Economy of Ancient Greece
At the turn of the 3rd-2nd millennium BC. e. An ancient Greek republic arose in the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula. Early economic growth was facilitated by a convenient geographical location (trade routes) and the improvement of productive forces (the production of copper and then bronze was mastered). The basis of agriculture was farming of a new multicultural type - the so-called “Mediterranean triad”, focused on the simultaneous cultivation of three crops - cereals, mainly barley, grapes and olives. A significant shift occurred around 2200 BC. e. The potter's wheel became known and exchange developed. The proximity of ancient eastern civilizations had an effect.
The following periods of development of Ancient Greece can be distinguished: Cretan-Mecenaean (XXX-XII centuries BC), Homeric (XI-IX centuries BC), Archaic (VIII-VI centuries BC). ), classical (V-IV centuries BC) and Hellenistic (late IV-I centuries BC). The basis of economic life in Cretan-Mecenian period there was a palace economy. Palaces arose at the turn of the 3rd-2nd millennium BC. e., simultaneously in different areas of the island of Crete. The lands were palace, private and communal. The agricultural population was subject to natural and labor duties in favor of the palaces.
The palace thus performed truly universal functions. It was both an administrative and religious center, the main granary, workshop and trading post. In more developed societies, cities played this role.
The state on the island of Crete reached its greatest prosperity in the 16th-15th centuries. BC e. Magnificent palaces were built, roads were laid throughout the island, and a unified system of measures existed. The high productivity of agricultural labor and the presence of excess product led to the differentiation of society and the enrichment of the nobility. In the middle of the 15th century. BC e. civilization on the island of Crete disappeared as a result of a powerful earthquake, and leadership passed to the Achaea. The greatest prosperity came in the XV-XIII centuries. BC e. The Mekens played the leading role. Their economic development was characterized by a further rise in agriculture and crafts.
Land was divided into state and communal. The nobility could lease land in small plots; the state gave the land on conditional holding rights. The lands were also in the hands of individual holders - telestas.
At the end of the 7th century. BC e. the Cretan-Mekenian palace civilization left the historical arena.
Farm Homeric period was quite backward (thrown back to the stage of the primitive communal system). Subsistence farming dominated, livestock was considered a measure of wealth, and society did not know money.
However, important changes occurred during that period. Firstly, in the X-IX centuries. BC e. Iron was widely introduced into the Greek economy. Secondly, the autonomous economy of the small patriarchal family came to the fore. Land plots were firmly assigned to individual families.
The wealth stratification is obvious, however, even the highest strata of the population lived in simplicity; even the palace elite lacked comfort. Slavery was not widespread. Aristocratic farms used the labor of temporarily hired day laborers - fetov.
The settlement of the polis became the political and economic center. The main population of the city is not traders and artisans, but cattle breeders and farmers.
Thus, by the end of this period, Greece was a world of small poleis-communities, associations of peasant farmers, with a lack of external relations, the top of society was not very distinguished.
IN archaic period Greece has surpassed all neighboring countries in its development. Agriculture intensified: peasants switched to growing more profitable crops - grapes and olives. The main units of agricultural production were small peasant farms and larger estates of the family nobility. The lands were leased, and the tenants took ½ of the harvest as payment.
Crafts concentrated in cities. Main industries: metallurgy, metalworking, shipbuilding. Trade became the leading industry. Money appeared. Usury arose, and with it debt slavery.
In the VIII-VI centuries. BC e. The Great Greek Colonization took place. The reasons for colonization are the following: lack of land, due to an increase in population and its concentration in the hands of the nobility, the need for new sources of raw materials, the search for markets for their products, the need for metal (there was very little of it left in Greece itself), the desire of the Greeks to put under control all maritime trade ways, political struggle.
There are three main directions of colonization: the first is western (the most powerful), the second is northeastern, the third is southern and southeastern (the weakest, as it was met with stubborn resistance from local settlers). Colonization contributed to the development of trade and crafts.
In the VIII-VI centuries. BC e. The formation of ancient city policies was underway. The policies were based on the ancient form of ownership. The polis had the right of supreme ownership of land. The main economic principle of the policy was the idea of self-sufficiency.
