The Muziris Papyrus: A Roman Loan That Crossed the Ocean

Lucas and Luna dive into the Muziris papyrus, a second-century shipping contract found in Egypt that records a massive loan for a voyage from the Red Sea to the Malabar Coast. They unpack the staggering sums involved — over seven million sesterces — and what this reveals about the scale of Roman trade with India. The episode follows the contract's journey: a cargo of nard, ivory, and Gangetic spikenard worth a fortune, the role of a financier named Hermapollon, and the risks of sailing on the monsoon. They also discuss the port of Muziris itself, now lost but once a bustling entrepôt where Roman gold met Indian pepper. Along the way, they touch on the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, the Chera kingdom, and how one fragile scrap of papyrus rewrites our understanding of ancient globalization. #MuzirisPapyrus #RomanTrade #IndianOcean #MalabarCoast #Chera #Hermapollon #Periplus #RedSea #Berenike #PaxRomana #SpiceTrade #AncientGlobalization #Papyrus #Pepper #History #FexingoHistory #TradeRoutes #AncientEconomy Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo