La cité marchande

There is far too often a striking disjunction between the theoretical analyses applied to the ancient Greek economy and the realities that arise from a direct engagement with the sources. These twelve essays, including six previously unpublished, seek to test the concepts against the facts. The method is applied to the question of the status of the emporium of Naucratis, to the spatial organisation of the cities of Lesbos, and to the extent to which merchants might play a role (or not) in civic institutions.

In dealing particularly with institutional aspects of exchange, these essays also treat the manner in which the “official prices” were fixed for wholesale grain in Athens and the forms of and limits on the control of retail prices in Greece. These considerations lead to a more general reflection on the notion of “economy” in ancient Greece and a broader rehabilitation of the market that also puts the notion of prosodoi, “income”, both personal and public, at the centre of analysis.