TRADE & COLONIZATION

Colony and Mother City in Ancient Greece. 2^nd ed. A. J. Graham.

The relations between Greek colonies and their mother cities attract attention not only because of the intrinsic interest of colonizing activity but because of the special nature of Greek colonies. The Greek colony and its mother city had a closer tie of relationship than existed between Greek states in general, yet as a rule the colony formed a separate city state, thus providing scope for a great variety of forms of association. Dr. Graham investigates these during the period of the 8th to the 4th century B.C.

The first part of the book is devoted to a description of Greek ideas and practices regarding the actual founding of a colony, about which there appear to have been general fixed principles. He then goes on to consider the subsequent relations between the colony and its mother city. Using evidence drawn from a number of cities, including Thasos, Miletus, Corinth and Athens, the author discusses the general basis on which links were formed between city and colony, involving such questions as mutual citizenship and religious connections. He also considers the variations found in the relationships caused by such factors as distance and the power and ambitions of the mother city.

As a synthesis which presents and discusses material widely spread in place and time, much of it previously accessible only to specialists, this book should become both the standard general treatment of the subject and the basis for future studies of this aspect of Greek colonization. In the second edition, the author has added notes and has updated the bibliography. ISBN 0-89005-520-3. xxxvi + 260pp Pb. $20.00

Economy and Society in the Early Greek World. Carl Roebuck.

"Few scholars have so thoroughly investigated the development of Ionia, especially its economic base, from the migrations in the early Dark Age to the period of the Persian Wars. Yet Professor Roebuck has always recognized that a society is far more than its economic system and that Ionia must be placed in the larger context of Greece as a whole. Hence his work has looked beyond Ionia and economics to the entire world of early Greece and has illuminated particularly the emergence of the distinctive product of the Dark and Archaic ages, the polis.

All this work ultimately focuses upon the emergence of the Greek polis, one of the most debated questions in the scholarship of ancient history. The debate is due not so much to the quarrelsome natures of the scholars concerned with the problem as to the composition of the polis. Although the city-state is an entity, it can be studied as an economic, political, religious, military, and social struc-ture. In concentrating on one of those aspects, Carl Roebuck has done more than provide answers to specific questions of fact: he has revealed the interconnection between all the dimensions of the emerging state." From the Preface by Carol G. Thomas. ISBN 0-89005-261-1. 172pp Pb. $25.00

Ionian Trade and Colonization. Carl Roebuck.

"The study of the economic development of Ionia before the Persian Wars has grown out of several articles on Greek trade. In them I found myself grappling with two problems of early Greek history which have been the subject of recent controversy, how to assess the economic factor and how to define the role of Ionia. It seemed that some clarification might be made by studying their interrelation. Although Ionia was a colonial area of post-Mycenaean Greece, it rapidly became the scene of significant achievement, the epic poetry of Homer and the literature, art and speculation of the sixth century. By that time this cultural accomplishment rested on a substantial economic basis and Ionian luxury was becoming a term of reproach. I have tried to reconstruct the growth and character of this prosperity, to describe how such difficulties as the lack of metals and of land and food to care for an increasing population were met. The Ionians found a solution to them in an extensive network of trade and colonization from Spain to the Black Sea. In so doing they and perhaps Corinth also enabled Classical Greece to tap the resources of the Mediterranean as a whole and to expand the organization of its limited agrarian economy. Since we are just beginning to acquire more precise archaeological information of western Asia Minor and of many of the Greek colonial regions, some of the conclusions drawn will necessarily be modified. Specialist knowledge could amplify or correct some of them at the present time, but perhaps a synthesis is the best means of obtaining a new perspective. If it stimulates further work, at least one purpose will have been achieved." From the Preface by Carol G. Thomas. ISBN 0-89005-528-9. 154pp Pb. $25.00

Trade Routes and Commerce of the Roman Empire. M. P. Charlesworth.

The story of Imperial Rome's struggle to become economic master of its own rapidly growing overseas empire. A unique account of how an ancient state attempted to gain control of its foreign trade and balance of payments. In today's global economy this is a fascinating account of an age-old problem. A valuable and authoritative work on the commercial activity of the Roman Empire. ISBN 0-89005-063-5. 320pp Pb. $25.00

China and the Roman Orient. F. Hirth.

The most remarkable story of ancient China's commercial and diplomatic relations with the Roman world. Based on numerous Chinese documents uncovered by the author during several years of research in China during the late 19th century. ISBN 0-89005-093-7. 352 pp Pb. $25.00

The Provinces of the Roman Empire. 2 vols. Theodor Mommsen.

This is a reprint of the 1909 edition of the complete work, authorized and translated into English under Mommsen's supervision. No other work offers such a careful analysis of the historical, economic, cultural and religious aspects of the Roman provinces. A well organized presentation which skillfully blends a multitude of diverse historical evidence into a logical panorama of the Roman provinces and their place in ancient history. (Vol. I: ISBN 0-89005-051-1. $27.50); (Vol. II: ISBN 0-89005-052-X. $27.50). ISBN 0-89005-491-6, the set. 2 vols. 756pp Hb. $55.00

The Ancient Amber Routes and the Geographical Discovery of the Eastern Baltic. Arnold S. Spekke.

An account of how the ancient people of the Baltic region emerged from their isolation via their participation in the amber trade of the ancient world. Spekke emphasizes the active role of the ancient Balts in developing and managing this important trade. ISBN 0-89005-178-X. 120pp + 14pll Pb. $20.00

Last Updated 29-Dec-2020 by MM, CT

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