Boundary markers placed on land used as security for loans, called horoi, were often inscribed with the terms of the loans. Athens also instituted special courts to expedite the adjudication of disputes involving traders, granted honors and privileges to anyone who performed extraordinary services relating to trade for the city, and made agreements with other states to obtain favorable conditions for those bringing grain to Athens. For instance, the famed black-figure style of Corinthian potters was most likely derived from the Syrian style of metalworking. In contrast, Edward Cohen’s book, Athenian Economy and Society: A Banking Perspective, employs a close philological analysis of the evidence in his assertion that productive lending and borrowing, divorced from concerns for personal relationships, were common in Classical Athens and that bankers did indeed lend out deposited money at interest. In general, studies employing this method have supported the prevailing view of subsistence agriculture in ancient Greece. Ancient Greek city-states regulated the economic activities that took place in their markets to a certain degree. During the 7th century BC, demographic expansion and the distribution of successions created tensions between these landowners and the peasants. ), Greece and Rome: the Birth of Western Civilization, Thames & Hudson, 1986: a lavishly illustrated book, with texts by some of the foremost classical scholars of the day. Limestone was available in abundance and fine marble could be found in Athens on the slopes of Mount Pentelikos and on the island of Paros. He distinguished between “substantivist” and “formalist” economic analysis. Direct taxation was not well-developed in ancient Greece. During this time, the city-states of Greece fell into decline. Seeing extensive trade and use of money in Greece from the fifth century B.C. Thus, their official policies with regard to the economy were much different from that of modern states. In general, those who engaged in banausic occupations on more than a part-time basis and sought profit from such activities were looked down on and did not hold positions of prestige in society or government. Often insightful overview of the ancient Greek economy primarily from the Finley perspective. … as if they were all governed equally in accordance with the general tenets of the model, despite the fact that, for example, there were significant differences between the values that applied in the landed economy and those that prevailed in overseas trade. They produced and exchanged goods both in local and long distance trade and had monetary systems to facilitate their exchanges. Von Reden, S. “Money, Law, and Exchange: Coinage in the Greek Polis.” Journal of Hellenic Studies 107 (1997): 154-176. Given the remoteness of ancient Greek civilization, the evidence is minimal and difficulties of interpretation abound. The main participants in Greek commerce were the class of traders known as emporoi (ἕμποροι). But manumission was quite self-serving for slave owners, since it made slaves much less likely to risk rebellion in the hope that they might some day be given their freedom. From Archaic Times to the End of the Peloponnesian War, second edition. All in all, then, although the scale of the economy increased during the Hellenistic period, consumption still seems to have been the primary goal. The mines were extremely productive, providing Athens with an income of 200 talents per year for twelve years from 338 B.C. Economics: How did the civilizations grow and prosper? But unlike the large kingdoms of the Near East, Greece had a free-enterprise economy and most land was privately owned. In addition, there was an extensive and regular slave trade that trafficked in people who had become slaves by all the means mentioned previously. Textiles were used in turn in the manufacture of clothing. In, Adam Izdebski, Tymon Sloczyński, Anton Bonnier, Grzegorz Koloch, and Katerina Kouli. : Honors and Privileges for Trade-Related Services. These duties were never protectionist, but were merely intended to raise money for the public treasury. Fisher, N.R.E. “Ancient Greenbacks: Athenian Owls, the Law of Nikophon, and the Ancient Greek Economy.” Historia, forthcoming(a). They had to learn how to use the land and the sea to make a living for their families. Shaw and R.P. However, we do know of cases when states debased their coinages for such purposes. Suddenly disappeared and archeologists are unsure why. However, women were not citizens and neither were slaves. STUDY. The Coastline: Saltwater and Harbors: Ancient Greece was made up of hundreds of city-states, grouped together at the southern end of a very large peninsula that jutted out into the Mediterranean Sea. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. According to the orator, Demosthenes, Athens imported some 400,000 medimnoi (approximately 4,800,000 liters) of grain per year in the late fourth century from the Crimean kingdom of the Bosporus alone. The mild climate enabled Romans to grow wheat, grapes, and olives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983. A classic that greatly influenced Finley. Coinage was issued in a variety of denominations and weight standards by various city-states. Morris, Ian. July 31, 2004. Although Millett may be right that much of the lending and borrowing in Athens was for consumptive purposes, particularly those secured by landed property, it is hard to deny that the evidence of productive lending and borrowing from banking practices, numerous maritime loans, and even temple loans in the Classical period constitute something more than just exceptions to the rule. Nonetheless, the ancient Greeks did engage in economic activity. Most manufacturing was carried out in small shops or within households. One thing that made up for the limited number of free citizens who were willing or had to become businessmen or wage earners was the existence of metics, foreign-born, free non-citizens who took up residence in a city-state. Ingenium is an ancient concept, with synonyms in Sanscrit and often equated with eupheuia, ‘ευφυία’ in Greek. Burstein, S.M. Evidence from the Attic Orators indicates that during the Classical