the cambridge economic history of the...

THE CAMBRIDGE ECONOMIC HISTOR Y OFTHE GRECO-ROMAN WORLD

In this, the first comprehensive one-volume survey of the economies of classicalantiquity, twenty-eight chapters summarize the current state of scholarship in theirspecialized fields and sketch new directions for research. The approach taken isboth thematic, with chapters on the underlying determinants of economic perfor-mance, and chronological, with coverage of the whole of the Greek and Romanworlds extending from the Aegean Bronze Age to late antiquity. The contributorsmove beyond the substantivist-formalist debates that dominated twentieth-centuryscholarship and display a new interest in economic growth in antiquity. New meth-ods for measuring economic development are developed, often combining textualand archaeological data that have previously been treated separately. Fully accessibleto a broad readership, the volume represents a major advance in our understandingof the economic expansion that made the civilization of the classical Mediterraneanworld possible.

walter scheidel is Dickason Professor in the Humanities and Professor ofClassics and History at Stanford University. His publications include MeasuringSex, Age and Death in the Roman Empire (1996), Death on the Nile: Disease and theDemography of Roman Egypt (2001), and, as editor, Debating Roman Demography(2001) and The Ancient Economy (2002, with Sitta von Reden).

ian morris is Jean and Rebecca Willard Professor of Classics and Professor ofHistory at Stanford University, and directs Stanford’s excavation at Monte Polizzo,Sicily. His publications include The Greeks: History, Culture, and Society (2005,with Barry Powell) and The Ancient Economy: Evidence and Models (2005, with JoeManning).

richard saller is Kleinheinz Family Professor of European Studies andProfessor of Classics and History and the Vernon R. and Lysbeth WarrenAnderson Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University.His publications include Personal Patronage under the Early Empire (Cambridge,1982) and Patriarchy, Property and Death in the Roman Family (Cambridge, 1994)and he is co-author of The Roman Empire: Economy, Society and Culture (1987).

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Cambridge University Press978-1-107-67307-6 - The Cambridge Economic History of the Greco-Roman WorldEdited by Walter Scheidel, Ian Morris and Richard SallerFrontmatterMore information

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THE CAMBRIDGE

ECONOMIC HIS TORY OF

THE GRECO-ROMAN

WORLD

edited by

WALTER SCHEIDEL

Dickason Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Classics and History, Stanford University

IAN MORRIS

Jean and Rebecca Willard Professor of Classics and Professor of History, Stanford University

RICHARD SALLER

Kleinheinz Family Professor of European Studies and Professor of Classics and History,

Stanford University






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First published in 2007

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CONTENTS

List of maps page viiiList of figures ixList of tables xiAcknowledgments xiiList of abbreviations xiii

1 Introduction 1

ian morris (Stanford University), richard p. saller

(Stanford University), and walter scheidel (StanfordUniversity)

PAR T I : DETERMINANTS OF ECONOMICPERFORMANCE

2 Ecology 15

robert sallares (University of Manchester Institute ofScience and Technology)

3 Demography 38

walter scheidel (Stanford University)

4 Household and gender 87

richard p. saller (Stanford University)

5 Law and economic institutions 113

bruce w. frier (University of Michigan) and dennis

p. kehoe (Tulane University)

6 Technology 144

helmuth schneider (University of Kassel)

v






vi contents

PAR T II : EARLY MEDITERRANEAN ECONOMIESAND THE NEAR EAS T

7 The Aegean Bronze Age 175

john bennet (University of Sheffield)

8 Early Iron Age Greece 211

ian morris (Stanford University)

9 The Iron Age in the western Mediterranean 242

michael dietler (University of Chicago)

10 Archaic Greece 277

robin osborne (Cambridge University)

11 The Persian Near East 302

peter r. bedford (Union College)

PAR T II I : CL ASSICAL GREECE

12 Classical Greece: Production 333

john k. davies (University of Liverpool)

13 Classical Greece: Distribution 362

astrid moller (University of Freiburg)

14 Classical Greece: Consumption 385

sitta von reden (University of Freiburg)

PAR T IV: THE HELLENIS TIC S TATES

15 The Hellenistic Near East 409

robartus j . van der spek (Free University ofAmsterdam)

16 Hellenistic Egypt 434

joseph g. manning (Yale University)

17 Hellenistic Greece and western Asia Minor 460

gary reger (Trinity College)

PAR T V: EARLY ITALY AND THEROMAN REPUBLIC

18 Early Rome and Italy 487

jean-paul morel (University of Provence)

19 The late Republic 511

william v. harris (Columbia University)






contents vii

PAR T VI : THE EARLY ROMAN EMPIRE

20 The early Roman empire: Production 543

dennis p. kehoe (Tulane University)

21 The early Roman empire: Distribution 570

neville morley (University of Bristol)

22 The early Roman empire: Consumption 592

willem m. jongman (University of Groningen)

