Mediterranean Commercial Activity in Antiquity

The Open Sea is a synthesis of current thought on the nature of the economies of Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Levant during the eight centuries from about 1000 BC through the end of the Hellenistic era and the rise of Rome, in order “to set premodern Mediterranean economies in their social and environmental context” (p. 6).

Spurning numerous theoretical models invented by modern scholars often with a conscious ideological slant (e.g., Marxist, free market capitalist, etc.), Prof. Manning (Yale) compares contemporary economic activities – then primarily agriculture and trade – within the framework of regional environmental, social, and political influences. He makes a good case for seeing slavery or other forms of forced labor as one of the primary drivers of these economies, touches on differing responses to climate change, and reminds us that in these societies the idea of some distinction between public and private institutions, government, religion, individual and state did not exist as we understand these today.

Manning addresses both war and piracy within the framework of the economies of the times, and while not primarily about those matters, The Open Sea will prove interesting reading for students of those subjects, and of course for any student of the ancient Mediterranean world.

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Note: The Open Sea is also available in hard cover and e-editions.

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