The Muziris Papyrus: Roman Billionaire and Lost Indian Port

In 1980, a German scholar deciphered a papyrus document from Roman Egypt that changed our understanding of ancient trade. The Muziris Papyrus — a loan agreement for a cargo of nard, ivory, and black pepper worth the price of a country estate — names ships, sailors, and customs officials involved in the sea route from the Tamil port of Muziris on the Malabar Coast. This episode follows the journey of the Hermapollon, a merchant ship that sailed from the Red Sea to the Bay of Bengal in the second century AD, carrying gold coins and returning with spices that fueled Rome's appetite for luxury. We talk about the port of Muziris itself — rediscovered only in 2004 near present-day Pattanam in Kerala — and the Tamil poems from the Sangam era that describe Roman ships arriving with gold and leaving with pepper. Lucas and Luna also discuss the financiers behind these voyages, including a Roman businessman named Tiberius Claudius Faustinius, and why the emperor Marcus Aurelius complained that Roman currency was flowing to India for baubles. #MuzirisPapyrus #Muziris #RomanIndiaTrade #PepperTrade #SangamLiterature #MalabarCoast #Pattanam #Hermapollon #TiberiusClaudiusFaustinius #MarcusAurelius #PeriplusErythraeanSea #BlackGold #Nard #IvoryTrade #RomanEconomy #AncientTrade #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo