In my archaeological and ancient history I read recently become clear that knowledge of economic conditions and considerations for the understanding of historical phenomena is often of great importance - or would be, because in my studies, this aspect been rarely addressed methodically. It was here that is to close a gap. Fortunately, was the appropriate Standard work for me already on the shelf: of Ancient economy Moses I. Finley . Finley, as far as I was after all mitgekriegt, was a leading researcher on the ancient economy, and emerged from a lecture overview display effectively the sum of his research. The German edition comes simplest possible, therefore, a narrow ribbon in camouflage garb sobre series dtv wissenschaft . The content, however, is nutritious, and the reading requires alertness and concentration. There Finley with the sovereignty of the experienced scholar of his subject, weighted with a sure hand, convincing polemic against unsubstantiated opinions and must build it yourself more than once on very shaky ground his analysis. One thing he makes clear from the beginning: Greeks and Romans, who had been proved in all possible scientific pioneer species as original thinkers, did not know the economics as a science.
The first finding is sobering times. It means that there is in ancient literature no abstract consideration of economic phenomena, lacking even basic auxiliary sciences such as statistics and the terminology and concepts; indeed lack of any evidence that economic issues had been identified or investigated, going beyond anecdotal insight . (If the weather in Egypt was unfavorable, was less grain to Rome and the prices rose - so much was clear, but as an opportunity to further studies on pricing were not, for example taken such everyday phenomena) For us this means. It is simply very little resilient material available , the corresponding investigations allowed us today. For most of what he describes, Finley, despite immense knowledge of sources from ancient literature and epigraphy cite just a few examples, and the assessment and classification of these sources proves to be quite as major problem: Are they trivial or anecdotal individual cases, or is it still , precisely because of its casualness typical examples of common practice?
built from this sparse source material the author is an impressive and comprehensive picture. It emanates from the people and their roles. Stand and define the status within the means of each, along with its economic activity. The relationship between masters and slaves are given special attention, with Finley specifically warns of modern (moral) evaluation and appreciation of freedom and slavery: being a slave, was a very broad spectrum of life mean that from ruthless suppression of independent employment reached. What is more, the concept is so common of wage labor in the ancient world only in a few exceptional cases is encountered: Who was not a slave was free artisans, hardly ever an employee. Similar to the differentiated property is to be considered: Nominally independent farmers had shown in the late Roman Republic to life in general too little, too much to die.
main lesson of the book is well that generalizations must be formulated with caution, not only because of the sources. One must also be "increasingly aware that much of what shines through in our history and archeology books, absolute exceptions represented, such as the Roman Imperial Courts, a historic little more concentration reached of wealth compared to representing ordinary citizens. A methodologically important entry in the record book but I've made, it relates to the small scale variability of the ancient economy. Export production has always been an exception, the great majority of economic contacts were restricted to the environment, local farmers markets or the contacts between a city and its immediate environs. The deciding factors for this were the high transport costs as soon as no ocean or river was available - or in Finley's formulation congenial to the major transport animals of the ancient world: "All three - oxen, mules, donkeys - were slow and greedy." Why was a land transport 120 km expensive than sea transportation across the entire width of the Mediterranean, and who is not sitting near water, had a problem. Moses I. Finley
ancient economy is a book, with its one-time reading, it is not enough. It will be essential to link future reading material with its findings and the highly concentrated plant regularly consulted. That it necessarily belongs in a well-stocked handset for Ancient History and Archaeology, seems indisputable.
Product: Moses I. Finley, The Ancient Economy. Authorized translation from English by Andreas Wittenburg. dtv wissenschaft. Munich, dtv 2 1980th ISBN 3 423 04277 X. The book is currently out of print , therefore, the reference to Google Books allowed.
0 comments:
Post a Comment