The Ancient Economy

Question 1

Economy without money - Linear B

Answer 1

Linear B and the reality of the Minoan world - centralised command economy based on confiscation and redistribution

Question 2

Invention of coinage

Answer 2

560 BC in Lydia
Value determined by weight and metal quality
Function - everyday transactions or larger payments
In the Greek world the principle of producing coinage is borrowed overtime from Lydia
Each city mints their own coins

Question 3

The markets

Answer 3

Greek - agora

Latin - forum

Question 4

Scholarly debate on the ancient economy - modernism

Answer 4

Structure of the ancient economy similar to that of the modern world. Only difference being the scale of the economy

Question 5

Scholarly debate on the ancient economy - primitivism

Answer 5

Fundamentally different from the modern economy in terms of structure as well as scale

Question 6

Scholarly debate on the ancient economy - substantivism

Answer 6

Economic behaviour motivated by a different set of attitudes, sometimes said that the ancient economy is ‘embedded in society’

Question 7

Economy without money - Homer

Answer 7

Examples in the Iliad and the Odyssey that economy is based on reciprocity - the exchanging of goods