A major new economic history of the ancient Mediterranean world
In The Open Sea, J. G. Manning offers a major new history of economic
life in the Mediterranean world during the Iron Age, from Phoenician
trading down to the Hellenistic era and the beginning of Rome's
supremacy. Drawing on a wide range of ancient sources and the latest
social theory, Manning suggests that the search for an illusory single
ancient economy has obscured the diversity of the Mediterranean world,
including changes in political economies over time and differences in
cultural conceptions of property and money. At the same time, this
groundbreaking book shows how the region's economies became increasingly
interconnected during this period--and why the origins of the modern
economy extend far beyond Greece and Rome.