SHOPPING IN ANCIENT ROME

_Cosmetics production and the retail trade were lucrative. Imported ingredients used in cosmetics arrived in large quantities by river and road. The ingredients were stored in and distributed from warehouses. Craftsmen-retailers might operate their retail and manufacturing businesses from the elite shopping areas in Subura and Sacra Via in Rome.

Ancient commentary

At the very lowest computation, India, the Seres and the Arabia Peninsula withdraw from our empire one hundred millions of sesterces every year...so dearly we pay for our luxury and our women. Plin. H.N. XX. 41