period overseas trade developed into a specialized and important sector of the economy. London: Duckworth, 1991. Thus, one recent trend in the scholarship has been to try to revise the Finley model in light of focused studies of particular sectors of the economy at specific times and places. Reprint. The former goal could be fulfilled by making laws that required or provided incentives for traders to bring grain into the city. Basically, given the quantity and the quality of the available evidence, our attempts to understand the ancient Greek economy are greatly affected by the perspective from which we approach it. One drawback of such evidence, however, is that the authors of these works were without exception members of the elite, and their political perspective and disdain for day-to-day economic activity should not necessarily be taken to represent the views of all or even the majority of ancient Greeks. Most merchants, lacking sufficient cash assets, resorted to borrowing to finance all or part of their expeditions. It was the most widely circulated coinage during this time and appears in large numbers of hoards found throughout the Greek world and beyond. But material goods may be produced, exchanged, and valued by means other than market institutions. Metal crafts were highly specialized. Alice needs help. Ingenium is an ancient concept, with synonyms in Sanscrit and often equated with eupheuia, ‘ευφυία’ in Greek. In addition, reference will be made to some recent scholarly trends in the field. In the meantime, though, we can still use Finley’s model as a basic description while being careful to acknowledge the contradictory evidence provided by recent studies and continuing to investigate the various sectors of the ancient Greek economy at various times and places. At present the most widely accepted model of the ancient Greek economy is that which was first set forth by Moses Finley in 1973. Slaves existed, but not in such large numbers as to make the economy and society dependent on them. Such a policy attests to a state interest in production and exports, at least in this sector of the economy. Ancient Egyptians lived throughout the Nile River valley and delta, shielded on all sides by deserts, seas, mountains and rapids. An Inventory of Greek Coin Hoards. Although the Republic represents the ideal city-state and the Laws presents a more realistic picture, both betray an elitist disdain for non-landed economic activities. Many smaller islands in the Aegean Sea also were under the Greek Civilization. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992. Only fine dyed tissues, like those made with Tyrian purple, were created in workshops. Rostovtzeff, M. The Social and Economic History of the Hellenistic World. Herodotus. The basic workshop was often family-operated. Ancient Greece Integrated Technology • Interactive Maps • Interactive Visuals •S A typical loan for a large venture in 4th century BC Athens, was generally a large sum of cash (usually less than 2,000 drachmas), lent for a short time (the length of the voyage, a matter of several weeks or months), at a high rate of interest (often 12% but reaching levels as high as 100%). The tie of the Greek monetary system to the supply of precious metals limited the ability of governments to influence their economies through the manipulation of their money supplies. Despite limited resources, how/why did Greece prosper economically? Ancient Greek civilization flourished from around 776 to 30 B.C. Finley’s model, of course, holds that coinage had strictly political functions. Ancient Greeks typically used bronze and iron tools and weapons. Many of the potters of Athens assembled between the agora and the Dipylon, in the Kerameikon. Port and transit taxes affected exchanges in emporia like the Piraeus of Athens and xenoi had to pay a special tax for engaging in transactions in the agora. Although von Reden believes that the use of coinage arose within an embedded economic context and, therefore, did not have to be re-embedded, she has argued that coinage and other forms of money did not have an intrinsically economic use or meaning in ancient Greece, but rather multiple meanings that were determined by the context within which they were used, which could be social, religious, or political as well as economic. Moreover, neither side in the debate could call activities “economic” unless such activities were productive and aimed at growth. However, the situation gradually changed between the 8th and 4th centuries BC, with the increased commercialization of the Greek economy. Grouped into guilds, they sold fish, olive oil, and vegetables. In Athens, following the first meeting of the new Prytaneis, trade regulations were reviewed, with a specialized committee overseeing the trade in wheat, flour, and bread. Roman civilization is often grouped into "classical antiquity" with ancient Greece, a civilization that inspired much of the culture of ancient Rome. Parkins, H. and C. Smith. Though farming in ancient Greece was difficult due to the infertile land more than 50% of the population used to indulge in agricultural activities. Such state expenditures could have a significant impact on the economy, as is clear from the large quantities of money and labor that appear in the inscribed accounts of the building projects on the Athenian acropolis. This could be accomplished simply by farming a small plot of land. Taxes were levied on houses, slaves, herds and flocks, wines, and hay, among other things. The state collected a duty on their cargo. The latter is one of the most important documents concerning state interests in trade and mining. Female metics and slaves did similar work and also comprised the majority of the prostitutes of Athens, which was a legal profession. Xenophon, an Athenian writer from the fourth century, noted that Athens could always be assured of traders bringing their goods into Athens, because traders knew they could always get a valuable trade commodity, namely silver in the form of Athenian coinage, in exchange. Edited by B.D. These new city-states put more land under cultivation, thereby providing the agriculture necessary to sustain the growing population. “Recent Literature on Ancient Greek Economic Thought.” Journal of Economic Literature 17 (1979): 65-86. London: George Philip, 1987. Finley’s model holds most true for the Archaic period (c. 776-480 B.C.) Husbandry was badly developed due to a lack of available land. In addition, a number of these important products were able to be produced by pastoral farmers who did not rely on flat lands for their sustenance but grazing grounds and gentle temperatures. Brock, R. “The Labour of Women in Classical Athens.” Classical Quarterly 44 (1994): 336-346. By the terms of his will, Pasion in turn manumitted his own slave assistant, Phormion, and not only left him his bank, but also stipulated that Phormion marry his widow and manage the inheritance of his son, Apollodorus. