Skilled Labour and Professionalism in Ancient Greece and Rome
Skilled Labour and Professionalism in Ancient Greece and Rome
Edward Harris, University of Durham
David Lewis, University of Edinburgh
£83.00
GBPThis book is a history of ancient Greek and Roman professionals: doctors, seers, sculptors, teachers, musicians, actors, athletes and soldiers. These individuals were specialist workers deemed to possess rare skills, for which they had undergone a period of training. They operated in a competitive labour market in which proven expertise was a key commodity. Success in the highest regarded professions was often rewarded with a significant income and social status. Rivalries between competing practitioners could be fierce. Yet on other occasions, skilled workers co-operated in developing associations that were intended to facilitate and promote the work of professionals. The oldest collegial code of conduct, the Hippocratic Oath, a version of which is still taken by medical professionals today, was similarly the creation of a prominent ancient medical school. This collection of articles reveals the crucial role of occupation and skill in determining the identity and status of workers in antiquity.
- Provides a definition of professionalism and other terminology in the introduction and throughout
- Provides a detailed discussion of specialization in ancient Athens and Ostia and details 276 distinct occupations in Athens
- Provides surveys and case studies of major professions, including ancient theatrical performers, doctors, philosophers, sculptors and artists
Reviews & endorsements
'Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.' M. A. Byron, Choice
Product details
September 2020Hardback
9781108839471
350 pages
160 × 235 × 30 mm
0.76kg
20 b/w illus.
Available
Table of Contents
- Introduction Edmund Stewart, Edward Harris and David Lewis
- Part I. Professionals and Professional Identity in Greece and Rome:
- 1. Many Ancient Greek occupations, few professions Edward Harris
- 2. Skilled workers in the ancient Greek city: public employment, selection methods and evaluation Natacha Massar
- 3. Money making, 'avarice', and elite strategies of distinction in the Roman world Emanuel Mayer
- Part II. Specialization and the Division of Labour in the Ancient City:
- 4. Labour specialization in the Athenian economy: occupational hazards David Lewis
- 5. The perception of 'skills' in Ostia: the evidence of monuments and written sources Alice Landskron
- Part III. Case Studies of Professions 1: Sculpture:
- 6. Professionalism in archaic and classical sculpture in Athens: the price of technē Helle Hochscheid
- 7. Artists beyond Athens: the freedoms and restrictions of the artistic profession in classical Greece Margit Linder
- 8. Roman sculptors at work: professional practitioners? Ben Russell
- Part IV. Case Studies of Professions 2: Music and Athletics:
- 9. The profession of mousikē in classical Greece Edmund Stewart
- 10. Artists of Dionysus: the first professional associations in the ancient Greek world Sophia Aneziri
- 11. Neither amateurs nor professionals: the status of Greek athletes Christian Mann
- Part V. Case Studies of Professions 3: A Profession of Arms?:
- 12. Professionalism, specialization and skill in the classical Spartan army? Stephen Hodkinson
- 13. A professional Roman army? Doug Lee.
