The Caravan Families of Palmyra

Prosopographical Evidence of Elite Involvement in Long Distance Commerce

Abstract

The role and involvement of the Palmyrene elite in the organization of the famous caravan trade of the ancient city has been a long-standing historiographical issue. Prosopographical evidence allows us to trace the family connections of several the caravan leaders mentioned in Palmyrene inscriptions and thus to situate them in their social milieu. While it has been well known that some of the caravan leaders were also individuals of considerable civic and military standing, the results of the present study indicate that many of the otherwise unattested individuals engaged in the organization and operation of long-distance trade involved in caravan trade also belonged to a set of Palmyrene elite families. It is suggested that families were important organizational units in Palmyrene commerce, that commercial activities were not detrimental to social status within the Palmyrene elite, and that income from trade was a vehicle of social mobility in ancient Palmyra.