Feeding the Democracy: The Athenian Grain Supply in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries BC (Oxford Classical Monographs)

## Abstract This study shows how Classical Athens, the largest and historically most important of the Greek city‐states, depended for its survival on a supply of grain from overseas sources, especially (in the fifth century bc) the conquered territories of its Aegean empire, and (in the fourth century) the distant steppes of Scythia (modern Ukraine and southern Russia). This trade was central to Athenian politics, and is here found to have been organized and controlled by powerful elites, a conclusion that challenges prevailing interpretations of Athenian democracy. New light is also cast on the nature of Athenian imperialism; the relationship of the city of Athens and its countryside; the relevance to the Athenian economy of fourth‐century rhetorical and philosophical schools (particularly that of Isocrates) and other elite networks; and the history of the Bosporan Kingdom in the northern Black Sea. A wealth of ancient textual evidence (from history, oratory, and drama) is presented alongside archaeology, aerial photography, epigraphy, and iconography. Revolutionary new discoveries, like the Grain‐Tax Law of 374/3 bc, and the vast building complexes lining the Crimean coast of the Azov Sea, are discussed comprehensively with older evidence, like the golden treasures from Graeco‐Scythian graves. Decades of foreign scholarship and discovery (especially in Russian) are synthesized and made accessible to English readers. Moving from the edges of the Greek world, to the islands of the Aegean, to the prosperous demes of Attica and the courtrooms and popular assemblies of Athens, this book presents a sweeping reinterpretation of Athenian economy and society. The reliance of democracies on vital supplies of energy from distant and non-democratic sources is probably the most pressing and dangerous problem of modern times, but it is not a new phenomenon. Classical Athens, the birthplace of democracy and the largest and historically most important of the ancient Greek city-states, depended for its survival on the constant importation of grain from overseas lands as remote as Ukraine and southern Russia, and this trade was ultimately controlled by powerful politicians, wealthy landowners, and kings. Alfonso Moreno examines how this resource need determined Athenian foreign policy, prompting recourse to military conquest and ruthless resettlements, and how uncomfortable realities (especially elite control) were made acceptable to popular audiences.This study of ancient trade and politics reveals a Greek world as globalized as our own, and convulsed by the same problems that such interdependence and sophistication entail. The reliance of democracies on vital supplies of energy from distant and non-democratic sources is probably the most pressing and dangerous problem of modern times, but it is not a new phenomenon. Classical Athens, the birthplace of democracy and the largest and historically most important of the ancient Greek city-states, depended for its survival on the constant importation of grain from overseas lands as remote as Ukraine and southern Russia, and this trade was ultimately controlled by powerful politicians, wealthy landowners, and kings. Alfonso Moreno examines how this resource need determined Athenian foreign policy, prompting recourse to military conquest and ruthless resettlements, and how uncomfortable realities (especially elite control) were made acceptable to popular audiences. This study of ancient trade and politics reveals a Greek world as globalized as our own, and convulsed by the same problems that such interdependence and sophistication entail Preface Contents Illustrations Maps Tables Abbreviations Part I Models and Calculations 1 From Crisis to Uncertainty: Calculating Athenian Grain Production Part II Archaeology 2 Euonymon: The Agriculture and Economy of the Classical Athenian Deme 3 The Fruits of Empire 4 The Athenian Grain Supply and Black Sea Archaeology Part III Literature 5 Bread and Politics: The Ideology of the Grain Supply in Athenian Rhetoric Conclusion Bibliography Index Locorum General Index Alfonso Moreno presents a re-interpretation of the economy and society of ancient Athens, showing how the city depended for its survival on a supply of grain from overseas sources. The need for grain determined Athenian foreign policy, prompting military conquest, and revealing a Greek world as globalised as our own