The Cambridge Economic History of the Greco-Roman World

A major advance in our understanding of the economic expansion that made the civilisation of the classical Mediterranean world possible.

Walter Scheidel (Edited by), Ian Morris (Edited by), Richard P. Saller (Edited by)

9781107673076, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 November 2012

960 pages, 28 b/w illus. 24 maps 15 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 4.8 cm, 1.34 kg

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

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.

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.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ], Economics [KC], Classical Greek & Roman archaeology [HDDK], Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]