Top 5 unusual goods considered by the Romans to be extremely valuable

Valuable goods of ancient Rome

1. Silk or purple clothes

A group of senators wore red and purple togas bands.

Silk is a prized material. Originating in China, bringing it to Rome was no easy task. Navigating the ancient Silk Road was dangerous enough, but transporting it by sea, especially during war, made the task all the more difficult.

Unsurprisingly, the starting price for 450g of unprocessed white silk is 12,000 denarii. Compared with the average income of most ordinary Romans at about 25 denarii/day, access to this resource was indeed limited to the elite.

But what really made silk so valuable was when it was dyed, and the most expensive at that time was purple.

Purple is one of the most difficult dyes to produce because it is made by collecting mucus from snails. The process is extremely time-consuming, laborious, and smelly, with some historians claiming it takes 8,000 mollusks to make one gram of dye!

If the same untreated white silk were dyed purple, the price would go up to 150,000 denarii!

To realize how expensive the prices are, it takes a tenant farmer twenty years to work tirelessly and save every last penny just to have enough money to buy the materials.

A dalmaticomafortium, a hooded garment with silk sleeves and purple stripes, will cost differently depending on the richness of the purple color. Prices will start at 44,000 and, depending on how heavy and vibrant the band is, can go up to 135,000 denarii for a piece of clothing.

They will be elaborately designed with gold embroidery and beautifully patterned to represent whatever the client wants. It is a way to show one's status and wealth, that's why this type of clothing is so appreciated.

2. Slaves

The mosaic depicts two female slaves.

Throughout history, slaves have always been considered extremely valuable. But unlike the Atlantic or Arabian Slave Trade, where race and religion were factors, the Romans had no such concept. Whether you are a civilized person, or a barbarian, only non-Roman citizens can be sold into slavery.

But even the richest can afford only a handful of them. Their prices fluctuated over the years, but a male slave between the ages of 16 and 40 could earn up to 30,000 denarii, an amount that could go even higher if they possessed a particular skill.

What made slaves so expensive was that from the fourth century AD, the number of people captured for war dwindled, which resulted in one thing - higher prices.

Like with purple clothes, owning one or two slaves means you're already well off.

3. Race horse

Description of the Roman chariot race

The unusual price tag of a racehorse compared to a warhorse shows how much the Romans focused on entertainment. Though considered a belligerent civilization, historian, Juvenal thought otherwise:

"Two things only people really want: bread and a circus" - Juvenal

To really prove how far this claim goes, a first-class battlehorse would cost around 36,000 denarii, which is not a small number. However, a racehorse will be more than twice as expensive at 100,000 denarii. Why?

Because they were loved. Mosaic paintings with inscriptions such as 'Win or lose, we love you, Polidoxus' were widespread, and the emperor Caligula even locked his horses in a marble barn covered with blankets purple.

Owning an expensive horse is considered 'glory' and many owners will send them to races where they can win big money.

But the price difference doesn't stop there. The best Arabian camels will cost around 12,000 denarii, but a two-humped camel will cost significantly more, at 60,000. Maybe it's the oddity factor that makes them so highly regarded, or perhaps the fact that they are of much more distant origin?

Either way, it shows that the Romans valued entertainment more than war.

4. Wild Predators

A Barbary lion in the arena.

The entertainment doesn't just stop with horses and camels. In fact, one of the most famous examples of the use of animals in performances comes from their use in the Collesium games.

We've all heard stories of gladiator fights or prisoners sent to the arena to be killed by wild beasts, but one question people often forget to ask is how. Will these animals be captured and transported to Rome?

This is what makes lions and leopards so precious. Hunting them is all well and good, but capturing them alive is no easy feat. And with the growing demand for more games involving larger and more dangerous animals, their prices continue to rise. But how much are we talking about?

Well, a first-class lion can sell for 150,000 denarii, with a lioness costing 125,000. Even leopards can afford 100,000 denarii, and that's just the cost of buying them. Imagine the cost of housing, feeding and protecting them?

However, by comparison, herbivores are much cheaper. For example, an ostrich only has 5,000 denarii, and wealthy individuals even bring some back to their gardens. The task of catching these animals, while challenging, won't be as life-threatening as catching a lion, so there's always someone willing to do the job.

We might think that's barbaric, but if we were to try to create a future Jurassic Park, which dinosaur do you think people are more likely to see? My money would go to carnivores like the T-Rex rather than docile herbivores.

When we really look at ourselves and our habits, we are no different from the Romans.

5. Exotic spice

Still lifes from Pompeii depicting a variety of dishes

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Romans loved food, and the wealthy took extraordinary measures to ensure that only the most exotic dishes were served on the table. their. Think giant red mullet, grilled whole peacocks and delicacies like camel legs.

But of course, what dish would taste good without the right seasoning? Just choosing local ingredients isn't always enough, and to make an impression, the organizers make sure guests imagine they've tasted food from the gods.

Because many of these components come from India and beyond, their prices are quite low. For example, ginger will cost 400 denarii, while pepper will be twice as high at 800 denarii. The spices we take for granted today were once markers of the highest echelons of society.

Throughout human history, we have always been attracted to the world around us. But what makes our story interesting is that each civilization and society has its own distinct preferences.

While the Romans loved silk and spices for their rarity and exoticism, other cultures were different. For example, the Chinese were so passionate about jade that they would bury their emperor in it, while the ancient Indians appreciated their high-quality jade.

Not every society is the same, but instead of finding our differences, why don't we come together? Cultures today still value luxuries like gold, silver, and saffron, just as the Romans did. Instead of hating our differences, let's celebrate what makes us unique and what brings us together.