Coptos Tariff

• The Coptos Tariff, issued in 90 CE, was a List of all the Tolls to be paid by road users along the Coptos to Myos Hormos Roman Road between Coptos on the Nile and the Red Sea port of Myos Hormos.

A Road Toll

• The Coptos Tariff was written in Greek, carved in stone and dated May 90 CE. It applied to animals, wagons and people.
• The Tariff helped to pay for the fortified watering stops called Hydreumata along the Road.

The List

• One Ass:
  • 2 Obols (1 Obol = 1/6 of a Drachma)
• One Camel:
  • 1 Obol, plus 2 Obols to get the official Seal.
• Covered Wagon:
  • 4 Drachmas
• Funeral Procession:
  • 1 Drachma and 4 Obols.
• Men:
  • 5-10 Drachmas.
• A Guard:
  • 5 Drachmas
• Women:
  • 20 Drachmas.
• Prostitutes:
  • 108 Drachmas
• Helmsman of the Red Sea:
  • 8 Drachmas
• Ship’s Lookout:
  • 10 Drachmas
• A Sailor:
  • 5 Drachmas
  • The List shows that Sailors were frequent travellers between the Nile and the Red Sea.
• A Shipbuilder’s assistant:
  • 5 Drachmas
• A ship’s mast:
  • 20 Drachmas.
• An Artisan:
  • 8 Drachmas
  • Apart from being required in Berenice and Myos Hormos, skilled Roman Craftsmen were employed in India to build and decorate Palaces and other Buildings.
  • They were held in high esteem, and could make a small fortune. The Apostle Thomas worked as a carpenter on a Palace in India.

Other Roman Documents relating to Roman Trade with India

• Alexandrian Tariff
  • The Tetarte (quarter tax) was paid in Alexandria on Imports from the East.
  • The Alexandrian Tariff was a list of 54 Items from the East that were subject to Duty.
  • It was issued by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius between c. 176-180 CE.
• Periplus of the Erythraean Sea
  • The document describes two sea routes from Egypt, one across to India and the other down to Africa, with all distances measured from Berenice.
• Pliny’s Description of the Route to India
  • Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE) described in detail the journey from Egypt to India in Book VI of his Natural History.
• Muziris Papyrus
  • It is a contract between a Merchant of Alexandria and an Alexandrian Financier, regarding a cargo of Pepper and Spices from Muziris.
  • The contract describes a Loan Agreement for a cargo worth approximately 9,000,000 sesterces carried from Muziris in India, on a Roman vessel called the ‘Hermapollon’.
• Diocletian's Price List
  • Issued in 310 CE, Diocletian’s Price List was an Edict proclaiming the Maximum Prices, ‘Edictum de Pretiis Rerum Venalium’, which was designed to stop runaway inflation.
  • It is a useful tool for historians to appreciate the cost of Roman goods and services.

Coptos