The Emporion and the Markets

Abstract

This chapter examines how the emporion served as an important tool for Greek city-states to regulate the markets. It first provides an overview of the emporion, defined as a “trading port” or “the port area,” and thus also the “business area,” along with its constraints and advantages. It then considers how foreign trade was supervised in cities and goes on to describe the function of the deigma, the place where business was transacted. It also discusses the rules of the emporion and the role of commercial courts in handling legal matters relating to international trade, citing trials concerning large-scale trade. In particular, it looks at “commercial suits,” which gives anyone the opportunity to obtain quick and impartial justice in the Athenian courts. Finally, it analyzes the ways in which the city intervened directly in the negotiation of prices in the emporion as part of a policy of supplying the domestic market, with particular emphasis on the regulation of grain sales in the form of purchase funds and price controls.