Originally published on June 27, 2020 (Episode 164)
Introduction
For generations historians have talked about “the ancient economy.” When they want to be more specific, they have written of “the ancient Mediterranean economy.” Given the diversity of the ancient Mediterranean world, that’s not much more specific. Indeed, sometimes the search for unity has obscured the beauty of specificity, and even how economies and cultures changed over time.
In his book The Open Sea: The Economic Life of the Ancient Mediterranean World from the Iron Age to the Rise of Rome, Joseph G. Manning seeks to understand the economies of the ancient Mediterranean prior to the rise of Rome. But he’s also meditating on theories of the origin of economies, and their interconnection both to one another and to the human and natural world around them.
It’s not a large book, physically; but there is a great deal between its covers.
About the Guest
Joseph G. Manning has since 2009 been the William Kelly and Marilyn Milton Simpson Professor of Classics and History at Yale University. He is also a Senior Research Scholar at Yale Law School and Professor of Forestry and Environmental Studies in the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. His research focuses on ancient economies, Ptolemaic Egypt, and the interaction of natural and human systems in antiquity.
For Further Investigation
J.G. Manning, The Open Sea: The Economic Life of the Ancient Mediterranean World from the Iron Age to the Rise of Rome (Princeton University Press, 2018)
Yale University Department of Classics faculty page for Joseph G. Manning
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