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Title: The Ancient Economy (Sather Classical Lectures , No 43) by M. I. Finley ISBN: 0-520-21946-5 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.67 (3 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Roman Economics
Comment: The author of this book, M.I. Finley, is a giant in the field of ancient history. The introduction paints a pretty impressive picture of the man. He graduated from college with an M.A. at the age of 17, an amazing feat for us wannabe intellectuals. His M.A. was in public law, not exactly the usual prerequisite for an amazing career in history. Finley's positions on the ancient world were based on the works of Max Weber; the sociologist who posited that status played a big role in society. In this book, Finley tries to prove that the ancient economy was largely a byproduct of status. In other words, economic systems were not interdependent; they were embedded in status positions.
Finley first examines status and statistics. What constituted status in the ancient world? For one thing, class and status were independent. A person could be of low class, but very high status. Pallas and Narcissus, the freedmen that served the emperor Claudius, come to mind here. Both were extremely high placed in society. They were rich beyond the dreams of avarice, but their class was lower than that of a senator. Finley's examination of statistics in ancient Rome is telling. In our world, it is inconceivable that the economy could be discussed without using stats. In Rome, this was not the case. Certainly, there were receipts of expenditures and interest rates on loans, but numbers just didn't hold the allure in Rome that they do today. The absence of guilds and interdependent markets, according to Finley, certainly has something to do with this. Most merchandise was locally made and consumed locally, or shipped directly to Rome. There was no need for corporations or massive transportation of goods (except grain shipments to Rome) between regions.
Finley's discussions on slavery are certainly enlightening. Finley believes slavery was necessary to the Roman world because it reinforced status. The highest strata of society disdained work, so having a dependent class of workers was essential to watch over estates and manage businesses. One of the surprising insights Finley provides is in exploding the myth that slavery is inefficient. Finley shows that the large landowners had money to burn due to the labor of slaves, as did the plantation owners in the American South. I'm not so sure I agree with this argument. To the extent that slaves were profitable in Rome, it would seem that this had much to do with the Roman system of slavery. The Romans had a process called "Peculium" in which slaves were given seed money by their masters to start businesses. Slaves could keep some of the profits from this system and eventually buy their freedom, as well as learn a trade. This is an excellent incentive to work hard, thereby increasing profits to their owners. I don't think slaves in the Americas had the same incentives.
Although the book is much more complex than the poor description I've given above, this review should provide ample initiative to read Finley. Even a beginner to Roman history could get much out of this book. Finley, despite some early hiccups, has a smooth writing style that is sympathetic to the newbie. Many a professional scholar has received inspiration from Finley. Highly Recommended.
Rating: 4
Summary: Classical Economies Did Not Exhibit Modern Economic Behavior
Comment: Finley in "The Ancient Economy," presents an informed argument against the notion that ancient civilizations exhibited "modern" market behavior in the style described by Erich Roll as "an enormous conglomeration of interdependent markets." M. Rostovtzeff's notion that trade of manufactured goods was active and important in classical economies is successfully challenged, and the reader is given an interesting peek into the process by which free, landed peoples gradually replaced slave labor in the hinterlands laying the foundation for medieval serfdom. This is an excellent (and concise!!!) introduction to the economic structure of the classical world both describing the various class structures and how each class in general viewed the economic notions of land, capital, trade, and accumulation. I definitely recommend this book to any student of economic history.
Rating: 3
Summary: Good Foreword and Pointers to Other Authors
Comment: Finlay is a good translator and editor (see Penguin's "Greek Historians"). The function of sensibly abbreviating long and important works down to a readable volume is an honorable and extemely useful function in its own right (see also Saunder's abridgement of Gibbon's first volume and Gaster's abridgement of "The New Golden Bough"). Such abridgements give both to students and to those of us who have little time to spare for reading unfiltered through "The World's Great Books" a taste of such books and hence of the minds of the great authors who wrote them.
However, Finlay's as author is not as satisfying.
The foreword to Finlay's book is good. It puts Finlay's contribution into a larger context and, in particular, pointing out Max Weber's influence on Finlay.
Max Weber noticed that most people are mainly interested in social prestige, not the means thereto, and, more specifically, that the modern means to prestige is not the traditional (ie., ancient) means thereto.
As a result of the foreward, I immediately ordered Weber's ostensible masterwork "Die Protestantische Ethik und der 'Geist des Kapitalismus'" (written 1904 with revision 1920).
Finlay himself does not explicity appear to recognise his debt to Weber. He refers to Weber's contemporaries (Rostovtzeff & co.).
As the author points out, very little was probably ever written in ancient times - and much less has been delivered down to us through the passage of time - regarding "economic" matters, the writing and reading public being consituted essentially by well-born persons with private incomes, who were generally interested in the (for them) more appropriate topics of poetry, rhetoric, religion, philosophy and heroic military exploits.
Hence research on this subject is difficult.
Also, the book is rather tedious and the amount of repitition and ampflication on essentially obvious points gets a bit monotonous.
Having said that, the whole subject matter was interesting, and the pointers to other authors useful.
The economic model which is developed is typical social sciences stuff: simplest ideas expressed cryptically as pseudo-mathematical charts. One can overlook this.
At the end of the day, the most worthwhile knowledge which I gained from Finlay's work was the knowledge that there was a Roman writer called Vitruvius who wrote a work on Architecture at around the time of Christ which remained the standard work on that subject for at least 1,500 years.
In the meantime I have read Vitruvius and found him to be both useful and entertaining.
Now I'll read Max Weber.
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Title: Archaeology of the Roman Economy by Kevin Greene ISBN: 0520074017 Publisher: University of California Press Pub. Date: 01 March, 1991 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Banking and Business in the Roman World (Key Themes in Ancient History) by Jean Andreau, P. A. Cartledge, P. D. A. Garnsey, Janet Lloyd ISBN: 0521389321 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 14 October, 1999 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: The Ancient Economy by Walter Scheidel, Sitta Von Reden ISBN: 041594189X Publisher: Routledge Pub. Date: 19 April, 2002 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: Athenian Economy and Society by Edward Cohen ISBN: 0691015929 Publisher: Princeton University Press Pub. Date: 06 January, 1997 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: Politics in the Ancient World (Wiles Lectures) by M. I. Finley ISBN: 0521275709 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 07 July, 1983 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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