The Seleukid royal economy : the finances and financial administration of the Seleukid empire / G.G. Aperghis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Aperghis, G. G. (Gerassimos George), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Seleucids.

Syria--History--333 B.C.-634 A.D.

Syria.

Syria--Economic conditions.

Middle East--History--To 622.

Middle East.

Middle East--Economic conditions.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xv, 361 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The Seleukid empire, the principal successor-state of the empire of Alexander the Great, endured for over 200 years and stretched, at its peak, from the Mediterranean to the borders of India. This book provides a wide-ranging study of the empire's economy and the methods used by the Seleukid kings to monetise and manage it so as to extract tribute, rent and taxes as efficiently as possible. It uses a variety of Greek literary sources and inscriptions, cuneiform texts, archaeological, numismatic and comparative evidence to explore in detail the manner of exploitation of their lands and subjects by the Seleukid kings, their city-building activity, the financing of their armies and administration, the use they made of coinage and their methods of financial management. The book adopts a highly original, numerical approach throughout, which leads to a quantified model of the economy of an ancient state.

Contents:

Sources and methods

Historical summary

The posing of a problem

Geography and population

Production and exchange

The granting of land

Ps.-Aristotle's Oikonomika, Book 2

Revenue

The handling of surpluses

Expenditure

Coinage

A model of the Seleukid economy

Financial administration

Appendix 1 : Coin hoards lists

Appendix 2 : Documents and translations.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Includes bibliographical references (p. 332-349) and index.

ISBN:

1-107-16159-2

1-280-74965-2

0-511-26489-5

0-511-26561-1

0-511-26332-5

0-511-31734-4

0-511-48269-8

0-511-26413-5

OCLC:

171140312