The Economy of the Greek Cities

This introduction to the Ancient Greek economy has proved popular in France, and has also been translated into Italian and Greek; this first English edition is of the second French edition of 2007. Migeotte tries to avoid getting bogged down in the theoretical debates which have characterised the last half-century of research on the ancient economy, instead providing a survey first of institutions and frameworks (the polis in particular) and then of the different sectors of the economy (agriculture, crafts, trade), he goes back to the primary sources and archaeology, allowing the reader to form their own impressions, as well as setting out his own more nuanced ideas. Above all he emphasises the diversity of the Ancient Greek economy and the co-existence of traits which appear both primitive and proto-capitalist.