This ambitious book addresses questions concerning an old theme - the rise and fall of ancient civilization - but does so from a distinctive theoretical perspective by taking its lead from the work of the great German sociologist Max Weber.
Part I Antiquity and historical sociology 1 Max Weber and the theory of ancient capitalism Part II Max Weber and modern scholarship 2 On the economic character of the ancient agricultural estate: Oikos or enterprise? 3 ‘lndustrial production’ and the economic use of slave labour 4 The economic significance of ancient trade 5 The role of state contracting and the societates publicanorum Part III Capitalism and the fate of Roman civilization 6 The nature of the market and the significance of capitalism in Roman antiquity 7 Why rational capitalism was not established in antiquity
