This book reconstructs the life and workings of a large private estate in Egypt under Roman rule in the third century AD, on the basis of hundreds of surviving letters and accounts written on papyrus. Topics include the social and economic position of the estate's owners, managers and workforce, its production and marketing of crops and its system of accounting, which is the most sophisticated yet known from the ancient world, and challenges the common belief that economic thought and practice were uniformly "primitive" in the ancient world. The second section of the book includes the...

Volume 11 of the second edition of The Cambridge Ancient History covers the history of the Roman empire from AD 70 to 192--Vespasian to the Antonines. The volume begins with the political and military history of the period. Developments in the structure of the empire are then examined, including the organization and personnel of the central government and province-based institutions and practices. A series of provincial studies follows, and the society, economy and culture of the empire as a whole are reviewed in a group of thematic chapters.

This book reconstructs the life and workings of a large private estate in Egypt under Roman rule in the third century AD, on the basis of hundreds of surviving letters and accounts written on papyrus. Topics include the social and economic position of the estate's owners, managers and workforce, its production and marketing of crops and its system of accounting, which is the most sophisticated yet known from the ancient world, and challenges the common belief that economic thought and practice were uniformly "primitive" in the ancient world. The second section of the book includes the...