The Oxford Handbook of the Economies of the Classical World

The Oxford Handbook of the Economies of the Classical World covers the main questions relating to the economic history of the ancient Mediterranean world, from about 600 BCE to about 600 CE. Cohesion of this area was initiated around 600 BCE through Greek and Phoenician colonization. It culminated under Augustus in 30 CE, with the unification of all the countries around the Mediterranean under the power of a single state. Less than two centuries later, a process of decline and crisis began that led to the final collapse of the empire at the beginning of the fifth century. This book examines the economic aspects of the growth and decline using textual evidence and drawing heavily on recent archaeological data. Issues such as labor, supply, demand, markets, credit, income stratification, and forms of organization of labor, production units, and corporations are specifically addressed. More broadly, it covers the subject of institutions in economic terms, examining state structures, the burden of the armies, the effects of war, the consequences of political instability, and the optimal size of states. The volume differs significantly from what has been published previously in that it examines economic life from the point of view of both institutions and actors, placing a strong emphasis on economic theory and providing a developed, sophisticated discussion of the social implications (or presuppositions) of the economy.