Commerce, Slavery, and Religion in a Cosmopolitan Port
During the Roman period, the island of Delos underwent a remarkable transformation. Once a sacred sanctuary of Apollo and Artemis, it became one of the most important commercial ports of the eastern Mediterranean. Between the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE, Delos reached its economic peak—not through the power of a polis, but under Roman protection, as a tax-free hub for merchants, financiers, and slave traders from across the known world.
After the destruction of Corinth in 146 BCE and the decline of Rhodes, the Romans granted Delos a unique commercial status. As a “free port,” it operated without taxes or tariffs, attracting entrepreneurs from Italy, Asia Minor, Egypt, and the Levant. What emerged was a dynamic and multiethnic urban landscape. Italian bankers, Phoenician traders, and Greek artisans lived side by side, speaking multiple languages, worshipping various gods, and engaging in both legal and illicit transactions.
The most notorious aspect of Roman Delos was its slave market. At its height, Delos was said to process 10,000 slaves per day, shipped in from Asia and Thrace, auctioned off to Roman landowners and officials. Though that figure is likely exaggerated, it underscores the scale of human trafficking that fueled the Roman economy and how Delos became a node in this vast network.
Religious life persisted and adapted alongside commerce. The traditional sanctuary of Apollo remained intact, but new temples appeared—dedicated to Isis, Serapis, Baal, and Rome herself. This reflects the cosmopolitan nature of the city and the ease with which foreign cults were integrated into daily life. Merchants sponsored shrines to their own deities, blending Greek architectural styles with eastern rituals. The spiritual landscape of Delos in the Roman era was as globalized as its economy.
Ultimately, the prosperity of Roman Delos was short-lived. The city was sacked twice, first by Mithridates’ forces in 88 BCE, and again in 69 BCE by pirates. Though it was later re-inhabited, Delos never regained its former commercial glory. Yet the archaeological remains—warehouses, mosaics, shrines, and inscriptions—offer vivid testimony to a period when sacred island and global marketplace coexisted, and when Roman imperial order fostered both exploitation and exchange.
Photo by Carole Raddato. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
