Add research brief for Roman venture scenarios (ChatGPT instruction document)

docs/architecture/research-brief-roman-venture.md

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+# Research Brief — Roman Commercial Venture
+### For: ChatGPT research sessions
+### Purpose: Extract historically grounded parameters for OTIVM and CIVICVS simulation
+### Date: 2026-04-28
+
+---
+
+## 0. Before you begin — read this
+
+This brief is for a simulation project, not a game with Roman aesthetics.
+Every parameter you produce will be encoded into a database and used to govern
+the behaviour of a historically grounded world model. Precision is not optional.
+Vagueness is actively harmful.
+
+**The standard for every claim you make:**
+- It must be traceable to a named, datable source — archaeological record,
+  primary text, epigraphy, or peer-reviewed scholarship.
+- It must be scoped to a specific period, region, and social context.
+  "Romans used mules" is not useful. "A laden mule on the Via Appia in the
+  first century BCE could carry approximately X kg at Y km per day under
+  conditions Z" is useful.
+- Where exact figures are unavailable, give a defensible range with the
+  reasoning behind it. Do not invent precision. Do not smooth uncertainty
+  into false confidence.
+
+**On Latin terminology:**
+Use the Latin term wherever it is academically defensible. Do not default to
+English equivalents that lose information. If a Latin term carries meaning
+that English cannot carry in a single word, use the Latin and explain it.
+The project uses CIVICVS rather than "civic duty" for exactly this reason —
+the Latin is denser, more precise, and scoped to its period in a way that
+the English is not. Apply this standard throughout your responses.
+
+Write Latin in CAPITALS where the term is being introduced as a canonical
+token. Once established, mixed case is acceptable in prose.
+
+---
+
+## 1. Context
+
+The simulation models a MERCATOR — a Roman merchant — operating in approximately
+14 BCE, in the western Mediterranean. The merchant begins in Ostia with 50
+denarii and a single CODEX ACCEPTI ET EXPENSI (account book). He conducts
+NEGOTIA (commercial ventures) along overland and maritime routes.
+
+The five locations in scope for the first research phase:
+
+| Token | Latin | Modern location | Character |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| OSTIA | Ostia | Ostia Antica, Lazio | Port at the mouth of the TIBER. Primary import/export hub for Rome. |
+| CAPVA | Capua | Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Campania | Major inland market city. Via Appia junction. |
+| BRVNDISIVM | Brundisium | Brindisi, Puglia | Adriatic port. Eastern trade gateway. End of the Via Appia. |
+| CARTHAGO | Carthago | Tunis, Tunisia | North African trading centre. Grain, linen, dyes. |
+| ALEXANDRIA | Alexandria | Alexandria, Egypt | Eastern Mediterranean hub. Grain, luxury goods, knowledge. |
+
+---
+
+## 2. The NEGOTIVM — what we need to understand
+
+A NEGOTIVM (commercial venture) is not a single act. It is a chain of
+discrete ITINERA (legs), each with its own mode, personnel, time, cost,
+cargo constraint, and failure profile.
+
+For each of the four routes below, describe the complete chain of ITINERA
+from origin warehouse to destination market. For each ITER (leg):
+
+**2.1 Mode of transport**
+- What moved the cargo? IUMENTUM (pack animal — specify species and breed
+  where known), PLAUSTRUM (cart — specify type), NAVIS (vessel — specify
+  type: ACTUARIA, ONERARIA, CORBITA, etc.), human porterage (BAIULI).
+- What was the road or waterway? Named where possible (Via Appia, Via Ostiensis,
+  Mare Tyrrhenum, etc.). Surface condition, seasonal constraints.
+
+**2.2 Cargo unit**
+- What was the standard unit of cargo for this good on this leg?
+  AMPHORA (specify type: Dressel 1, Dressel 20, etc. — these are not
+  interchangeable), MODIVS (dry measure), TALENTVM, LIBRA. Give weight
+  and volume where known.