There are two main types of policies:
Agrarian - absolute predominance of agriculture, poor development of crafts,
trade, a large proportion of dependent workers, as a rule, with an oligarchic structure;
Trade and craft - with a large share of trade and crafts, commodity
monetary relations, the introduction of slavery into the means of production, and a democratic system.
In Sparta, the most fertile lands were divided into 9,000 plots and distributed for temporary possession to the most full-fledged citizens. They could not be given, split up, bequeathed, etc., after the death of the owner they were returned to the state. There was a desire for complete equality, contempt for luxury, a ban on crafts, trade, and the use of gold and silver. The enslaved population, the helots, were actively exploited.
Athens was economically more developed. The Laws of Draco (621 BC) formalized the right to private property. In 594 BC. e. Through the reforms of Solon, all debts made on the mortgage of land were forgiven, taking into slavery for debts was prohibited, the export of olive oil abroad for the purpose of profit was allowed, and grain was banned. Crafts were encouraged. The legislation of Klifen (509 BC) completed the elimination of the clan layer - everyone became equal, regardless of various property contrasts.
IN classical period The main feature of economic development was the dominance of policies and the spread of slavery of the classical type in trade and craft policies. Classic slavery was aimed at creating surplus value.
Sources of slavery:
Sale of prisoners;
Debt slavery for stateless persons;
Internal reproduction of slaves;
Piracy;
Self-selling.
During this period, slave labor penetrated into all spheres of life and production. 30-35% of the total population were slaves. They brought high income. Slaves were released on quitrent, rented out, but after accumulating a certain amount of money, the slave could be released.
New phenomena in the 5th century. BC e. steel increased marketability of agriculture, regional specialization. Olives, oil and wine were very profitable exports.
For convenience in carrying out trade operations, merchants, especially those associated with overseas trade, created associations - fias. The goals of creating fias were as follows: mutual revenue, insurance, etc.
IV century BC e. - time of crisis of the classical policy. It took place under conditions of economic recovery caused by the restoration of the economy after the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), in which Athens was defeated. Polis principles prevented a significant part of the rich inhabitants of Athens - the metics - from engaging in crafts and trade. Without citizenship rights, they had no right to receive land as collateral. At the same time, not land, but money became a prestigious form of wealth: in the 4th century. BC e. The number of land purchase and sale transactions has increased sharply. The result was the concentration of land ownership in one hand. The principle of polis life was undermined - the unity of the concept of citizen and land owner: one could be a citizen and not have land and vice versa.
The ancient form of property was increasingly replaced by private property, and polis morality gave way to individualism. The number of slaves grew, and Greek slaves began to be found. Increasingly, even in agriculture, the labor of freedmen began. Social differentiation increased, which undermined the foundations of the polis. Autarky and autonomy prevented the expansion of economic ties.
However, the polis did not disappear from the historical arena, and at the Hellenistic stage of the development of ancient Greek civilization (late 4th-1st centuries BC) it received new impulses for existence, being included in the framework of a large state that ensured the autonomy of the polis and its security. By the end of the 1st century. BC e. Hellenistic states were subordinated to Rome.
List of used literature:
1. “History of the world economy”, A. N. Markova (Moscow, 1996).
2. “Economic history of foreign countries”, Golubovich (Moscow, 1995).
3. “World History”, A. N. Markova, G. A. Polyakov (Moscow, 1997).
Autarky– 1. The policy of capitalist states, reactionary in its essence, aimed at creating a closed national economy, isolated from the economies of other countries. 2. A system of a separate national economy, capable of dispensing with the import of essential goods.
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Introduction
Greece is an ancient state located on the Balkan Peninsula and a group of small islands in the Mediterranean Sea. This country has gone through a unique path of economic development.
Ancient Greece occupies a special place in world history. The originality of economic development was determined primarily by natural and climatic features: a favorable Mediterranean climate, an advantageous geographical location, and the presence of minerals favored early involvement in trade relations with many countries, especially with the Eastern states.
The unique development of Ancient Greece makes the study of its history a very important process. Important lessons can be learned from the development of the Greek economy.
