The Cambridge Economic History of the Graeco-Roman World
Edited by Ian Morris, Richard Saller, and Walter Scheidel

The Cambridge University Press has long been known for its authoritative series The Cambridge Economic History, but until now these volumes did not cover the ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean. In this new project, twenty leading scholars will provide an up-to-date survey of the economic history of the Greek and Roman world between roughly 1200 B.C. and A.D. 300.

Since the days of Max Weber, the central question in ancient economic history has been why such large, complex civilizations did not achieve an economic take-off comparable to that at the end of the European Middle Ages. For the past thirty years most ancient historians have argued that this was a misleading way to think of the issues: in fact, they suggested, the economic basis of Graeco-Roman civilization was remarkably under-developed, and economic activity was heavily constrained by restrictive ideas about status and above all by widespread slavery. From this perspective, the remarkable thing about the Greeks and Romans was that they achieved so much on such a slender material base.

In the last ten years, this model has been challenged, particularly by archaeologists and by historians drawing on a range of documents from Egypt and the Middle East. Recent work has shown that historians relying on literary texts written in Athens and Rome have been misled by the ancient authors attitudes and ideologies, and have systematically underestimated the scale and complexity of ancient economic activity. As well as developing the implications of this new evidence, the contributors to The Cambridge Economic History of the Graeco-Roman World will show the relevance of more explicit application of the tools of the social sciences to the ancient world. The goal is to create a landmark volume that will set the agenda for ancient economic historians for the next generation.

The first drafts of chapters are due in summer 2001, and the contributors will meet for an extended conference in Bellagio, Italy, in 2002. The Cambridge Economic History of the Graeco-Roman World will appear in 2003.

Ian Morris is Willard Professor of Ancient History and Archaeology and Associate Dean of Humanities at Stanford University.

Richard Saller is Ryerson Professor of History and Dean of Social Sciences at the University of Chicago.

Walter Scheidel is Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics and the Social Science History Institute at Stanford University.

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