INTRODUCTION

This catalogue records the following information about an emporos or a nauklēros:

1. What his name and state are, if known.

2. With what degree of certainty or uncertainty he qualifies as emporos or nauklēros. Such designations lead to a certain clumsiness of style: I ask the reader to forgive the unmusical effect of a phrase like “a possible emporos who possibly lends.” I resorted to these awkward formulations only in the interests of accurate tabulation.

3. Whether he makes bottomry loans. “Loans” in this entry always mean bottomry loans unless otherwise indicated.

4. What his juridical status is at Athens.

5. If an emporos, whether he is poor. If a nauklēros, whether he is wealthier than most nauklēroi. Different purposes dictated these different questions. On the one hand I wanted to test Hasebroek's theory that most emporoi were poor; on the other I already knew that nauklēroi were moderately wealthy by virtue of owning a ship and (probably) a slave crew. I further wanted to discover whether some were wealthier than average. It is only these wealthier nauklēroi who are identified as “wealthy” in the Catalogue.

6. If he has partners in emporia or nauklēria. Partnership here always refers to a business partnership unless otherwise indicated.

The Catalogue covers only the classical period and includes only those emporoi and nauklēroi about whom something is known individually. “Kitian emporoi,” “Achaean emporoi,” and the like therefore are not included.