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8 - Athens and the Aegean

from Part II - Regional Perspectives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2022

By
Sylvian Fachard  and
Alain Bresson
Edited by
Sitta von Reden
Sitta von Reden
Affiliation:
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany
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Summary

Athens and the Aegean were at the centre of the economic life of the Greek world in the late archaic and classical period. Like the other cities of the Aegean, Athens actively exploited its territory, but the specific characteristic of its economy was the presence of the Laurium mines, which gave it an unbeatable natural advantage over the other players. In the Hellenistic period, the Aegean cities were only one of the many players on the international landscape, and they had lost their pre-eminence, although to a certain extent the city of Rhodes succeeded Athens in its role of platform for international trade, and the little island of Delos ended in being for a while the main hub of trans-Mediterranean trade.

Keywords

grainwineoilcharcoalAthensLaurium minesAegean islandsChiosRhodesagorasharborstaxesmarkets
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to the Ancient Greek Economy , pp. 106 - 123
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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