During the 18th century, a merchant class emerged in Trieste as a result of the rapid installation of men and women from a wide variety of cultures and originis. While there was uncertainty about institutional interventionism and subersive practices with regard to state regulations, commercial ethics were a key element in the construction of the port city in the 18th century. Our initial hypothesis is that, in such context, merchants needed to continually nutre their reputation (being both observed and judjed) and to readjust in an environment of multiple, conglicting and complementary standars as a part of a complex and spatially fluid set of strategies. The objective for this article is to highlight the way in which merchant's reputations were established and destroyede, whie examinig their role in competition and various normative situations.
