Product Description

The economy of the late antique Mediterranean is still largely seen through the prism of Weber's influential essay of 1896. Rejecting that orthodoxy, this book argues that the late empire saw substantial economic and social change, propelled by the powerful stimulus of a stable gold coinage that circulated widely. In successive chapters Dr Banaji adduces fresh evidence for the prosperity of the late Roman countryside, the expanding circulation of gold, the restructuring of agrarian
elites, and the extensive use of paid labour, above all in the period spanning the fifth to seventh centuries. The papyrological evidence is scrutinised in detail to show that a key development entailed the rise of a new aristocracy whose estates were immune to the devastating fragmentation of partible inheritance, extensively irrigated, and responsive to market opportunities.The study offers a new perspective on the still largely contested issues of the use and control of labour, arguing that
the East Mediterranean saw a considerable expansion of wage employment. A concluding chapter defines the more general issue raised by the aristocracy's involvement in the monetary and business economy of the period.

Exploiting a wide range of sources, Agrarian Change in Late Antiquity weaves together different strands of historiography (Weber, Mickwitz, papyrology, agrarian history) into a fascinating interpretation that challenges the minimalist orthodoxies about late antiquity and the ancient economy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2186061 in Books
• Published on: 2002-01-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 303 pages

Greece & Rome
"This work is indispensable."

Greece & Rome
"This work is indispensable."

Religious Studies Review
"The argument is complex, but well presented, and will be of keen interest to all scholars and graduate students engaged in the study of the economy in late antiquity."