The economic activity of the Hellenistic age, c.330-30 BC, has been neglected since Rostovtzeffs classic study of 1941. Yet it deserves consideration in its own right. It was in this phase that large territorial polities emerged in most parts of the eastern and many areas of the western Mediterranean; economic activity expanded perceptibly within these units, and can be charted across and beyond them in various directions. The material evidence available has accumulated on an enormous scale, and a reassessment is clearly long overdue. Now Hellenistic Economies provides an up-to-date, comprehensive study of the period, which explores how we may more clearly understand and analyse the economic activities and interactions of the Hellenistic world. In doing so, it presents important general questions of theory and model-building alongside case studies which examine specific areas and kinds of evidence, much of it new. These show that no simplistic formula is acceptable, and that crucial distinctions must be made between fiscal and real economies, or between micro-regional and long-distance patterns of production and exchange.
This much-needed volume makes a substantial contribution to the debate. Its valuable combination of evidence, interpretation and argument mean it will be required reading for all those studying the ancient economy. Makis Aperghis, University College London, Zosia Archibald, University of Liverpool, Klaus Bringmann, Frankfurt University, John Davies, University of Liverpool, Vincent