Did they make money in anciet greece for pays

The ancient Greek economy is somewhat of an enigma. Given the remoteness of ancient Greek civilization, the evidence is minimal and difficulties of interpretation abound. Ancient Greek civilization flourished from around to 30 B. Throughout these periods of ancient Greek civilization, the level of technology was nothing like it is today and values developed that shaped the economy in unique ways. Thus, despite over a century of investigation, scholars are still debating the nature of the ancient Greek economy. Moreover, the evidence is insufficient to employ all but the most basic quantitative methods of modern economic analysis and has forced scholars to employ other more qualitative methods of investigation. This brief sid, therefore, will not include any of the paus, tables, charts, or graphs that normally accompany economic studies. Rather, it will attempt to set out the types of evidence available for studying the ancient Greek economy, to describe briefly the long-running debate about the ancient Greek economy and the most widely accepted model of it, and then to present a basic view of the various sectors of the ancient Greek economy during the three major phases of its history. In addition, reference will be made to some recent scholarly trends in the field.

Life Around Town in Ancient Greece

The first coins were struck in 7th-century Lydia in Western Turkey. The new coins offered a convenient way to pay with pre-weighed pieces of metal, which were guaranteed by an authority. For centuries before this, people had been using cut-up silver bullion to conduct transactions, a practice that continued alongside bartering for many centuries. Due to the influence of Greek cities, coinage became a popular form of money that spread rapidly over the entire Mediterranean world and beyond. For the first years, coins were struck predominantly in silver, and the value of a coin was closely tied to its weight as bullion. In order to allow for smaller transactions, many Greek cities began to mint low-value bronze coins. Coins allowed people to facilitate long-distance trade and daily transactions, or simply to hoard savings. But despite a fairly well-developed coinage system, it is likely that most people in the ancient world, who lived in a largely agrarian society, did not use coins on a daily basis. The design of Greek coins is important for the understanding of world coins of all periods. Many of the design features of coins, such as portraits or certain emblems, were first used on Greek coins. The engravers that created the dies for coins were sometimes outstanding artists, whose work survives in the miniature pieces of art. The first coins were made of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver that occurred naturally in local rivers. In the 6th century, Croesus, king of Lydia, began to strike coins of solid gold and silver. Soon afterwards, cities and rulers all over the Mediterranean world adopted coins for long-distance trade and local commerce.

Darel Tai Engen, California State University – San Marcos

Imagine a progressive tax — in other words, a tax that falls on those most able to pay; a tax that results in the rich paying — quite voluntarily — more than they are obliged, instead of trying to avoid it; a tax that’s spent according to the wishes of the person who paid it; a tax that involves little bureaucracy. We have a great deal to thank the Ancient Greeks for: to mathematics, science, drama, and philosophy, add their taxation system — or rather, lack of — to the list. The Greeks put taxation in the field of ethics: The liberty or despotism of a society could be measured by its system of taxes. We should admire them not so much for the way that they taxed, but the way that they didn’t. There was no tax on income. Taxes were not the way by which the wealth of the rich was shared with the people. Instead, this was achieved by a voluntary alternative: liturgy. The word liturgy — from the ancient Greek leitourgia — means «public service» or «work of the people. The Titan Prometheus created humanity and was its greatest benefactor, giving the gift of fire, which he stole from Mount Olympus. The Goddess Athena gave the citizenry the olive tree, symbol of peace and prosperity, and so the city of Athens was named after her. The philosopher Aristotle developed the theme. His «magnificent man» gave vast sums to the community. But poor men could never be «magnificent» because they did not have the financial means.

Life Around Town in Ancient Greece

Many of the Ancient Greek states issued coins. Some people collect them and some major museums have large collections of Ancient Greek coins on display. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site can not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with prior written permission of Multiply.

Hottest Questions. Previously Viewed. Unanswered Questions. Asked in Ancient Greece. Whatever the amount of the piece of money, that’s what it. Asked in Ancient Greece What is ancient Greece money made out of?

Ancient Greece did use gold. Money in Ancient Greece varied from state to state, but the did they make money in anciet greece for pays common currency, being used most in Athens, was the Drachma and Obol. A democracy was use in Athens, in Ancient Greece.

Asked in Ancient Greece 3 contributions from ancient Greece to the world? Those with the money to pay for it, and willing to part with that money. Asked in Ancient Greece How does the deep valley effect ancient Greece?

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Asked in Theater Where did formal theater begin? The richest landowners who had to money to sponsor. Asked in Greece What does ther people of Greece call there money? Asked in Ancient Greece What was ancient Greece money used for? To buy goods and services, just as money is used today.

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Throughout history and throughout the world all sorts of things have been used for money… beads, shells, salt, amber, cocoa beans, jade, ivory, copper, silver, gold, pigs, oxen, feathers, tobacco and so on. Some of these were selected for portability, some for their decorative ddi, and others for their immediate availability as food. What all had in common is that, for some period of time, they were recognized by the society in which they were used as an acceptable medium of exchange and as a means of paying debt. There were various occasions in the lives of the early Greeks when they were called upon to make payments. Perhaps someone ni the family had deliberately or accidentally it made no difference! Possibly a father had agreed occasionally with her consent to provide his daughter’s hand in marriage to a prospective husband. Ancist she was expected to come with an adequate dowry, and one she was entitled to get back with interest should the marriage not work did they make money in anciet greece for pays. In earlier times, the dowry arrangements were reversed. Originally, it was a payment made to the father of the bride by the prospective groom in compensation for the loss of the daughter’s services. But times change! There were also taxes to be paid, tribute that was expected, the ;ays to fulfill religious obligations, opportunities to trade with foreign merchants — all demands which could be easily satisfied via a portable and widely-accepted currency. From Lydia, its psys spread throughout the Greek realm and soon cities such as Aegina, Ancuet, Rhodes and Athens were minting their own coins, according to their own standards. The first generation of coins produced by the Lydians was made of electrum, a naturally-occurring pale yellow alloy of gold and silver, commonly called white gold. These were not perfectly circular like today’s coins. In fact, they looked somewhat like squashed kidney beans anxiet flat pebbles with a stamped design on one. If you want to get a good approximation of the size and shape of early coins, make a short rope out of plasticene or putty and squeeze it between your thumb and forefinger. What you will be left with is a piece of material indented in the middle with irregular edges, thicker in some places than. This made the coins difficult to stack. Also, because the shapes and thickness of the coins varied it wasn’t long before some enterprising cheaters began to shave bits off the thicker parts of the coins. The minters responded by putting extensive designs on the lays and by sid a raised circle around the rim. These only remotely resembled the handsome coins that eventually would be distributed by any Greek city-state of significant size, the coins proudly bearing the city’s emblem on one side and, perhaps, the head mxke its patron god or goddess on the .