Ancient economies modern methodologies. Archaeology, comparative history, models and institutions

Ancient Economies, Modern Methodologies is a collection of essays which focuses on the art of questioning; it is about ideas and analytical experiment. Ancient economic history has developed enormously since the publication of M.I. Finley's The Ancient Economy in 1973. Much new material has been brought to bear on the debate on the character of economic life in the Greek and Roman world. But, at the same time, discussions have been going round in circles. This is because not enough attention has been given to the questions ancient historians ask and the concepts with which they approach the economy. In this collection, an attempt is made to renew the terms of the debate by presenting a wide variety of new analytical approaches to ancient economic history ranging from literary theory, cross-cultural comparison, statistical analysis of archaeological data to neo-institutional economics and model-building.
Contributors: Jean Andreau, Peter Fibiger Bang, Viviane Françoise Baesens, Kevin Greene, Mamoru Ikeguchi, Willem M. Jongman, Elio Lo Cascio, Jørgen Christian Meyer, Neville Morley, Sitta von Reden, Hartmut G. Ziche.

Indice

Introduction by Peter F. Bang, Mamoru Ikeguchi and Hartmut G. Ziche

WRITING ECONOMIC HISTORY Neville Morley, Narrative economy

CULTIVATING CURIOSITY: COMPARATIVE HISTORY AND CROSS-CULTURAL CONTACTS Peter Fibiger Bang, Imperial Bazaar: towards a comparative understanding of markets in the Roman Empire Jørgen Christian Meyer, Trade in Bronze Age and Iron Age Empires, a comparison

POTSHERDS AND STRUCTURES: A DIALOGUE BETWEEN HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY Kevin Greene, Archaeological data and economic interpretation Mamoru Ikeguchi, A method for interpreting and comparing field survey data

CULTURE, ECONOMY AND INSTITUTIONS: FROM EMBEDDEDNESS TO INSTITUTIONS AND SOCIAL STRATEGIES Sitta von Reden, The Ancient Economy and Ptolemaic Egypt Viviane Baesens, Royal taxation and religious tribute in Hellenistic Palestine Jean Andreau, Roman law in relation to banking and business: a few cases Elio Lo Cascio, The role of the state in the Roman economy: making use of the new institutional economics

ANCIENT ECONOMY, TRADE AND MODELS Willem Jongman, The rise and fall of the Roman economy: population, rents and entitlement Hartmut G. Ziche, Integrating late Roman cities, countryside and trade