23 The early Roman empire: The state and the economy 619

elio lo cascio (University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’)

PAR T VII : REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THEROMAN EMPIRE

24 The western provinces 651

philippe leveau (University of Provence)

25 The eastern Mediterranean 671

susan e. alcock (Brown University)

26 Roman Egypt 698

dominic w. rathbone (King’s College London)

27 The frontier zones 720

david cherry (Montana State University)

PAR T VII I : EPILOGUE

28 The transition to late antiquity 743

andrea giardina (Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane)

Bibliography 769

Index 918






MAPS

1.1 The Mediterranean basin page xv2.1 Physical definitions of the Mediterranean region 16

3.1 Population densities in Greece in the fifth and fourthcenturies bc 46

3.2 The distribution of cities in the western provinces of theRoman empire 76

3.3 The distribution of cities in the eastern provinces of theRoman empire 77

8.1 Sites mentioned in this chapter. (a) The Aegean Sea(b) The western Greeks 214

10.1 Greek and Phoenician trade in the period of the PersianWars 280

10.2 Greek settlements abroad 282

11.1 The Achaemenid empire 304

12.1 Greece and Asia Minor 336

15.1 The Seleucid empire 424

15.2 Main coin hoards of the Hellenistic period 428

16.1 Greco-Roman Egypt 437

19.1 The Roman world in 50 bc 512

20.1 The Roman empire at the accession of Vespasian 544

23.1 (a) The disposition of the legions in ad 14

(b) The disposition of the legions in ad 200 634

24.1 Communications and development in the westernprovinces 665

25.1 The eastern half of the Roman empire 672

25.2 Distribution of ancient sites in and around the limestonemassif of Northern Syria 680

25.3 The variable distribution of Cretan amphora types 688

27.1 The frontier in North Africa 723

27.2 Britain in the second century ad 727

27.3 The European frontier 736

27.4 The Eastern frontier in the time of Septimius Severus 739

viii






FIGURES

3.1 Percentage of survivors to age x page 40

3.2 Approximate size of the population under Romancontrol, 350 bc–ad 150 48

3.3 Population size and surplus for given resources andtechnology 51

3.4 Causal relationships in a schematic model of homeostaticpopulation regulation in pre-transitional populations 54

3.5 Model of population regulation driven by exogenouschange in the population growth rate 59

3.6 Levels of marital fertility in different populations 67

6.1 Olynthian grain mill with upper stone and long handle 153

6.2 Pompeian mill with meta and catillus, the upper stone 154

6.3 Water mill as described by Vitruvius 155

6.4 Barbegal multiple system with 16 wheels 156

6.5 Roman lever-press as described by Cato the Elder 157

6.6 Lever-and-stone press according to Heron’s Mechanika 158

6.7 Lever-and-screw press according to Pliny the Elder 158

6.8 Screw-press according to Heron 160

6.9 A large pottery-kiln at La Graufesenque 161

6.10 Water-wheels used for drainage at Rio Tinto 165

8.1 Average adult ages at death, 1600–300 bc 221

8.2 The frequency of porotic hyperostosis, 1600–300 bc 223

8.3 Percentage of skeletons with vertebral arthritis,1600–300 bc 223

8.4 Percentage of mouths with enamel hypoplasia,1600–300 bc 225

8.5 The stature of adult skeletons, 1600–300 bc 226

15.1 (a) Wool prices in Babylon(b) Barley prices in Babylon 420

16.1 Levels of the Nile in the course of a year at Elephantine 439

20.1 Variation over time in concentration and composition ofof lead in ice core samples from Summit, CentralGreenland 548

ix






x list of figures

21.1 Distribution of Mediterranean shipwrecks, twentiethcentury bc to fifteenth century ad 572

22.1 Mammal bones per century in Italy 613

22.2 Mammal bones per century in the provinces of the RomanEmpire 614

26.1 Wallpainting of a water-wheel from the Wardian Tomb(Alexandria) 702






TABLES

2.1 Distribution of rainfall in one year at Alexandria in thesecond century ad according to Ptolemy andin 1889–1922 page 25

3.1 The estimated population of the Roman empire inad 165 48

4.1 Gender asymmetries in occupational participation, fromRoman epitaphs (CIL 6) as tabulated by Joshel 106

7.1 Chronological table for the Aegean Bronze Age 178

7.2 Regions intensively surveyed in Greece and Crete, showingarea covered, number and approximate density of LateBronze Age sites 180

