Studies in Ancient Society (Routledge Revivals)

by M.I. Finley

Overview

Originally published in 1978, this volume comprises articles previously published in the historical journal, Past and Present, ranging over nearly a thousand years of Graeco-Roman history. The essays focus primarily on the Roman Empire, reflecting the increase, in British scholarship of the post-war years, of explanatory, ‘structuralist’ studies of this period in Roman history. The topics treated include Athenian politics, the Roman conquest of the east, violence in the later Roman Republic, the second Sophistic, and persecutions of the early Christians. The authors have all produced original studies, a number of which have generated significant research by other ancient historians.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415694803
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/26/2011
Series:	Routledge Revivals
Edition description:	Reissue
Pages:	338
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Introduction (M. I. Finley, Jesus College, Cambridge) 1. Athenian Demagogues (M. I. Finley, Jesus College, Cambridge) 2. Aristotle and Economic Analysis (M. I. Finley, Jesus College, Cambridge) 3. Rome and the Class Struggle in the Greek States 200-146 B.C. (John Briscoe, University of Manchester) 4. The Roman Mob (P. A. Brunt, Brasenose College, Oxford) 5. Elite Mobility in the Roman Empire (Keith Hopkins, Brunel University) 6. Social Mobility in the Early Roman Empire: The Evidence of the Imperial Freedmen and Slaves (P. R. C. Weaver, University of Tasmania) 7. Legal Privilege in the Roman Empire (Peter Garnsey, University of Cambridge) 8. Greeks and their Past in the Second Sophistic (E. L. Bowie, Corpus Christi College, Oxford) 9. Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted (G. E. M. de Ste Croix, New College, Oxford) 10. Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted: An Amendment (A. N. Sherwin-White, St John’s College, Oxford) 11. Why Were the Early Christians Persecuted: A Rejoinder (G. E. M. de Ste Croix, New College, Oxford) 12. The Failure of the Persecutions in the Roman Empire (W. H. C. Frend, University of Glasgow) 13. The roman Colonate (A. H. M. Jones, University of Cambridge) 14. Peasant Revolts in Late Roman Gaul and Spain (E. A. Thompson, University of Nottingham)

Editorial Reviews

'The papers vary from the interesting to the very good indeed and are all well argued. What they have in common is a concern with theoretical and practical systems, political, social and economic and with related attitudes of mind.' - The Times Educational Supplement

'As Professor Finley points out in his introduction, the authors are concerned not only with the explanation of change and movement, but with a perspective which pays close attention to the complex and, to many, esoteric social structure of the classical world. It is the last point which will make this collection appeal to many more than ancient historians.' - Economist

'offer[s] much food for thought to readers of all persuasions.' - Barry Baldwin

From the Publisher