Economic Conditions in Fourth-Century Athens

Abstract

The flute players who in 404 B.C. celebrated the demolition of the Athenian walls with a hymn of joy for the liberation of Greece were thought to be hailing the dawn of a new era. It was an era in which Athens herself could participate, for even in defeat she had been spared the worst fate: her citizen population had not been butchered or enslaved; her land was not divided among alien colonists. Nevertheless the future which she faced was expected to be hard, in accordance with her humbled status. Her treasure was spent, her empire at an end; her losses in manpower had been terrible; the farming land which had traditionally been the economic basis of her existence, had been deliberately and extensively damaged. Thucydides in retrospect described the war as the most destructive in history: and Athens had ended as the loser. No wonder that historians have regarded the Peloponnesian War as a turning point of European history; and many have terminated their studies at this point, as if to divert their eyes from the tragic sight of Athens' decline into a new era of poverty and humiliation.

The ethical foundations of economics in ancient Greece, focussing on Socrates and Xenophon

“…This title is sometimes translated as Economics and sometimes as Economist (French, 1991, p. 26; Gordon, 1975, p. 39). …”

Fantasy, Irony, and Economic Justice in Aristophanes'AssemblywomenandWealth

“…and Wealth in 388 B.C.E. Clearly, though, Aristophanes wrote his final plays with an eye toward the suffering of the ordinary Athenian in particular and, more generally, toward the issue of distribution (French 1991;Mossé 1995;Sommerstein 1984). Ober (1989, 17-19, 194-96) emphasizes the clear and consistent distinction drawn in Greek texts of various periods between rich (plousioi) and poor (penetēs), suggesting at the least an ongoing acknowledgement of material inequality.…”

“…There exists some scholarly disagreement over just how far Athens' fortunes fell and just when they began to rebound; and we cannot say with absolute certainty that inequality in fact grew worse during the period, because the fortunes of wealthy Athenians will themselves have declined (Bowie 1993;Strauss 1986). Clearly, though, Aristophanes wrote his final plays with an eye toward the suffering of the ordinary Athenian in particular and, more generally, toward the issue of distribution (French 1991;Mossé 1995;Sommerstein 1984). This suggests the basic potential relevance of Assemblywomen and Wealth to a contemporary engagement with economic change.…”