ICE Case Studies: Bronze
Roman Bronze Trade
Brian K. Schwab
CASE NUMBER: 224
CASE MNEMONIC: BRONZE
CASE NAME: Roman Bronze Recycling Trade
A. IDENTIFICATION
1. The Issue
In ancient times, Roman dominance became pervasive throughout
the Mediterranean world. In the process, they sought to supplant
ancient religions and political systems in the conquered regions
with their own methods. Thus, worn metal statues commemorating
ancient gods or heroes, which had stood for ages in the public
areas in the cities of the conquered regions, were torn down and
sent to Rome. This scrap metal was melted down and recast as
either weapons for the Roman legions or new statues which were
dedicated to historic Roman events or leaders.
2. Description
Pliny the Elder, the famous Roman historian, wrote in the first
century AD about the reuse of scrap copper in Roman foundries. He
noted that the metals were recast as armor, weapons or articles for
personal use, such as bronze mirrors. The melting and recasting
foundries which he alluded to were located at the Italian port city
of Brindisi. This city, situated on the Adriatic coast, was the
terminus of the great Appian Way, the Roman road constructed to
facilitate trade and military access throughout the Italian part of
the Roman Empire. Thus, the city was the gateway for Roman
penetration to the eastern parts of her empire.
In 1992, bronze artifacts from an ancient shipwreck were
discovered off Brindisi's Adriatic coast by a local scuba-diver
while on a pleasure outing. Archaeologists who later excavated the
underwater site uncovered a wide array of parts from many different
sculptures scattered in a narrow area at approximately 50 foot
depth of water. The artifacts discovered by the pleasure diver on
that late June afternoon, and the subsequent excavation effort,
were statues taken from the Roman Empire's Balkan and eastern
Mediterranean provinces.
Technicians attempting to pinpoint the age of the wreckage were
astounded to learn that the artifacts ranged in date from the
fourth century BC to the third century AD. What they, in fact,
uncovered was the first tangible proof of the trade in bronze
(among other metals) for recycling in ancient times, as it is now
assumed that these artifacts were a shipborne cargo destined for
the scrap reuse facilities discussed by Pliny in his historical
writings, or other similar facilities which may have been in
existence at the time.
The reasons which prompted the Romans to initiate such a
recycling and reuse program are highly debatable. However, one
interpretation has it that this was done more for political reasons
than economic ones. As the Roman Empire expanded and new areas
were conquered, the population needed to be pacified in order to
secure the areas under Roman control. One psychological way to
accomplish this end would be to enter the public squares and agoras
throughout the region and remove the figures and idols to which the
conquered peoples felt their attachment. In such a plausible way,
the Romans could remove the old, worn statues, transport them back
to Italy and melt them down for their own use. Thus, one of
world's first, if not THE first, recycling programs was born from
a political necessity.
Industry Output: Given the large expanse of time intervening since
the program was initiated as well as the fact
that ancient Rome was not a money economy, it is
impossible to put a dollar figure on the output
of the Roman recycling foundries. Such findings
as those of the shipwreck in the Adriatic are of
inestimable value today as they provide
historians with the few known bronze statues
still extant from ancient times.
Employment: Little is actually known about Roman recycling
efforts, except what has been taken from Pliny
the Elder's writings on copper recycling in the
first century AD, as the shipwreck's discovery is
the first evidence of commerce in such a program
However, judging from the size of the buildings
which the Romans used as production entities, we
can infer that a typical foundry would employ
somewhere between 10 and 30 people in a single
operation. The difficulty lies in the fact that
we simply do not know how many foundries the
Romans utilized in this effort.
It would be difficult to quantify the Roman recycling program.
However, there was a direct link between trade and the reuse of the
metals in this instance. As the Romans extended their dominance
across the Mediterranean region, land transportation routes became
longer and more arduous, especially in the early years of this
millenium with the various internal conflicts and barbarian forays
against the Empire. The easiest, and most prefered, route for
trade within the Empire was the seaborne routes which were safe
from incursions by pirates and barbarians. As this one-way scrap
metal trade occurred strictly within the boundaries of the Roman
Empire, there were no tariff barriers to speak of.
The leading exporters of the recycling metals were the eastern
provinces of the Roman empire. Most notable among these were
Greece. It has been reported that Athens alone contained nearly
3,000 bronze statues which the Romans may have confiscated for
recycling purposes. Other leading provinces include Ilyrium (Asia
Minor), Byzantium and the other ancient Greek city states of the
region.
As Rome was the master state throughout the Mediterranean region,
indeed throughout what was then the known world, this dominant
state was the sole importer (as far as can be determined) of the
worn metals for scrapping.
3. Duration: first century AD
4. Location
a. Continent: Europe
b. Region: Southern Europe
c. State: Rome
5. Actors The Trojan War was fought, in part, over access to tin resources.
Number of Parties: At least 13. These include Rome herself, along
with the provinces of Dacia, Greece, Macedonia, Ilyrium, Syria,
Judea, Egypt, Phoenicia, Canaan, Dalmatia, Albania and Byzantium.
II. Environment
6. Type of Environmental Problem
Resources: Much of the workable metals were smelted
by inefficient processes, and thus were
wasted for no reason other than the lack
of advanced smelting technology.
Pollution Air, Land and Water. This pollution resulted from
and Waste imperfect smelting techniques and from inefficient
production methods. The Roman foundries would be
unable to properly process the materials, due to
the lack of advanced production technology, and
much of the air and surrounding lands were fouled
by sooty contaminants cast off during production.
In addition, water pollution was also problem.
Water used to harden the metals was allowed to
became full of impurities, again due to the lack
of advanced smelting technology, and this waste
water was simply allowed to return to the
foundry's main water supply source (which was
usually the same as the surrounding population's
consumable water supply).
8. Act and Harm Sites:
The ancient Romans assumed an egocentric position of cultural
supremacy over the peoples of the eastern Mediterranean region
through force. Once conquest was achieved, the Romans sought to
assimilate the new people into its cultural millieu. In attempting
to do so, many different cultures were forcibly suppressed and
submerged to the "superior" Roman one. In addition, the Romans
utilized the recast metals, which was taken from religious and
other statues of cultural importance, to forge weapons which were
then used in the secular activity of warfare against the effected
peoples and their neighbors.
The statues were confiscated from conquered territories in the
eastern Mediterranean region and transported back to Roman home
territory (Italy). The reused metal was then forged into weapons,
among other items, which were employed in expanding the Empire's
territorial conquests abroad.
The political and religious rights of the individuals of the
conquered territories were forcibly suppressed by the Romans during
their pacification efforts. These pacification efforts, in turn,
may have led to the institution of a metal reuse program within a
conquered territory. These programs encompassed the removal of the
worn metal statues to which the conquered peoples felt a
psychological attachment, thus denying them their cultural
heritage, in an attempt to force cultural assimilation upon these
new Roman subjects.
III. Conflict
9. Type and Level of Conflict: INTERSTATE
10. Level of Conflict: War
11. Fatality Level: Zero
12. Environment-Conflict Link and Dynamics: Indirect: Water Pollution
13. Level of Strategic Interest
Sub-state
14. Outcome of Dispute: Loss
IV. Related Information and Sources
15. Related Cases and Websites
CEDARS case
GUANO case
16. Relevant Websites and Literature
"Brindisi Bronzes"; National Geographic; Vol 187 No. 4; April
1995; P. 88-101.
1/11/97