Imports as mass products
During the Roman imperial period trade experienced an unprecedented boom from which many profited.
The markets were flooded with import goods which were previously only reserved for the elite.
This was the result of a developed transport system as well as an excellent and dense transport network.
Foremost was the supply of food.
The foods produced in the villas were taken to local markets and also used in long-distance trading.
The Saar-Mosel region also provided the military at the Limes, the border of the Roman Empire.
Travelling tradesmen and transshipment centres
Favourably situated transport hubs developed into centres in which merchants could sell their goods in actual stores whilst others travelled through the land as travelling tradesmen.
A key transshipment hub was the nearby town of Trier although smaller settlements such as Bliesbruck in Lothringen, Schwarzenacker, Saarbrücken and Pachten in the Saarland as well as Dalheim in Luxembourg contributed to the supply of food and goods.
Many Gallic merchants came to great wealth during this time and funerary monuments as well as luxury palaces are evidence of this.
Germania as sales market
An important export and import market for traders was Germania Libera, or Free Germania, beyond the Roman border (Limes).
In-demand items included lead as well as pelts, furs and animal skins for leatherworking, women’s hair for wigs and honey although amber from the Baltic Sea coast, cattle and slaves were all also exchanged for Roman goods.