The purpose of this essay is to consider the economy of Ancient Greece, its difference from the economies of other ancient states.
The history of Ancient Greece aroused great attention not only from specialists in antiquity, but also from wide public circles in Europe in the 19th century. To the young bourgeoisie, fighting the remnants of feudalism and feudal ideology, the world of the ancient Greek republican policies seemed to be a kind of ideal of freedom, citizenship, and high culture. Many educated people read the works of ancient Greek writers, they were quoted by political figures, and works of Greek art (especially sculpture) began to be considered as the most valuable property of the best European museums.
The most intensive development of the history of Ancient Greece in the 19th century. was in Germany. The foundations of the scientific history of ancient art were laid by the German scientist J. Winckelmann, who in 1764 published an outstanding work, “The History of Ancient Art.”
A. Böck began the collection and publication of a consolidated corpus of Greek inscriptions (1825-1859). His student K. Müller drew attention to the history of individual cities and tribes (Dorians, Aegina, etc.), Greek mythology and classical archeology. A noticeable mark on European science was left by I. Droyzen, who was the first to turn to a systematic study of the last period of ancient Greek history, which began after the campaigns of Alexander the Great to the East and continued until the 1st century. BC, e.
J. Groth in his “History of Greece” (12 vols. 1846-1856) subordinates the entire study of its socio-economic development.
In the middle of the 19th century. the original concept of ancient Greek history and culture was created by K. Marx and F. Engels. They viewed the history of ancient Greek and Roman society from the standpoint of a materialistic interpretation of history - as a society going through the stage of socio-economic formation.
Advances in the study of the history of Ancient Greece in the second half of the 19th century. were associated with archaeological discoveries in Greece, abundant supplies of epigraphic material and more advanced methods of processing it. Of the archaeological works, the most outstanding were the excavations of G. Schliemann and W. Dörpfeld in Troy, Mycenae and Tiryns (1871 -1894) and A. Evans in Crete (from 1900).
All these scientists made invaluable contributions to history.
This work consists of 2 chapters, each with 4 paragraphs, which describe the views of ancient Greek thinkers on the economy, stages of development of Ancient Greece, methods of production, monetary relations and foreign economic relations.
1 . Stages of economic developmentAnddevelopment of economic thought in ancientGreece
1.1 Ancient Greece inXI - VIcenturies BC
This period of time covers two stages of the history of Ancient Greece: the so-called dark ages (XI-IX centuries BC) and the archaic period (VIII-VI centuries BC). The Dark Ages are often called the Homeric period because, along with archaeological evidence, the main sources for studying this time are the poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey", attributed to Homer.
Homeric (pre-polis) period, “dark ages” (XI-IX centuries BC). Characterized by the final destruction of the remnants of the Mycenaean (Achaean) civilization, the revival and dominance of tribal relations, their transition to early class relations, and the formation of unique pre-polis social structures.
In the economy of Homeric times, subsistence agriculture reigned supreme, the main branches of which were farming and cattle breeding.
Livestock was considered the main measure of wealth. The number of heads of livestock largely determined the position a person occupied in society; The honor and respect given to him depended on him.
The patriarchal monogamous family, living in a closed household (oikos), was the main economic unit of Homeric society. The main type of wealth, which was land in the eyes of the Greeks of Homeric times, was considered the property of the entire community. From time to time, the community organized redistributions of land belonging to it. Theoretically, every free community member had the right to receive an allotment (these allotments were called in Greek kleri, i.e. “lots,” since their distribution was made by drawing lots). It is clear that next to the rich “multi-holding” people (polykleroi) in the community there are also those who had no land at all (akleroi). Obviously, these were poor peasants who did not have enough money to run a farm on their small plot. Driven to despair, they ceded their land to rich neighbors and thus turned into homeless fet laborers.
As for the archaic period, it can be characterized by two very important processes, which subsequently had a significant impact on the development of the Greek state:
1) The Great Colonization - the process of development by the Greeks of the coasts of the Black, Azov and Mediterranean Seas;
2) Formation of a special type of community - a polis.
