ERC Martime Dependencies in Antiquity – A Maritime History of Syracuse
MarDepend investigates the existential dependence of states and communities on maritime trade. The project aims to analyze and quantify how trade, environments, and conflicts were interconnected in antiquity, with a particular focus on the polis of Syracuse in Sicily. It explores economic structures, trade balances, and the role of sea routes in commerce during both times of peace and war. Syracuse, a major maritime power from the early 5th century BCE until its conquest by Rome in 212 BCE, serves as the central case study. Due to its strategic position at the crossroads of ancient trade routes, which enabled exchange with a wide range of actors, Syracuse is especially significant and provides abundant material for a quantitative economic analysis. Building on the Syracuse case study, MarDepend seeks to establish maritime dependencies as a conceptual framework for understanding global trade and political dynamics across different historical periods. The project follows an interdisciplinary approach and employs a broad methodological foundation. It combines historical research, archaeology, shipbuilding studies, oceanography, and economic theory by developing wind, wave, and current models, analyzing the performance of ancient ships, reconstructing trade routes through simulations, examining material evidence (coins, inscriptions, amphorae), and creating a formal economic model for ancient trade.
