Commerce and Social Standing in Ancient Rome / John H. D'Arms.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

D'Arms, John H., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social classes--History--Rome.

Social classes.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (219 p.): 2 Ktn.

Edition:

Reprint 2013

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2014]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

John D'Arms explores here a question of central importance for the social economic history of the Roman world: which sectors of society were actively engaged in trade? In the late Roman Republic and early Empire senators were prohibited by law from direct participation in seaborne commerce; trade was not considered a respectable pursuit. Yet large fortunes were amassed by men of rank through a variety of lucrative enterprises. Exploiting the evidence of literature, archaeology, and inscription, D'Arms constructs case histories which reveal how senators realized commercial profits by indirect involvement: freedmen, municipal notables, and "friends" often served as the equivalent of partners or agents of aristocrats with large holdings in land. In demonstrating a flexibility in upper-class attitudes toward commercial activity, he offers a study in the adaptation of a social system to economic realities.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Preface

Contents

Figures

Abbreviations

1. Traders in Roman Society: Two Approaches

2. Attitudes, Conduct, and Commercial Organization in the Late Republic

3. Senators and Commerce

4. Luxury, Productivity, and Decline: Villa Society on the Bay of Naples

5. The "Typicality" of Trimalchi

6. The Freedmen of Puteoli and Ostia in Imperial Economy and Society

7. Attitudes, Conduct, and Commercial Organization in the Early Empire

Appendix. Augustales of Puteoli and Ostia

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Mai 2019)

ISBN:

0-674-33119-2

OCLC:

162344595