At this stage of development of Greece, such a type of power as tyranny appeared (VII and VI centuries BC). Of the tyrannies, the most famous are: Corinthian, Sicyonian, Megarian, Athenian, Syracusan, and the ancient Argive (Phidon).
During this era, the ethnic consolidation of Hellenic communities took place. Which contributed to economic growth. The introduction of iron into all areas of production made it possible to move to the creation of commodity production. The development of metallurgy contributed to the development of trade.
Agriculture in this period was of a specific nature. While the policies abandoned the cultivation of grain in favor of other crops, such as grapes, olives, and various fruit trees, the colonies were forced to focus on the market and grow bread to provide for the metropolis.
1.2 Greek economy of the classical period (V -IV centuries BC)
The classical period in Greek history is also called the era of the heyday of the polis system. The formation of Greek city-states, accompanied by violent socio-political upheavals, was completed by the end of the 6th century. BC e. The internal situation in Balkan Greece stabilized, economic life in numerous cities was revived, the political position of the middle layers of citizenship was strengthened, and conditions were created for the development of culture. This is the time of the highest rise of Greek civilization.
At the same time, classical slavery took full shape.
Ancient Greece knew two options for slavery:
Polis or Athenian, was characteristic of economically developed areas, the main source of slaves was trade. Polis slavery was unique in its forms of ownership. State slavery did not receive much development due to the fact that large types of work requiring the use of a large amount of labor were carried out not by the state, but by private individuals. State slaves could start a family and own property. The state owned a small number of slaves, who were very rarely used in the production process. Slaves, owned by various private individuals, were used in urban industrial production, including ergasteria. The forms of exploitation of slaves were also unique. The bulk of slave labor was used in cities in handicraft production. Slaves were often rented out and hired out as income property. Debt slavery was not widely developed;
The Spartan version of slavery, which in its nature was closer to the Egyptian and Roman. The main source of slaves was war. In addition, slaves, like land, were considered public property in Sparta. Each Spartan received a land plot and a certain number of slaves only for temporary use. The sale of slaves was prohibited. Equality of land plots was provided for, which excluded individual concentration of land and slaves. The main form of exploitation of slaves was agriculture. At the same time, slaves could have some property, tools of production, could run their own households and start families. Their duty was to obey the masters and hand over a certain amount of food. A quitrent type relationship arose, characteristic of the Roman colony and medieval serfdom.
The Greek city-states were developed trade and craft cities, fairly populated, with a high culture, so Persia paid attention to them.
The causes of the Greco-Persian wars were:
1) The apparent weakness of the Greek city-states fueled Persia to start the war;
2) The capture of Balkan Greece is important from a strategic point of view, since it gave the entire Eastern Mediterranean into the hands of Persia.
The repulsion of the Persian invasion became possible thanks to the unification of the Greek city-states and, above all, Sparta, Corinth and Athens into the so-called Organization of the Delian Symmachy (the First Athenian Maritime League).
Victory in the Greco-Persian Wars led to the creation of a vast trade zone. As a result of victories over the Persian troops, the Greeks captured rich booty, including material assets and prisoners. ancient greece economics international
Under the influence of these factors in Greece from the middle of the 5th century. BC e. An economic system was formed that existed without much change until the end of the 4th century. BC e. It was based on the use of slave labor. The Greek economy as a whole was not homogeneous. Among the numerous policies, two main types can be distinguished, differing in their structure. One type of policy is an agricultural one with an absolute predominance of agriculture, weak development of crafts and trade (the most striking example is Sparta, as well as the policies of Arcadia, Boeotia, Thessaly, etc.). And another type of policy, which can be conditionally defined as a trade and craft policy, - in its structure the role of craft production and trade was quite significant. In these policies, a commodity slave-owning economy was created, which had a rather complex and dynamic structure, and the productive forces developed especially quickly. An example of such policies were Athens, Corinth, Megara, Miletus, Rhodes, Syracuse, and a number of others, usually located on the sea coast, sometimes having a small chora (land plot), but at the same time a large population that needed to be fed and occupied productive work. Polis of this type set the tone for economic development and were the leading economic centers of Greece in the 5th-4th centuries. BC e.
