Available From UC Press

The Economy of the Greek Cities offers readers a clear and concise overview of ancient Greek economies from the archaic to the Roman period. Léopold Migeotte approaches Greek economic activities from the perspective of the ancient sources, situating them within the context of the city-state (polis). He illuminates the ways citizens intervened in the economy and considers such important sectors as agriculture, craft industries, public works, and trade. Focusing on how the private and public spheres impinged on each other, this book provides a broad understanding of the political and economic changes affecting life in the Greek city-states over a thousand-year period.

Léopold Migeotte is Professor Emeritus of History at Laval University, Québec, and Directeur d'Études Associé at L'École Practique des Hautes Études, Paris.

"Eschewing the anachronistic oversimplification of modernist and formalist theory, Migeotte deftly marshals primary sources in the service of nuanced description. Migeotte's accessible text restores the ancient economy—embedded, as the sources show, in a political, social, and cultural context—to its proper place in Greek civilization. A triumph of scholarly yet readable exposition!"—Nicholas F. Jones, author of Rural Athens Under the Democracy

“Migeotte's work, firmly anchored in ancient evidence and balanced in judgment, is undoubtedly the best compact survey of the ancient Greek economy currently available.”—Walter Scheidel, lead editor of The Cambridge Economic History of the Greco-Roman World