+- What was the maximum load per transport unit (mule, cart, vessel)?
+- What was the practical load — accounting for personnel provisions,
+  equipment, and the tendency to under-load to reduce spoilage and
+  breakage risk?
+
+**2.3 Personnel**
+- Who was required? The MERCATOR himself, a FACTOR (agent — resident at
+  destination or travelling with the cargo?), BAIULI (porters), MULIONES
+  (muleteer — one per how many animals?), NAVARCHUS (ship captain),
+  NAUTAE (sailors — how many per vessel type?), CUSTODES (guards — under
+  what conditions were they necessary?).
+- Who was slave (SERVUS), free hired (MERCENNARIUS), or contracted
+  (specify the Roman contractual form where known: LOCATIO CONDUCTIO
+  OPERARUM, LOCATIO CONDUCTIO OPERIS)?
+- What did each cost per day, per leg, or per NEGOTIVM?
+
+**2.4 Time**
+- Elapsed time from origin warehouse to destination market. Not sailing
+  time — total time including: loading (ONERATIO), waiting for weather
+  or convoy (MORA), transit, customs inspection (PORTORIUM), unloading
+  (EXONERATIO), and market negotiation.
+- Seasonal variation. The MARE CLAVSVM (closed sea season, roughly
+  November to March) is the hard constraint for maritime legs. What
+  happened to overland legs in winter? In summer heat?
+
+**2.5 Cost**
+- PORTORIUM (customs duty) — rate and collection point. The Roman
+  customs system was farmed to PUBLICANI. Rates varied by region and
+  good. Give the rate where known, the range where uncertain.
+- VECTVRA (freight charge) — per unit of cargo, per leg.
+- Personnel costs — daily rates or per-NEGOTIVM fees.
+- Incidental costs — harbour fees, warehouse rental (HORREUM), road
+  tolls, bribes where documented.
+- Total cost as a percentage of cargo value where scholarly estimates exist.
+
+**2.6 Failure modes**
+- What could go wrong on this leg, and how often did it?
+- NAUFRAGIVM (shipwreck) — frequency estimates from archaeological
+  record (Mediterranean wreck distribution is well documented).
+- Theft (FVRTVM) — on road versus at sea versus in warehouse.
+- Spoilage — what goods were vulnerable on which legs? Olive oil in
+  summer heat. Wine in transit shock. Grain in damp holds.
+- Price collapse at destination — how was the MERCATOR exposed to
+  market conditions he could not observe at departure?
+- Personnel failure — illness, desertion, dishonesty of FACTOR.
+
+---
+
+## 3. The four routes — research in this order
+
+### Route I — OSTIA to CAPVA
+Primary good: olive oil (OLEUM), fish sauce (GARUM).
+Character: Short overland leg. Via Ostiensis to Rome, then Via Appia
+south to Capua. Well-maintained roads. High traffic, therefore lower
+bandit risk but higher competition and toll exposure.
+Research note: This route was so heavily trafficked that it is the best
+documented of the four. Prioritise precision here — it sets the baseline
+for all subsequent routes.
+
+### Route II — CAPVA to BRVNDISIVM
+Primary good: Campanian wine (VINVM CAMPANIVM), wool (LANA).
+Character: Via Appia, the entire length. The most famous road in the
+Roman world. Overland only. Significant elevation change through the
+Apennines. Seasonal variation is marked.
+Research note: Focus on the mule train (AGMEN IVMENTORVM). How was it
+organised? Who led it? What was the ratio of guards to cargo handlers?
+
+### Route III — BRVNDISIVM to CARTHAGO
+Primary good: Adriatic grain (FRVMENTVM), amber (SVCCINUM).
+Character: Maritime crossing of the Ionian Sea, then coastal navigation
+to North Africa. The amber is not local — it arrived in Brundisium from
+the north via intermediary traders. Document the amber's known provenance
+chain and where the MERCATOR entered it.
