The Cambridge Companion to the Ancient Greek Economy (Cambridge Companions to the Ancient World)

"The Introduction to this Companion sets out the chronological and geographical frame as well as the main issues in the study of the ancient Greek economy. It is targeted at a readership with no prior knowledge of the ancient economy and emphasises the importance of understanding economic structures, economic change and the causes for change. As research on the ancient economy is dependent on theoretical assumptions about the nature and causation of economic change, a special section of the Companion is devoted to the discussion of the most important theoretical approaches to the ancient Greek economy. Other sections treat key themes of the ancient Greek economy, such as taxation, money, markets and labour regimes, as well as network approaches that are currently at the centre of research on ancient economies. A chronologically narrow but geographically wide perspective is taken on the Greek economy, including the Hellenistic economies in Egypt and the Near East, but excluding Greek economies in the Western Mediterranean and those, in the Eastern Mediterranean, that continued to be dominated by Greek language and culture and therefore still might be termed Greek under the Roman Empire"-- Provided by publisher. 03.0_pp_iv_iv_Copyright_page 04.0_pp_v_vii_Contents 05.0_pp_viii_viii_Maps 06.0_pp_ix_xiii_Notes_on_the_Contributors 07.0_pp_xiv_xvii_Abbreviations 08.0_pp_xviii_xxiv_Maps 09.0_pp_1_12_Introduction 10.0_pp_13_74_Diachronic_Perspectives 10.1_pp_15_28_Early_Iron_Age_Economies 10.2_pp_29_48_The_Archaic_Period 10.3_pp_49_60_The_Classical_Period 10.4_pp_61_74_Hellenistic_Economies 11.0_pp_75_150_Regional_Perspectives 11.1_pp_77_93_Asia_Minor 11.2_pp_94_105_Northern_Greece_and_the_Black_Sea 11.3_pp_106_123_Athens_and_the_Aegean 11.4_pp_124_138_Egypt_and_the_Ptolemaic_Empire 11.5_pp_139_150_Hellenistic_Babylonia 12.0_pp_151_278_Structures_and_Processes 12.1_pp_153_171_Population 12.2_pp_172_185_Consumption_Nutrition_and_the_Grain_Supply 12.3_pp_186_201_The_Agricultural_Economy 12.4_pp_202_220_The_Non-Agricultural_Economy_Artisans_Traders_Women_and_Slaves 12.5_pp_221_236_Markets 12.6_pp_237_249_Money_Credit_and_Banking 12.7_pp_250_263_Dispute_Resolution 12.8_pp_264_278_Taxation_and_Tribute 13.0_pp_279_328_Networks 13.1_pp_281_297_Religious_Networks 13.2_pp_298_312_Monetary_Networks 13.3_pp_313_328_Social_Networks_Associations_and_Trade 14.0_pp_329_420_Performance 14.1.1_pp_331_346_Political_Economy_and_the_Growth_of_Markets_and_Capital 14.1.2_pp_347_359_New_Institutional_Economics_Economic_Growth_and_Institutional_Change 14.1.3_pp_360_372_Regionalism_Federalism_and_Mediterranean_Connectivity 14.1_pp_331_372_Theoretical_Approaches 14.2.1_pp_373_391_Climate_Environment_and_Resources 14.2.2_pp_392_403_Technological_Progress 14.2.3_pp_404_420_Inequality 14.2_pp_373_373_Empirical_Approaches 15.0_pp_421_477_References 16.0_pp_478_482_Index 17.0_pp_483_484_Cambridge_Companions_to_the_Ancient_World This is the most comprehensive introduction to the ancient Greek economy available in English. A team of specialists provides in non-technical language cutting edge accounts of a wide range of key themes in economic history, explaining how ancient Greek economies functioned and changed, and why they were stable and successful over long periods of time. Through its wide geographical perspective, reaching from the Aegean and the Black Sea to the Near East and Egypt under Greek rule, it reflects on how economic behaviour and institutions were formed and transformed under different political, ecological and social circumstances, and how they interacted and communicated over large distances. With chapters on climate and the environment, market development, inequality and growth, it encourages comparison with other periods of time and cultures, thus being of interest not just to ancient historians but also to readers concerned with economic cultures and global economic issues.