The Economy of the Greek Cities: From the Archaic Period to the Early Roman Empire

1. The Greek Cities and the Economy

one The Greek Cities and the Economy 15 This chapter presents a broad outline of the material, mental, and institutional context within which the economy of Greek cities developed. It constitutes a basis for the three chapters that follow it and introduces a number of questions that they will pursue and study more closely. CONSTANTS AND CONSTRAINTS The Geographical Setting Except for the cities established at the heart of Asia Minor and in the Middle East, natural conditions were essentially similar, give or take a few variants, throughout the Greek world. Those conditions were certainly harsher and more unyielding than can be imagined by today’s tourists and vacationers . As the historian Herodotus wrote in the fifth century b.c. (VII.102), “In Hellas poverty is ever native to the soil, but courage comes of [one’s] own seeking, the fruit of wisdom and strong law” (translated by A.D. Godley, The Loeb Classical Library, 1950). Despite a gradual rise in sea levels, which has altered the details of some of its coasts, the topography of the Mediterranean is still as it was 2,500 years ago. Geologically speaking, the land is young, and it is therefore unstable. A number of volcanoes are still active, and earthquakes are relatively frequent. Mountains occupy at least 80 percent of the Greek lands, in the Mediterranean area at any rate, and more than 90 percent in the small islands of the Aegean. The many barriers they form certainly affected the creation of new cities. From an economic point of view, these mountains limit the number and size of the plains and plateaus suited to agriculture and stock-raising, and they also complicate and impede travel and transport. The land offers a variety of possibilities for agriculture, stock-raising, hunting, and forestry, but on the whole it is rocky, and its productivity is mediocre. Several studies have shown that the forests of pines, oaks, beeches, and chestnut trees used to be more numerous and more dense than they are today. But as early as the archaic period they were probably giving way to agriculture, heaths, and scrubland. In the classical period their coppices and bushes still provided enough firewood and material for charcoal but no longer supplied enough for the construction of buildings or ships. The effects of agriculture are controversial. Some believe that it progressively exhausted and eroded the soil. But in truth intensive use and care of the land, particularly terracing, seem to be the best ways to preserve it. The land also provided some excellent clay, an abundance of stone and, in particular, fine marble. Mineral resources varied from one place to another: there were many seams of iron; a little copper, which was mixed with tin 16 / The Greek Cities and the Economy imported from afar to create objects of bronze; and, most important , the gold and silver of several mines were used in making precious objects and coins. The sea was never far away, at least in the Mediterranean area and the Black Sea region. In fact, the Greeks preferred to settle along the coasts or not far from them, and even cities further inland generally enjoyed access to a port not far distant. Thanks to the many sheltered coves and landmarks offered by the indented coastline and the islands, particularly those in the Aegean, the Greeks made the sea their “royal road” for the purposes of communication. Moreover, the sea not only created salt- flats but provided ample fishing stocks that were exploited wherever possible. Many Greek poets and learned men have sung the praises of their well-balanced climate; and since most Greeks lived in a Mediterranean climate, we may disregard the continental zones of Asia Minor and the Middle East. The Greek climate was characterized by two sharply contrasted seasons, as it still is today. By April the spring begins to herald the heat and aridity of summer. The end of September sees the return of rains, sometimes torrential, and cold. The cold increases as the months pass, but, except in the mountainous regions, with their ice and snow it is never really bitter. Outdoor life, universally adopted in the summer, is now much reduced. But most important for agriculture and stock-raising is the rainy season, which is indispensable both for vegetation and for replenishing the wells, cisterns , and reservoirs with stores of water. The rains are borne in by westerly winds in...