Cities, peasants, and food in classical antiquity : essays in social and economic history

Sixteen essays in the social and economic history of the ancient world, by a leading historian of classical antiquity, are here brought conveniently together. Three overlapping parts deal with the urban economy and society, peasants and the rural economy, and food-supply and food-crisis. While focusing on eleven centuries of antiquity from archaic Greece to late imperial Rome, the essays include theoretical and comparative analyses of food-crisis and pastoralism, and an interdisciplinary study of the health status of the people of Rome using physical anthropology and nutritional science. A variety of subjects are treated, from the misconduct of a builders' association in late antique Sardis, to a survey of the cultural associations and physiological effects of the broad bean. Aspects Of The Decline Of The Urban Aristocracy In The Empire -- Independent Freedmen And The Economy Of Roman Italy Under The Principate -- Economy And Society Of Mediolanum Under The Principate -- Urban Property Investment In Roman Society -- An Association Of Builders In Late Antique Sardis -- Peasants In Ancient Roman Society -- Where Did Italian Peasants Live? -- Non-slave Labour In The Roman World. Prolegomenon To A Study Of The Land In The Later Roman Empire -- Mountain Economies In Southern Europe -- Grain For Athens -- The Yield Of The Land In Ancient Greece -- The Bean: Substance And Symbol -- Mass Diet And Nutrition In The City Of Rome -- Child Rearing In Ancient Italy -- Famine In History. Peter Garnsey ; Edited With Addenda By Walter Scheidel. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 293-329) And Index.

This is a collection of essays in the social and economic history of Greece and Rome by a leading historian of classical antiquity. They are grouped in three overlapping sections, covering the economy and society of cities; peasants and the rural economy; and food supply and famine. The essays, all previously published, are presented together with bibliographical addenda by Walter Scheidel that summarize and assess scholarly reaction to the author's work. The range of subject matter and approach is wide and the treatment original and provocative.

This is a collection of essays in the social and economic history of Greece and Rome by a leading historian of classical antiquity. They are grouped in three overlapping parts, covering the economy and society of cities; peasants and the rural economy; and food-supply and famine.The range of subject matter and approach is wide and the treatment original and provocative. The theme of decline and fall remains irresistible to historians of the Roman Empire.