The Cambridge Economic History of the Greco-Roman World
The Cambridge Economic History of the Greco-Roman World
Ian Morris, Stanford University, California
Richard P. Saller, Stanford University, California
In this, the first comprehensive one-volume survey of the economies of classical antiquity, twenty-eight chapters summarise the current state of scholarship in their specialised fields and sketch new directions for research. The approach taken is both thematic, with chapters on the underlying determinants of economic performance, and chronological, with coverage of the whole of the Greek and Roman worlds extending from the Aegean Bronze Age to Late Antiquity. The contributors move beyond the substantivist-formalist debates that dominated twentieth-century scholarship and display a new interest in economic growth in antiquity. New methods for measuring economic development are explored, often combining textual and archaeological data that have previously been treated separately. Fully accessible to non-specialist, the volume represents a major advance in our understanding of the economic expansion that made the civilisation of the classical Mediterranean world possible.
- Presents an authoritative overview of the current state of knowledge and ideas on the ancient economy
- Provides a novel focus on economic growth
- Combines textual and archaeological evidence that has often not been linked before
Reviews & endorsements
Review of the hardback: 'By presenting current scholarship and its prospective future course, the editors have produced a very important work. Prodigious bibliography … Summing up: highly recommended.' Choice
Review of the hardback: 'This is certainly an extraordinary book on the Ancient Mediterranean economies that ought to be read and quoted by all historians who work in the field of pre-industrial economics. This excellent project was brought to completion by its 3 editors and 27 contributors over the span of a decade.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review
Product details
No date availablePaperback
9781107673076
960 pages
229 × 152 × 48 mm
1.34kg
28 b/w illus. 24 maps 15 tables
Table of Contents
- 1. Introduction Ian Morris, Richard Saller and Walter Scheidel
- Part I. Determinants of Economic Performance:
- 2. Ecology Robert Sallares
- 3. Demography Walter Scheidel
- 4. Household and gender Richard Saller
- 5. Law and economic institutions Bruce W. Frier and Dennis P. Kehoe
- 6. Technology Helmuth Schneider
- Part II. Early Mediterranean Economies and the Near East:
- 7. The Aegean Bronze Age John Bennet
- 8. Early Iron Age Greece Ian Morris
- 9. The Early Iron Age in the western Mediterranean Michael Dietler
- 10. Archaic Greece Robin Osborne
- 11. The Persian Near East Peter R. Bedford
- Part III. Classical Greece:
- 12. Classical Greece: production John K. Davies
- 13. Classical Greece: distribution Astrid Möller
- 14. Classical Greece: consumption Sitta von Reden
- Part IV. The Hellenistic States:
- 15. The Hellenistic Near East Robartus J. van der Spek
- 16. Hellenistic Egypt Joseph G. Manning
- 17. Hellenistic Greece and western Asia Minor Gary Reger
- Part V. Early Italy and the Roman Republic:
- 18. Early Rome and Italy Jean-Paul Morel
- 19. The Late Republic William V. Harris
- Part VI. The Early Roman Empire:
- 20. The early Roman empire: production Dennis P. Kehoe
- 21. The early Roman empire: distribution Neville Morley
- 22. The early Roman empire: consumption Willem M. Jongman
- 23. The early Roman empire: the state and the economy Elio Lo Cascio
- Part VII. Regional Development in the Roman Empire:
- 24. The western provinces Philippe Leveau
- 25. The eastern Mediterranean Susan E. Alcock
- 26. Roman Egypt Dominic W. Rathbone
- 27. The frontier zones David Cherry
- Part VIII. Epilogue:
- 28. The transition to late antiquity Andrea Giardina.
