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Chapter 3 argues that scholarship on Roman long-distance trade has been preoccupied by questions of its scale and importance for the overall economy, and that consequently the role and importance of communication for this Roman trade have remained overlooked. Terpstra therefore seeks to recover the nature of this communication—both written and oral—and of the communications network in circumstances that were incomparably harsher than today. Given the near-complete loss of commercial correspondence from classical antiquity, but not from the medieval period, Terpstra draws on material from the latter for evidence. He also assigns a higher value and importance to oral rumor than scholarship has typically favored.

The article traces the development of Mediterranean silver production from the Iron Age to the time of Rome, focusing on the site of Antas, Sardinia. Antas is located in a rich metalliferous area, which served as a source of lead and silver beyond the regional level. The article takes data on the exploitation of metal resources as a gauge for Mediterranean developments, especially state formation and the rise in maritime connectivity. Sardinian Bronze Age chiefdoms seem not to have mined the local argentiferous ore. But studies of lead isotopes suggest that Iron Age chiefdoms began to do so in response to Phoenician demand. Metal extraction intensified under Carthaginian rule, reaching a peak under the Roman Empire. In addition, at Antas the Carthaginians initiated religious practices, which the Romans continued. This cult activity is hypothesized to result from the cross-culturally well attested connection between metallurgy and the world of the divine.

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