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15 - Labor and Employment

from Part III - Business/Commerce

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2021

By
David M. Lewis
Edited by
Jenifer Neils  and
Dylan K. Rogers
Jenifer Neils
Affiliation:
American School of Classical Studies, Athens
Dylan K. Rogers
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
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Summary

This chapter studies working life at Athens, sketching the range of occupations in the Athenian economy, from farming in the countryside to artisans, vendors, and purveyors of services in the city.

Keywords

laboreconomyoccupationsslaveryartisans
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Athens , pp. 217 - 230
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Further Reading

Much has changed in the last two decades regarding general views of the ancient Greek economy; a splendid, detailed, and up-to-date vade mecum is Bresson 2016. On the range of occupations in Attika, see Harris 2002, with supplements in Lewis 2020. Taylor 2017 provides an overview of the working population of Athens’ living standards; Lewis 2018, 167–193 discusses the slave population, whilst Brock 1994 discusses the labor of women. Spantidaki 2016 provides a wide-ranging study of textile production. Hasaki 2012 is a useful entry-point to the study of the crafts of potter, smith, and mason, while Sanidas 2013 provides a catalogue of excavated workshops. On masons, Hochscheid 2015 is fundamental. See Vidale 2002 for a detailed study (with many images) of the iconography of artisans, along with Oakley 2020, 47–70 for depictions of workshops on Athenian vases. Acton 2014 contains useful discussion of manufacture but should be used with caution (see the useful review of Rotroff in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2015.04.23).

Bibliography

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