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Trade Routes in Rome
Trade was absolutely vital to the Roman Empire, and when trade succeeded, the empire thrived. For the most part, the trades did pay off for Rome. One reason for this was their simplicity when approaching other areas for trade. For example, they used only one form of currency when trading, making it far less complicated when discussing coinage with other countries. They also did not have any exclusive customs that came into play when exchanging with other places. Their main routes ran through the Mediterranean Caspian and Black Seas. Their goods traveled by ship along with slaves. The largest imports that came into Rome were olive oil (from Spain) and wine (from Egypt). Other imports included textiles, grain, beef, corn, glassware, iron, lead, leather, marble, perfume, purple dye, silk, silver, spices, wild animals, and more. However, they exchanged ideas along with goods. While they came up with numerous original ideas, including better sanitation and roads, they adopted other concepts as well. One of those was the architecture that was used in structures that were built in Rome. The Greeks and the Etruscans both provided the ideas of using columns and arches to make architecture more stable, which the Romans used on buildings such as the Colosseum. The major trade port that the Romans often visited to trade with other countries was called the Ostia. It was located at the mouth of the Tiber River, and extremely convenient area for them to travel to.