the seleukid royal economy

13 Pages·2004·0.42 MB·English

Cambridge University Press
0521837073 - The Seleukid Royal Economy: The Finances and Financial Administration of
the Seleukid Empire
G. G. Aperghis
Frontmatter
More information
THE SELEUKID ROYAL ECONOMY
The Seleukid empire, the principal successor-state of the empire
of Alexander the Great, endured for over two hundred years and
stretched,atitspeak,fromtheMediterraneantothebordersofIndia.
Thisbookprovidesawide-rangingstudyoftheempire’seconomyand
themethodsusedbytheSeleukidkingstomonetizeandmanageitso
astoextracttribute,rentandtaxesasefficientlyaspossible.Itusesa
varietyofGreekliterarysourcesandinscriptions,cuneiformtextsand
archaeologicalandnumismaticandcomparativeevidencetoexplore
in detail the manner of exploitation of their lands and subjects by
theSeleukidkings,theircity-buildingactivity,thefinancingoftheir
armies and administration, the use they made of coinage and their
methodsoffinancialmanagement.Thebookadoptsahighlyoriginal
numerical approach throughout, which leads to a quantified model
oftheeconomyofanancientstate.
makis aperghis originally studied engineering at the University
of Cambridge. He returned to the study of ancient history and was
awardedadoctoratefromUniversityCollegeLondon(2000).
© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press
0521837073 - The Seleukid Royal Economy: The Finances and Financial Administration of
the Seleukid Empire
G. G. Aperghis
Frontmatter
More information
THE SELEUKID ROYAL
ECONOMY
The Finances and Financial Administration
of the Seleukid Empire
G. G. APERGHIS
© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press
0521837073 - The Seleukid Royal Economy: The Finances and Financial Administration of
the Seleukid Empire
G. G. Aperghis
Frontmatter
More information
published by the press syndicate of the university of cambridge
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noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithout
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Firstpublished2004
PrintedintheUnitedKingdomattheUniversityPress,Cambridge
TypefaceAdobeGaramond11/12.5pt. SystemLATEX2ε [tb]
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isbn0521837073hardback
© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press
0521837073 - The Seleukid Royal Economy: The Finances and Financial Administration of
the Seleukid Empire
G. G. Aperghis
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More information
Contents
Listoffigures pageviii
Listoftables ix
Preface xi
Listofabbreviations xiii
Map.TheHellenisticNearEast xiv
Introduction 1
part i preliminaries
1 Sourcesandmethods 7
1. Classicalliterature 7
2. Ps.-Aristotle’sOikonomika,Book2 7
3. Greekinscriptions,papyri,parchmentsandostraka 8
4. Locallanguagesources 9
5. Archaeology 12
6. Numismatics 16
2 Historicalsummary 19
3 Theposingofaproblem 29
part ii the underlying economy
4 Geographyandpopulation 35
1. Mesopotamia 36
2. TheUpperSatrapies 40
3. NorthernSyriaandKilikia 44
4. AsiaMinor 46
5. KoileSyria 49
6. Adifferentapproachtopopulation 51
7. Totalpopulation 56
v
© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press
0521837073 - The Seleukid Royal Economy: The Finances and Financial Administration of
the Seleukid Empire
G. G. Aperghis
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vi Contents
5 Productionandexchange 59
1. Agriculture 59
2. Animalhusbandry 63
3. Naturalresources 64
4. Industry 69
5. Trade 70
6. Prices 78
6 Thegrantingofland 87
1. Landownership 87
2. Thenewcities 89
3. Landgrantstoindividuals 99
4. Thetreatmentoftemples 107
5. Conclusionsonthegrantingofland 112
part iii the royal economy
7 Ps.-Aristotle’sOikonomika,Book2 117
1. Textandtranslation(Book2,section1) 118
2. Intendedaudience 129
3. Dateofthework 129
4. ConclusionsontheOikonomika,Book2 135
8 Revenue 137
1. Revenuefromland 137
2. Revenuefromnaturalresources 152
3. Revenuefrommarketcentres 157
4. Revenuefromtravelandtransportbylandandfromsales 160
5. Revenuefromanimals 163
6. Revenuefromheadtaxes 164
7. Casestudy–SeleukidJudaea 166
8. Extraordinaryrevenue 171
9. Revenueinsilverorcommodities? 176
10. Conclusionsonrevenue 179
9 Thehandlingofsurpluses 181
1. EvidencefromtheAchaemenidempire 181
2. EvidencefromHellenistictexts 185
3. Conclusionsonthehandlingofsurpluses 188
10 Expenditure 189
1. Militaryexpenses 189
2. Costoftheprovincialadministration 205
3. Costofthekingandhiscourt 207
© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press
0521837073 - The Seleukid Royal Economy: The Finances and Financial Administration of
the Seleukid Empire
G. G. Aperghis
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Contents vii
4. Extraordinaryexpenditure 207
5. Conclusionsonexpenditure 211
11 Coinage 213
1. Mints 214
2. Coinageissues 216
3. Coincategories 218
4. Coinagecirculation 226
5. ‘Peacetime’and‘Wartime’coinage 236
6. Thespecialissues 243
7. Conclusionsoncoinage 245
12 AmodeloftheSeleukideconomy 247
1. Population 247
2. Royalrevenue 248
3. Production 251
