Population and Economy in Classical Athens

Ben Akrigg author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:28th Mar '19

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Population and Economy in Classical Athens cover

Systematically explores the changing size and structure of the population of classical Athens and the implications for economic history.

The first comprehensive account of the population of classical Athens for almost a century. Demonstrates the importance of the size of the total population, of changes in that population, and of its structures for understanding Athenian society and economy as a whole.This is the first comprehensive account of the population of classical Athens for almost a century. The methodology of earlier scholars has been criticised in general terms but their conclusions have not been seriously challenged. Ben Akrigg reviews and assesses those methodologies and conclusions for the first time and thereby sets the historical demography of Athens on a firm footing. The main focus is on the economic impact of that demography, but new conclusions are presented which have profound implications for our understanding of Athenian society and culture. The book establishes that the Athenian population grew very large in the fifth century BC, before falling dramatically in the final three decades of that century. These changes had important immediate consequences but the city of the fourth century was shaped in fundamental ways by the demographic upheavals of its past.

'Akrigg's work is the latest and among the best … This is [a] first-rate book by an able scholar.' J. A. S. Evans, Choice

ISBN: 9781107027091

Dimensions: 222mm x 145mm x 19mm

Weight: 470g

282 pages