+Research note: The SVCCINUM provenance chain is of particular scholarly
+interest. Trace it as far back as the evidence allows. This is the first
+route that connects Roman commerce to pre-Roman and non-Roman worlds.
+
+### Route IV — CARTHAGO to ALEXANDRIA
+Primary good: North African linen (LINVM), frankincense (TVS).
+Character: Maritime, coastal, longest leg. North African coast eastward.
+TVS originated far outside the Roman world — document the known
+intermediary chain from Arabia to Carthage.
+Research note: This route connects Roman commerce to the Arabian and
+Indian Ocean trade networks. The MERCATOR at this point is the end
+consumer of a supply chain that begins thousands of kilometres and
+potentially thousands of years from Rome.
+
+---
+
+## 4. OTIUM — the other half of the merchant's time
+
+OTIUM is not idleness. It is the deliberate withdrawal from NEGOTIVM for
+the purpose of restoration, reflection, relationship-building, and civic
+participation. Cicero wrote extensively on this. It was a moral and social
+category, not merely the absence of work.
+
+Research the following:
+- What did a Roman merchant of modest means actually do during OTIUM?
+  Not a senator's OTIUM — a working MERCATOR's OTIUM.
+- What social obligations (OFFICIA) competed with OTIUM? Client
+  relationships (CLIENTELA), religious duties, guild membership
+  (COLLEGIUM — was the MERCATOR likely a member of one? Which?).
+- What was the relationship between OTIUM and AVCTORITAS? How did
+  visible leisure — the right kind, in the right company — build
+  reputation and therefore future commercial opportunity?
+- What did OTIUM cost? Not in money, but in opportunity. What
+  NEGOTIVM could not be conducted while the MERCATOR rested?
+
+---
+
+## 5. Output format requested
+
+For each route and each ITER, produce a structured parameter table:
+
+| Parameter | Value | Unit | Confidence | Source |
+|---|---|---|---|---|
+| Transit time | X | days | high/medium/low/estimated | Author, Title, date or excavation reference |
+| Cargo capacity per mule | X | kg | ... | ... |
+| VECTVRA rate | X | denarii per amphora | ... | ... |
+| PORTORIUM rate | X | % of cargo value | ... | ... |
+| Crew size (NAVIS type) | X | persons | ... | ... |
+| Shipwreck probability | X | per voyage | ... | ... |
+
+Follow each table with a prose note covering: what is well-attested,
+what is inferred, what is genuinely unknown and why.
+
+The confidence column is mandatory. Do not suppress uncertainty.
+A "low" confidence value honestly reported is more useful than a
+"high" confidence value that conceals a guess.
+
+---
+
+## 6. Sources to prioritise
+
+Primary sources (use where they give quantitative data):
+- Cicero's letters (EPISTVLAE AD ATTICVM, AD FAMILIARES) — commercial
+  references are scattered but precise when present
+- Digest of Justinian — commercial law, contract types, liability
+- Diocletian's Edict on Maximum Prices (301 CE — later than our period
+  but gives relative price structures)
+- Pliny the Elder, NATVRALIS HISTORIA — cargo weights, goods, routes
+
+Archaeological sources:
+- Monte Testaccio amphora deposit, Rome — olive oil trade documentation
+- Mediterranean shipwreck distribution (Parker 1992 is the standard reference)
+- Pompeii and Herculaneum commercial records
+
+Secondary scholarship:
+- Lionel Casson, *Ships and Seamanship in the Ancient World* (1971)
+- Peter Garnsey and Richard Saller, *The Roman Economy* (1987)
+- Nicholas Purcell on the Mediterranean trade system
+- Willem Jongman on Roman economic history
+
+---
+
+*Research brief — OTIVM / CIVICVS project*
+*Every parameter produced becomes a database record. Precision is not optional.*