was cheap and efficient. the imperial city of rome, a.d. 200. with a population approaching half a million, it was the center of the western world. rome's immense wealth flowed from a vast empire along the mediterranean sea. an amazingariety of goods came to rome by ship from spain, france, asia minor, north africa and egypt. transportation expert ross hassig. it was closer is terms of the cost of transportation to get to egypt than it was to get a hundred miles inland in italy. you couldn't bring food from a hundred miles inland to rome, because even with carts, even with oxen, it simply cost too much. so rome was able to tap into the production of other areas because it was able to use ships where the cost of transportation was extremely low. keach: but roman seagoing merchant ships