Money and Its Uses in the Ancient Greek World [Hardcover]

Kirsty Shipton (Editor), Andrew Meadows (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0199240124 | ISBN-13: 978-0199240128 | Publication Date: January 17, 2002

The papers in this volume re-assess the role of coined money in the ancient Greek world. Using new approaches, the book makes the results of numismatic as well as historical research accessible to students and scholars of ancient history.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The volume is well-produced and the articles are thoughtful, each in its way moving us forward toward a deeper understanding of one of the most profound economic revolutions the world has known. EH.NET Book Reviews ... this book, having marked out new approaches to the study of the monetary history of ancient Greek world, combines, in a productive and creative way, analysis of sources, by their nature varied, and contributes greatly to the process of bringing together numismatic and historical investigation. The excellent printing quality is a bonus to the very interesting and stimulating content. Ancient West & East The book is carefully produced, worth reading and would be a welcome asset to any advanced library, where both the browser and the assiduous scholar could benefit significantly. JACT Review All those who intend to examine Classical or Hellenistic history from the economic, social, political or ideological perspectives, will need to read this bookk, whatever their level. Constantina Katsari, Classics Ireland

About the Author

Kirsty Shipton is Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Leicester. A former scholar of Somerville College, Oxford, she holds degrees from Glasgow, Oxford, and London where she is a recent winner of the George Grote and Norman Baynes prizes in Ancient History. She has published articles on Greek and Roman literature and on Greek history, and is the author of a forthcoming study of the cash-based economy of fourth century Athens. Andrew Meadows is Curator of Ancient Greek Coins at the British Museum, and holds degrees from the Universities of Oxford and Michigan. He is the author of articles on Greek and Roman history, epigraphy, and numismatics. He is secretary of the British Academy's Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum Committee, and the editor of two volumes in the series, as well as editor of the Royal Numismatic Society's Coin Hoards.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (January 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199240124
• ISBN-13: 978-0199240128
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,259,521 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How the Greeks Used Money - New Approaches, November 11, 2003

By 

Virgil Brown (White Oak, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Money and Its Uses in the Ancient Greek World (Hardcover)

About 25 years ago M I Finley championed in his _Ancient Economy_ the idea that the ancient Greeks' love of coins was a political phenomenon, a sign of "patriotism or advertisement with no far reaching importance." What Finley had in mind was something akin to modern communities where a "national currency and national essence" have become common. This book presents a series of scholarly papers which show new studies of the social and economic use of coins and money in the Greek world.

Kim begins with a paper in which he shows that coins were a symbol as well as a commodity. Other societies bordering the Greek world (especially the Phoenicians) did not develop coinage for a century after the Greeks. Trevett explores the relation-ship between coinage and democracy at Athens. Democracy could not have existed without coinage. Oliver raises the question of whether or not Macedonian political control have an effect on the Athenian ability to issue coins. Meadows asks a similar question concerning the eastern Hellenisitic world. Von Reden argues that in Ptolemaic Egypt, coinage became a crucial bond between the central and local rulers. Ashton writes about the effects of the output of coinage from Rhodes from 408 to 190 BC. Davies writes about how coinage transformed "the ways in which the assets of collectives, cults, and sanctuaries were held, regarded, and used." Shipton studies the relationship between the State and those who owned state-owned property. And Rowlandson studies the records of Egypt for the relationship between peasants and wealthy landlords.

It should be pointed out to the reader that this book is an attempt to bridge the gap between numismatists and scholars of ancient history. Ashton's paper is as dry as any economics paper can be. The book is concluded with 12 plates of 350 or so coins from the Hellenistic world.