The best introduction to key topics in ancient economic and social history is Garnsey and Saller 1987; although it focuses on Rome, many of the issues discussed are equally relevant to Greece. Austin and Vidal-Naquet 1977 has less discussion but an excellent selection of ancient evidence. Scheidel, Morris, and Sailer 2007 is now the indispensable reference volume for the economic history of antiquity. The “classics” of the subject, Rostozvtzeff 1941 and 1957 (2nd edn) and Finley 1999 (3rd edn), remain well worth reading. The papers collected in Scheidel and von Reden 2002, especially those by Cartledge and Andreau, offer a useful overview of the modernizer-primitivist debate and the contribution of Finley. K. Greene 1986 provides a clear survey of the archaeological evidence and its uses. Morley 1998 discusses the way that early economists discussed the ancient economy. Examples of new approaches to the subject can be found in recent collections of articles like Cartledge et al. 2002 and Manning and Morris 2005, and in books like Horden and Purcell 2000 and Morley 2007. See also Davies, ANCIENT ECONOMIES, with further reading there.
On social history and social theory, P. Burke 2005 offers an excellent general introduction. Morley 2004 discusses both the theoretical aspects of using models, theories, and modern terminology, and a range of examples including “class” and “status.” Further reading on this topic includes de Ste. Croix 1981, Beard and Crawford 1985 and Nicolet 1980. For the “consumer city” model, Finley 1981a, Hopkins 1978a and Morley 1996. Hopkins 1978b and 1983 remain classics of sociologically informed and theoretically sophisticated ancient social history.
World History