8.1 Excavation and publication of EIA settlements, 1870–1990 213

8.2 Median house sizes, mainland Greece and Aegean islands,c. 1600–300 bc 227

10.1 Rural sites in ancient Greece 284

14.1 Average height of male and female skeletons in centimeters 388

14.2 Protein content of some staple foods 391

14.3 Mean and median house sizes 800–300 bc in square meters 400

15.1 Changes in certain key areas in the study regions 427

19.1 Selected Mediterranean shipwrecks, 130s to 30s bc 534

19.2 Diffusion of technological improvements, 150–1 bc 536

22.1 Food requirements in kilocalories per day by age andgender 599

xi






ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Many people have helped make this book a reality. We would particu-larly like to thank Michael Sharp, Sarah Parker and Jodie Barnes at theCambridge University Press, who have seen this large project through thecomplicated process of production, and Pauline Hire, who first proposedthe project to us in 1998. Linda Woodward was a diligent copy-editor.We are grateful to Margaret Debrunner Hall, Ron Packham, Anne-MarieKunzl-Snodgrass, and Anthony Snodgrass, who translated several chaptersinto English, and James Greenberg and David Platt, who provided valuableeditorial assistance. Finally, we would like to thank Lucy Cavendish College,Cambridge, for hosting a conference in September 2002 that allowed us tostrengthen the volume considerably, and the Division of Social Sciences ofthe University of Chicago for financial support that made the conferencepossible.

Walter ScheidelIan Morris

Richard Saller

xii






ABBREVIATIONS

AE L’Annee Epigraphique, published in Revue Archeologiqueand separately, 1888–.

ATL B. D. Merritt, H. T. Wade-Gery, and M. F. McGregor, TheAthenian Tribute Lists 1–4, 1939–53.

BL Berichtigungsliste der griechischen Papyrusurkunden aus

Agypten, 1922–.CIL Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, 1863–.CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, 1866–.CT Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets in the British

Museum, 1896–.DDBP Duke Data Bank of Documentary Papyri. Searchable online

at http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Texts/papyri.htmlDK H. Diels and W. Kranz, Fragmente der Vorsokratiker,

6th edn., 1952–.EK L. Edelstein and I. G. Kidd, Posidonius, The Fragments,

1972, 1988–9.FGrH F. Jacoby, Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, 1923–.FHG C. Muller, Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, 1841–70.FIRA S. Riccobono, Fontes Iuris Romani Anteiustiniani, 1941.GGMI C. Muller, Geographici Graeci Minores, 1855–61.ID F. Durrbach, Inscriptions de Delos, 1926–72.IG Inscriptiones Graecae, 1873–.IGCH M. Thompson, O. Mørkholm, and C. M. Kraay, An

Inventory of Greek Coin Hoards, 1973.IK Inschriften griechischer Stadte aus Kleinasien, 1972–.ILLRP A. Degrassi, Inscriptiones Latinae Liberae Rei Publicae,

1957–65.ILS H. Dessau, Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae, 1892–1916.I.Magn. O. Kern, Die Inschriften von Magnesia am Maeander, 1900.ISE L. Moretti, Iscrizioni storiche ellenistiche. Testo critico,

traduzione, e commento, 1967–75.

xiii






xiv list of abbreviations

Lindos C. Blinkenberg, Lindos. Fouilles et recherches, 1902–1914.Volume 2. Inscriptions, publiees en grande partie d’apres lescopies de K. F. Kinch, 1941.

MAMA Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua, 1928–.ML R. Meiggs and D. Lewis, A Selection of Greek Historical

Inscriptions to the End of the Fifth Century BC, rev. edn.,1988.

MRR T. R. S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic,1951–2. Suppl. 1986.

OGIS Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae, 1903–5.ORF H. Malcovati, Oratorum Romanorum Fragmenta Liberae Rei

Publicae, 4th edn., 1976.PCG R. Kassel and C. Austin, Poetae Comici Graeci, 1983–.PG J. P. Migne, Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Graeca,

1857–66.PSI Papiri Greci e Latini, 1912–.REG Revue des Etudes Grecques, 1888–.Sardis W. H. Buckler and D. M. Robinson, Sardis VII: Part I,

Greek and Latin Inscriptions, 1932.SB F. Preisigke et al. Sammelbuch griechischer Urkunden aus

Agypten, 1915–.SEG Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, 1923–.SIG W. Dittenberger, Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum, 3rd edn.,

1915–24.StV Die Staatsvertrage des Altertums, 1962–.Syll. See SIG.Th. W. Theiler, Poseidonios Die Fragmente, 1982.TPSulp G. Camodeca, Tabulae Pompeianae Sulpiciorum. Edizione

critica dell’ archivio puteolano dei Sulpicii, 1999.UET Ur Excavation Texts, 1928–.

Papyri and ostraca are cited in accordance with J. F. Oates et al.eds., Checklist of Editions of Greek, Latin, Demotic, and Coptic Papyri,Ostraca and Tablets (5th edn., 2001). This can be searched online at:http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu/papyrus/texts/clist.html. Ancient authorsare cited in accordance with The Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd edn.,1996). In the bibliography, the titles of periodicals are abbreviated primar-ily in accordance with L’Annee Philologique (1928–).






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