Emporoi kai nauklēroi: redefining commercial roles in Classical Greece
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Mark Woolmer
Abstract
This paper seeks to redefine scholarly understanding of the roles and functions of emporoi and nauklçroi within the mechanisms for interregional trade. From the late 1930s onwards, it has become widely accepted that both emporoi and nauklçroi were primarily traders whose main source of income was generated by selling or exchanging commodities for profit and that the primary difference between these two occupational groups was that nauklçroi were merchants who were affluent enough to own their own vessel, whilst emporoi were merchants who chartered transport space from a third party. However, an analysis of the usage of the terms offers little support to this conclusion; rather, it provides compelling evidence that the distinction between these two occupational groups was far more substantial. This article will therefore challenge previous scholarship on two counts: firstly, that there were only slight differences in the commercial functions of emporoi and nauklçroi and, secondly, that ownership of a vessel was a factor which the Greeks used to distinguish between them. Instead, it will argue that a more reliable way of distinguishing between these two groups is according to the differing roles they fulfilled within the mechanisms of inter-regional exchange. It will therefore be suggested that nauklçroi were not primarily independent-traders but rather haulers or agents who worked for, or in partnership with, someone else. In contrast, the term emporos should be understood as denoting an independent, professional merchant whose primary form of income was generated by direct trade. The acceptance of a distinction based chiefly on the differing commercial functions of these two groups will not only provide greater clarity on their respective roles but also improve our understanding of the mechanisms of inter-regional trade during the classical period.
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Appendix
| Word: | ἔμπορος | ἐμπορία | ἐπιδάμιος | ἐμπολεύς | ἐπιβᾰ’της | πρακτήρ |
| Primary Source | ||||||
| Agatharchides | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aeschines | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aeschylus | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Andocides | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Antiphon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aristophanes | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aristotle | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Bacchylides | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Demades | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Demosthenes | 16 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Dinarchus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Diodorus | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Euripides | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Herodotus | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Hesiod | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Homer | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Homeric Hymns | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hyperides | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Isaeus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Iscorates | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lycurgus | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lysias | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Menander | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Old Oligarch | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pausanias | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pindar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Plato | 18 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Plutarch* | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Pseudo-Appollodorus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Scholia# | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sophocles | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Strabo | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Theophrastus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Theognis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Thucydides | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Xenophon | 18 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 |
| Total | 116 | 51 | 6 | 2 | 60 | 3 |
* = Greek Lives: Alcibiades, Aristides, Cimon, Lysander, Nicias, Pericles, Solon, Themistocles, Theseus.
# = Scholia to Aeschines, Aeschylus, Aristophanes, Aristotle, Demosthenes, Euripides, Hesiod, Homer, Plato, Sophocles, Thucydides, Xenophon.
~ = Excluded from the investigation as the term is only employed due to an alternative, non-commercial meaning.
| Word: | ναύκλαρος | ναυκληρέω | ναυκληρία | κάπηλος | κᾰπηλεύω |
| Primary Source | |||||
| Agatharchides | 1 | 0 | 0 | ~ | ~ |
| Aeschines | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aeschylus | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Andocides | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Antiphon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aristophanes | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aristotle | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Bacchylides | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Demades | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Demosthenes | 31 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Dinarchus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Diodorus | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Euripides | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Herodotus | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| Hesiod | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Homer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Homeric Hymns | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hyperides | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Isaeus | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Iscorates | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Lycurgus | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lysias | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Menander | 3 | 0 | 0 | ~ | ~ |
| Old Oligarch | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pausanias | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Pindar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Plato | 9 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 4 |
| Plutarch* | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Pseudo-Appollodorus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Scholia# | 16 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Sophocles | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Strabo | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Theophrastus | 0 | 0 | 0 | ~ | ~ |
| Theognis | 0 | 0 | 0 | ~ | ~ |
| Thucydides | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Xenophon | 10 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 103 | 20 | 27 | 26 | 11 |
| φορτηγός | κᾰπηλικός | |
| Primary Source | ||
| Agatharchides | ~ | ~ |
| Aeschines | 0 | 0 |
| Aeschylus | 0 | 0 |
| Andocides | 0 | 0 |
| Antiphon | 0 | 0 |
| Aristophanes | 0 | 1 |
| Aristotle | 0 | 6 |
| Bacchylides | 0 | 0 |
| Demades | 0 | 0 |
| Demosthenes | 0 | 0 |
| Dinarchus | 0 | 0 |
| Diodorus | 18 | 0 |
| Euripides | 0 | 0 |
| Herodotus | 0 | 0 |
| Hesiod | 0 | 0 |
| Homer | 0 | 0 |
| Homeric Hymns | 0 | 0 |
| Hyperides | 0 | 0 |
| Isaeus | 0 | 0 |
| Iscorates | 0 | 0 |
| Lycurgus | 0 | 0 |
| Lysias | 0 | 0 |
| Menander | ~ | ~ |
| Old Oligarch | 0 | 0 |
| Pausanias | 0 | 0 |
| Pindar | 0 | 0 |
| Plato | 0 | 2 |
| Plutarch* | 1 | 0 |
| Pseudo-Appollodorus | 0 | 0 |
| Scholia# | 0 | 0 |
| Sophocles | 0 | 0 |
| Strabo | 0 | 1 |
| Theophrastus | ~ | ~ |
| Theognis | ~ | ~ |
| Thucydides | 0 | 0 |
| Xenophon | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 19 | 10 |
© 2015 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Ancient Near Eastern Omens and Prophecies as a Function of Cognitive Modes
- Stories told in lists: formulaic genealogies as intentional histories
- Emporoi kai nauklēroi: redefining commercial roles in Classical Greece
- Private Traders and the Food Supply of Classical Greek Armies
- Caesar at Play: Some Preparations for the Parthian Campaign, 44 BCE
- Cultivating the memory of Octavius Thurinus
- The Crisis of A.D. 33: past and present
- Roman Neapolis and the Landscape of Disaster
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Ancient Near Eastern Omens and Prophecies as a Function of Cognitive Modes
- Stories told in lists: formulaic genealogies as intentional histories
- Emporoi kai nauklēroi: redefining commercial roles in Classical Greece
- Private Traders and the Food Supply of Classical Greek Armies
- Caesar at Play: Some Preparations for the Parthian Campaign, 44 BCE
- Cultivating the memory of Octavius Thurinus
- The Crisis of A.D. 33: past and present
- Roman Neapolis and the Landscape of Disaster
