AAP241   The Ancient Greek Economy   (20 credits)

Description

This module explores the economic foundations of the ancient Greek world from the 8th to 2nd centuries BC, with particular emphasis on the Classical period (5th-4th centuries BC) and the polis societies of Athens and its neighbours. This task involves critical engagement with different forms of textual, iconographic and archaeological evidence and throughout emphasis is placed on the challenges and rewards of combining diverse sources of evidence. Students are first introduced to key debates about the nature of the ancient Greek economy and the strengths and weaknesses of the sources available for reconstructing it. Thereafter, a series of paired lectures and seminars, organised chronologically and thematically, examines topics including settlement, land ownership and land use, slavery, craft production, trade, material culture and identity, and sacred economies in social contexts ranging from the early polis and Greek colonisation, through empire to the emergence of Hellenistic kingdoms.

Reading List