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1997. Ancient Roots In Mesopotamia and Egypt, by the 3rd millennium BCE, local officials appeared to have been tasked with rounding up criminals and bringing them to justice. In fact, agorai were considered sacred places to the degree that they were marked off with boundary stones across which no one who had the stain of religious pollution could cross. Despite its chronic shortages of silver coins and its closed coinage system, Egypt still had a coin-based economy largely because of Alexander the Great, who flooded the economies of the eastern Mediterranean with coins and monetized some places in the Near East for the first time. The goal of the government seems to have been to protect the profits of its state-run business. Early in Greek history (18th century–8th century BC), free-born citizens would gather in the agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council. Archaeological evidence and literary references from such works as the epic poems of Homer (the Iliad and the Odyssey), the Works and Days of Hesiod, and the works of the lyric poets attest to an economy that was generally small in scale and centered on household production and consumption. Of course, the children of slaves would also be slaves. Although the Finley model is right in many respects with regard to the limited interest and involvement of the state in the economy, one recent trend has been to show through carefully focused examinations of specific phenomena that Finley pressed his case too far. Thus, despite over a century of investigation, scholars are still debating the nature of the ancient Greek economy. But within these contexts, one can find bits of information here and there about public finance and other economic matters. The olive tree and grapevine, as well as orchards, were complemented by the cultivation of herbs, vegetables, and oil-producing plants. In addition, many city-states included forms of dependent labor somewhere in between slave and free. During the Classical period of ancient Greek history (480-323 B.C. Women undoubtedly helped outdoors on the farm during harvest time. Ancient Greece Quiz Terms. But it did fall. The agora was the centre of the athletic, artistic, spiritual and political life of the city. Just as rivers influenced other ancient cultures, the sea influenced Greece. Scheidel, Walter, Ian Morris, and Richard P. Saller, eds. and “Dark Age” (c. 1100-776 B.C.E.). Agricultural work followed the rhythm of the seasons: harvesting olives and trimming grapevines at the beginning of autumn and the end of winter; setting aside fallow land in the spring; harvesting cereals in the summer; cutting wood, sowing seeds, and harvesting grapes in autumn. Sallares, R. The Ecology of the Ancient Greek World. The ancient cultures of Greece, the Minoan and the Mycenean, produced wonderful works of art, but we are indebted to archeology for the finds that we have from these cultures. These terms are clearly normative in character so that essentially the argument was about whether the ancient Greek economy was like our “modern” economy, which was never carefully defined, but apparently assumed to be a free enterprise, capitalistic one with interconnected price-making markets. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ancient storyteller who told stories with morals. States minted coins not to facilitate economic transactions among their citizens, but merely for state purposes so that, for example, it had a convenient medium through which to collect taxes or make state expenditures. Includes brief entries by leading scholars on various aspects of the ancient Greek economy. The Greeks prospered by working hard and developing their trade. It is notoriously difficult to estimate the population of Athens or any other Greek city-state in ancient times. Slaves who worked in the silver mines of Athens, for example, worked in dangerous conditions in large numbers (as many as 10,000 at a time) and had virtually no contact with their owners that could result in human bonds of affection (they were usually leased out). With regard to the details, however, recent studies are showing that the Finley model does at least need to be revised. On the Peace argues for economic activity rather than warfare as a means of obtaining revenues for the state. Hence, if one could afford a slave to do one’s work, then one bought a slave. “Seeing the Forest for the Trees of the Ancient Economy.” Ancient History Bulletin, forthcoming(b). Von Reden, S. Exchange in Ancient Greece. Although the trees of Greece were for the most part not particularly good for woodworking materials and especially not for large-scale building, the Greeks did use wood extensively and, therefore, had to import good timber from places like Macedonia, the Black Sea region, and Asia Minor. Athens also had various port, transit, and market taxes that would benefit by increased trade, including a two percent tax on all imports and exports. The technique of minting coins arrived in mainland Greece around 550 BC, beginning with coastal trading cities like Aegina and Athens. grew immensely in scale. The one drawback for the Spartans of using helot labor, though, was that the helots, living still on their former homeland and having a sense of ethnic unity, were prone to revolt and did so on several occasions at great cost both to themselves and to the Spartans. 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