There was no long distance trade and no money in ancient times. People bartered goods that they had produced themselves. If they or someone in their immediate area didn't grow it, herd it or make it, they just did not get it.
Eventually someone who liked to barter figured out that there were some things that lots of people wanted. Maybe lots of people in their community wanted colorful beads or a certain small animal. Some Native Americans used shells, called wampum. The things that the various civilizations traded was the first money. In different civilizations money has been represented by things such as decorated axes, jade, ivory, amber, drums, eggs, gongs, oxen, pigs, salt and vodka. It certainly did not look like modern money, but it was money. People would buy their neighbor's produce with the small animal, beads, wampum or whatever. The neightbor would use that small animal, beads, wampum or whatever to buy something from another neighbor.
In the ancient world the Phoenicians, headquartered in Crete, sailed their ships trading goods. Money as we know it had not been invented. They used animals such as cattle, lambs, goats or pigs for currency. Steers were the biggest food animal and they became the highest denomination of money.
A pair of joined bull horns on the front of a ship indicated that the ship was carrying cattle. Around 1500 BC the Phoenicians "minted" pairs of bull horns in a size small enough to carry around. This became metal money.
About 5000 years ago, the first civilizations began trading with each other. Then people began to barter a wider variety of goods. The idea of self-sufficiency – the idea that you had to produce absolutely everything that you wanted or needed – started to fade. Long-distance trade in these early times was limited almost exclusively to luxury goods like spices, textiles and precious metals. Cities that were rich in these commodities became financially rich and they could shop for even more luxury goods.
By the second millennium BC, the island of Cyprus had become a major Mediterranean player by shipping its vast copper resources to the Near East and Egypt, regions wealthy due to their own natural resources such as papyrus and wool. Phoenicia was famous for its valuable cedar wood and linens dyes all over the Mediterranean. China prospered by trading jade, spices and later, silk. Britain shared its abundance of tin.
The domestication of camels around 1000 BC helped encourage trade routes over land, called caravans, and linked India with the Mediterranean.
Around 200 BC China had conquored enough territory to enable them to trade with Europe. The Silkroad under China's control and the route to the West was now open. Silk, perfumed wood, rare animals, plants, and ivory were shipped west. These were exchanged for western luxuries like cotton and woollen cloth, coral, amber, silver and gold.
As time went by, the caravans continued to travel along the Silkroad and the ships continued to ply the Spice Route. Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions suggest that the Spice Route was in operation 3600 years ago. At various periods in history, spices have been as valuable as gold and silver. The aromatic trail known as the “Cinnamon Route” began somewhere in the Malay Archipelago (East Indies).
Ancient Rome had specialized strees and areas where people could shop for these luxury goods. The shop buildings in those areas had been planned with greater care and would often be designed to have back entrances for the goods and sometimes living quarters for the people who worked there or owned the shop. Elsewhere, along the main streets, rows of shops could be found offering local products.
Shoppng in ancient Rome was done in shops dedicated to specific products such as meat, vegetables or oil. The markets were called Forums. Buildings such as government and public administrative offices, banking, temples and so on were situated in the forum area.
In ancient Greece, the central shopping area of a city was called the agora. A typical Greek city had a large open area where local merchants would set up displays and sell their products. In Athens, one could shop for a large variety of items from around the Mediterranean. This included linen from Egypt, ivory from North Africa, spices from Syria, and dates from Phoenicia. Merchants of similar goods had shops together in a specific area in the agora. Criers called out specials or announced when fresh fish arrived from the boats. Prices were rarely firm, so bargaining with the merchants was a common practice. In Athens women shopped with a male relative or slave. Only very poor women would shop in the markets alone. The rich carried their money in purses, while the poor kept coins in their mouths.
In ancient Rome and Greece, people were able to shop for large numbers of luxury goods that came along the Silkroad and the Spice Route.
