Part of its success was due to Heeren's fortunate choice of subject. Trade and commerce, hitherto neglected by historians, was now not only being pursued but, in Heeren's work, made the subject of thorough research. With good reason, it has been supposed that Heeren's Bremen background and his childhood memories of that thriving commercial city were responsible for his taking this particular direction. But to explain the overwhelmingly favorable reception that greeted "Politics, Trade, and Commerce in the Ancient World", one must also take into account Heeren's considerable talent as a writer, as well as an acute historical sense and a sharply critical spirit without which a work on such a subject could not have failed to be dull reading.