Pepper: the spice in Rome's ransom
verdavita editorial team · 2026-11-05
When Alaric's Goths besieged Rome, the ransom reportedly included 3,000 pounds of pepper. A spice from India's Malabar Coast had become worth listing beside gold and silver.
A long way from home
Roman demand for pepper grew sharply after Rome took Egypt in 30 BCE, which opened sea routes toward India. Much of the pepper was bought at Muziris, a port on India's western coast, and carried by large ships.
Pliny the Elder complained that India drained the empire of fifty million sesterces a year.
The ransom
Accounts of the siege list gold, silver, silk and scarlet hides, along with 3,000 pounds of pepper. Sources differ on some amounts and on dates, but pepper appears in the accounts we checked.
A lost port
Muziris faded from the record, and one account says a flood in 1341 ended the town. Its story is a reminder that everyday kitchen ingredients once moved through long and costly trade routes.
Sources
History, not health advice. A plant's past does not show what a supplement does. Images are illustrative.