I spent my July in London using the resources available at the British Museum and Library to do research for my thesis. My particular area of research is trade in the Indian Ocean during the first two centuries CE, a vibrant but still murky world in which Roman ships departed from ports along Egypt's Red Sea coast to sail to India, where they mixed in a complex system of Indian, Persian, Arab and African merchants. The challenge and promise of this study is that it combines a variety of different regional disciplines to give a glimmer of an ancient precursor to what became the modern world system. Much of global history in the past millennium was driven by the vibrant commercial world of the Indian Ocean, and studying it during the Roman period shows just how deep its roots were. During my stay I researched under the guidance of Dr. Roberta Tomber, a pottery expert at the British museum who studies the material remains of this trade. Working with her gave me a valuable glimpse into the physical remains of the trade, which would otherwise been completely impossible. She also helped guide me with admirable patience as I worked through the difficult question of what angle I can take on the topic, and what I was able to say. Working in London also gave me the opportunity to meet with a variety of scholars who focus on different areas of the topic, from Late Roman coins discovered in India to the process of siltation on the harbors of the Red Sea. Being introduced to the different possible perspectives let me experience first hand the diversity and complexity of the field. When dealing with a topic spanning thousands of miles two thousand years ago, seemingly small changes in perspective can lead to large disagreements. The direction in which someone comes into the topic can determine how one comes out of it. I found that when meeting with people I was introduced to problems, difficulties, and opportunities I could have never have experienced through only books and papers. Travel to London provided me not just with materials, but also perspectives that were previously completely inaccessible to me. Luckily, during my month overseas I was also able to travel around England. Britain was far from the wealthiest Roman province, but the extent of archaeological exploration there, and the care that museums have traditionally taken with the public presentation of material, makes visiting the Roman Britain sites a unique experience. They have marble heads and intricately carved glass cups, but also cabinets filled with tweezers, pocket knives and keys. From a personal level, I had written my bachelor's thesis on the region of the Cotswolds in southwest England and had for some time wanted to visit it. It wasn't related to the trade between India and Rome, but that didn't make seeing the villa at Chedworth and once bustling city of Cirencester in the flesh any less enjoyable. Doing this research was useful, even necessary, as I was finally able to gain a real sense of the boundaries of this topic. And, as it turned out, London was not such a terrible place in which to do it. BACK TO CLASSICS NEWS
