Thracian city economy as part of the global Sinopean wine trade

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the widespread diffusion of Sinopean wine and its importance as evidence for economic and social exchange in Thrace during Roman and Late Roman times. The study analyses, through using amphorae as key-evidence, the phenomena that controlled trading networks and longdistance maritime routes in particular, since these would have been conditioned by political and economic evolutions. Evidence from various sources has been used in order to map what we know about the distribution of Sinopean wine, in particular in two specific regions within the Roman Empire: the western coast of the Black Sea and the Lower Danube territory. After analysing some regional contexts, a wider view on distribution patterns is considered. The analysed deposits indicate the significant role that the Thracian market played for the Sinopean wine trade. Thrace seems to be part of a broader mechanism that included also the territories along the Lower Danube.