de it was to carry the wine made in the south of this
province, up the Rhine, and there barter it for slaves.

From Britain, Rome was supplied with tin, lead, cattle, hides, ornaments of
bone, vessels made of amber and glass, pearls, slaves, dogs, bears, &c. The
tin was either shipped from the island of Ictis (Isle of Wight), or sent
into Gaul: most of the other articles reached Rome through Gaul. The
principal article brought to Rome was amber.

We now come to the consideration of the articles with which Asia supplied
Rome; these, as may be easily imagined, were principally articles of
luxury. The murrhine cups, of the nature of which there has been much
unsatisfactory discussion, according to Pliny, came from Karmania in
Parthia; from Parthia they came to Egypt, and thence to Rome. It is
probable, however, that they came, in the first instance, from India, as
they are expressly mentioned by the author of the Periplus of the Erythrean
Sea, as brought down from the capital of Guzerat, to the port of Baragyza.
These cups were first seen at Rome, in the triumphal procession of Pompey,
when he returned from the shores of the Caspian Sea. They sold at enormous
prices; and were employed at the tables only of the great and wealthy, as
cups for drinking; they were in general of a small size. One, which held
three pints, sold for nearly 14,000_l_.; and Nero gave nearly
59,000_l_. for another. So highly were they prized, that, in the
conquest of Egypt, Augustus was content to select, for his own share, out
of all the spoils of Alexandria, a single murrhine cup.[5] Precious stones
and pearls were imported from Persia and Babylonia; the latter country also
furnished the wealthy Romans with _triclinaria_, which was furniture
of some description, but whether quilts, carpets, or curtains is not
ascertained. Persia supplied also incense of a very superior quality. The
various and valuable commodities with which Arabia supplied the profusion
and luxury of Rome, reached that capital from the port of Alexandria in
Egypt. We cannot enumerate the whole of them, but must confine ourselves to
a selection of the most important and valuable. Great demand, and a high
rate of profits necessarily draw to any particular trade a great number of
merchants; it is not surprising, therefore, that the trade in the luxuries
of the east was so eagerly followed at Rome. Pliny informs us, that the
Roman world was exhausted by a drain of 400,000_l_. a year, f