4. Royalexpenditureandsurplus 259
5. Coinage 260
6. Conclusionsonthemodel 262
13 Financialadministration 263
1. Achaemenidpractice 264
2. ThechangewithAlexander 266
3. TheperiodoftheSuccessors 267
4. Seleukidfinancialadministrators 269
5. Thedioike¯te¯s,theoikonomosandtheepito¯nprosodo¯n 269
6. Theeklogiste¯sandthelogeute¯s 281
7. Otherfinancialofficials 284
8. ComparisonwithAchaemenidpractice 289
9. Aneedtoreinterpretsometexts 290
10. AntiochosIasfinancialadministrator 293
11. Conclusionsonfinancialadministration 294
Generalconclusions 297
1. Thesolvingofaproblem 297
2. ThenatureoftheSeleukidroyaleconomy 298
Appendix1 Coinhoardslists 304
1. Largesilver 304
2. Smallsilver 307
3. Gold 308
Appendix2 Documentsandtranslations 310
References 332
Index 350
© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press
0521837073 - The Seleukid Royal Economy: The Finances and Financial Administration of
the Seleukid Empire
G. G. Aperghis
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Figures
4.1 EstimatedpopulationoftheSeleukidempireovertime page57
5.1 Asimplemodeloflocaltradeusingsilverasits
mediumofexchange 71
5.2 Barleyprices 79
5.3 Sesameprices 82
5.4 Cardamom/cressprices 83
5.5 Woolprices 83
5.6 Dateprices 84
5.7 Mustardprices 85
12.1 EstimatedannualrevenueoftheSeleukidkings 252
viii
© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press
0521837073 - The Seleukid Royal Economy: The Finances and Financial Administration of
the Seleukid Empire
G. G. Aperghis
Frontmatter
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Tables
4.1 EstimatedpopulationoftheSeleukidempirebyregion page56
10.1 Seleukidarmynumbersinmajorcampaigns 191
11.1 PatternofSeleukidcoinageissues 217
11.2 EstimatedpercentageoflargeSeleukidsilverwithinthe
circulationpool 229
11.3 CoinproductionateasternmintsunderAntiochosIIIand
SeleukosIV 240
ix
© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press
0521837073 - The Seleukid Royal Economy: The Finances and Financial Administration of
the Seleukid Empire
G. G. Aperghis
Frontmatter
More information
Preface
Thisbookislikelytobecontroversial.Itreflectsaviewonhowancienteco-
nomichistorycouldbewrittenthatisprobablynotsharedbythemajority
of scholars. It also ventures across a number of disciplines, where those
moreknowledgeablethanIammaywellfindfaultwithmymethods.
Thebookisinfluencedbyseveralfactors.Itreflectsanoriginaltraining
inengineering,whereIwastaughttwothingswell:mathematicsandhow
togoaboutanalysingaproblemfromfirstprinciples.Acareerfollowedin
thecomputer-softwarebusiness,whereIlearnedthatthelogicalapproach
ofsystemsanalysiscanalsobeputtogooduseinthefieldofancienthistory.
A side benefit is that the ability to actually program a computer certainly
givesonegreaterfreedominexploringproblems.
The study of ancient history had occupied me for many years, and
when I received formal training, it was at the hands of excellent teachers
atUniversityCollegeLondon.ThisresultedinaPh.D.inFebruary2000
andthedissertationonwhichthisbookisbased.Ame´lieKuhrt,mymain
supervisor,firstinterestedmeintheSeleukids,butitwas,moreimportantly,
the influence of her teaching of the history of the ancient Near East that
decided me to embark upon a study of the Seleukid empire as, in many
ways,acontinuationofitspredecessorsintheregion.Ame´liepainstakingly
read and corrected my work and continuously added to my knowledge
asIprogressed.MichaelCrawford,mysecondsupervisor,encouragedme
to break away from the trodden path and develop original ideas, but he
alsocontrolledmyexcessesinthemanyareasofhisexpertise,whetheran
incorrect translation of a Greek text or a shaky interpretation of a source
oradubiouscalculation.Ioweagreatdealtobothofmysupervisorsand
a particular debt to Robert van der Spek for his detailed criticism and
many useful suggestions as the book matured into its final form. I would
also like to thank several other scholars for having gone to the trouble
to read the entire text at various stages in its development and for their
xi
© Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org
Cambridge University Press
0521837073 - The Seleukid Royal Economy: The Finances and Financial Administration of
the Seleukid Empire
G. G. Aperghis
Frontmatter
More information
xii Preface
comments, advice and encouragement: Dominic Rathbone, John Davies,
AndrewMeadows,JoeManningandMiltosHatzopoulos.
Finally, this book has, no doubt, been influenced by the fact that I am
Greek,butitis,Ihope,anhonestattempttoviewtheSeleukidempirefroma
distinctlynon-Hellenocentricstandpoint.Accordingly,Ihaveplacedmyself
veryfirmlyinAsia,inMesopotamiamostly,wheretheGreekheartlandof
the Aegean was as peripheral as Baktria. From such a stance, it is clear
howconsiderablethedebtowedbytheSeleukidempirewastothosethat
precededitintheNearEast.
On a personal note, I could never have attempted and completed this
very enjoyable study of the ancient world without the consideration and
supportofmywife,Myrto,andchildren,DimitrisandAtalandi,towhom
Idedicateit.
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