Hellenistic Economies Hardcover - 2000

First line

Why 'Hellenistic' and why 'economies'?

From the rear cover

The economies of classical and Mediterranean antiquity are a battleground: some scholars see them as lively and progressive, even proto-capitalist; others view them as static, embedded in social action and status relationships. Hellenistic Economies contributes substantially to the debate, by juxtaposing general questions of theory and model-building with case studies which examine specific areas and kinds of evidence.

The focus is on the Mediterranean from 330 -- 30 BC, as the central period of ancient history, when previously separate or loosely-linked political, social, cultural and economic processes came to interact more closely, forming what we now know as 'classical antiquity'. Although neglected by theorists in recent decades, it provides an ideal repertoire of evidence -- of the intersections of city, rural and royal economies; of the effects of monetisation and urbanisation; of the power inherent in the possession and control of primary materials such as salt, corn or timber; of the social and political resonances set up when goods moved long distances within a landscape of micro-regions; and of the economic and other effects of royal and civic systems of patronage and benefaction.

From the jacket flap

The economies of classical and Mediterranean antiquity are a battleground: some scholars see them as lively and progressive, even proto-capitalist; others view them as static, embedded in social action and status relationships. Hellenistic Economies contributes substantially to the debate, by juxtaposing general questions of theory and model-building with case studies which examine specific areas and kinds of evidence.

The focus is on the Mediterranean from 330 -- 30 BC, as the central period of ancient history, when previously separate or loosely-linked political, social, cultural and economic processes came to interact more closely, forming what we now know as 'classical antiquity'. Although neglected by theorists in recent decades, it provides an ideal repertoire of evidence -- of the intersections of city, rural and royal economies; of the effects of monetisation and urbanisation; of the power inherent in the possession and control of primary materials such as salt, corn or timber; of the social and political resonances set up when goods moved long distances within a landscape of micro-regions; and of the economic and other effects of royal and civic systems of patronage and benefaction.