I assume you call yourself a libertarian -- I won't even bother to ask what type of libertarian -- because there are 932879 different types of libertarian....basically a new brand of libertarian is created every 5 seconds or as I like to say -- every time they realize their delusions won't work in reality......
Yes, I am libertarian- of the NAP variety. That's
Non Aggression Principle, which equates to, in this conversation, not using force to make a trade. Your using straw man arguments and pejorative comments out of, it seems, ignorance because you feel you're right.
Free is unencumbered. Gov't creates encumbersome regulations. That trade couldn't occur without being encumbered (restricted) by one with no skin in the game (bureaucrats) is a foolish "assumption".
If you would read of our founding, with an open mind, vs an ingrained totalitarian belief, you would recognize why our gov't was created granting certain power/authority, a part of which was to help trade not be given a legal advantage by a gov't representative from one district to another.
BTW, Rome didn't cover the entire globe, just a sliver of it. Debasing it's currency, and it's authoritarian religious proclamations is what led to its demise.
Indians here traded without a central interventionist. Money:
The History of the Man-Made Invention of Money
Trade can occur unencumbered. Period. Gov't encumbers. Period. To extrapolate that it can't happen w/o gov't is ignorance and fear or intentional obtuseness.