The most striking example is Athens. A study of the economic structure of Athens allows us to get a general idea of the features of the trade and craft policies of Greece in classical times.
The definition of the leading type of Greek policies as trade and crafts does not mean that agriculture in them faded into the background and ceased to be an important industry. Agriculture in the trade and craft policies was leading, along with trade and craft, and was the basis of the entire economic system. That is why the description of the economic life of trade and craft policies must begin with a description of agriculture as the most important basis of their economy.
Cities during this period were the vital centers of economically developed areas. Industry and trade were concentrated in the city, their growth reflected the most progressive trends in economic development. Craft activity predominantly existed in the form of small-scale production, based on manual labor with low productivity. The sectoral structure of production became more complex, and the social division of labor developed.
Along with crafts, forms of large-scale production—ergasteria—emerged in the policies, mainly in metalworking, gunsmithing, and tanning, employing 20-30 people. The division of labor within the ergasteria was only emerging and arose sporadically.
Trade was developing intensively, professional merchants and wholesale trade existed, temporary companies arose to equip trade expeditions. To control the organization of trade and maintain order in the markets, a special supervision administration was created, and speculation, especially in bread, was persecuted.
In the 4th century. Greece was experiencing a period of decline. The crisis of slavery, the development of its internal contradictions associated with the lack of interest of this economic system in improving the tools of labor, accelerated this process. The extraordinary flowering of culture was combined with a low technical level of production. The difficulty in the reproduction of slaves - the main productive force during this period - inevitably leads to an aggravation of problems of economic development.
1.3 Ancient Greece of the Hellenistic era (IV - I centuries BC)
What is Hellenism, what are its characteristic features? Hellenism became a violent (i.e., achieved as a result of fierce wars) unification of the ancient Greek and ancient Eastern worlds, which had previously developed separately, into a single system of states that had much in common in their socio-economic structure, political structure, and culture. As a result of the unification of the ancient Greek and ancient Eastern worlds within the framework of one system, a unique society and culture was created
Currently IV century. BC e. is considered as a period of crisis in the classical 4th century. BC Greek polis. This process was straightforward
a consequence of the development of the Greek economy. The manifestations of the crisis of the traditional polis structure were primarily changes in land relations.
From the end of the 5th century. BC e. Transactions for the purchase and sale of land are very widespread, which in the 4th century. BC e, is no longer considered as the basis of a citizen’s life, but as one of the sources of income. In addition, in the 4th century. BC e. The exclusive right of citizens to own land is increasingly being violated - those who have distinguished themselves by any merit are given privileges, including the opportunity to purchase land and houses. In addition, from the end of the 5th century. BC e. The lease of private estates was extended, and since the cultivation of someone else's land was considered disgraceful for a citizen, the tenants were mainly freedmen. Thus, the non-civilian population penetrates into the sphere of agriculture, previously practically closed to them.
Along with this, many citizens begin to engage in activities that were previously considered unworthy of a citizen, more profitable than agriculture: maritime trade, interest-bearing loans, mining, etc.
All this, as well as the rapid development of crafts and trade, which the metics were mainly engaged in, objectively leads to a strengthening of the role of the free non-civilian population in the economy, socio-political life of the polis, and to the gradual destruction of the traditional polis structure; Money becomes the main measure of value; it is they that determine a person’s position in society.
In connection with the crisis of the policy, significant changes occurred in the field of slavery. Since the Peloponnesian War, the number of Greek slaves has been increasing, which was previously almost unthinkable. In addition, as it is more profitable, the practice of releasing slaves on quitrent is becoming more and more widespread. The number of freedmen - slaves who managed to save money and buy their way to freedom - increases sharply. In general, in the 4th century. BC uh, classical slavery continues to develop, the number of slaves is increasing.
The crisis of the Greek polis in the 4th century BC. e. was not associated with economic decline. On the contrary, crisis phenomena, starting with changes in the land relations fundamental to the policy, are closely related to the development of commodity-money relations, the desire for enrichment, and the development of inter-policy economic relations. It was these processes that contributed to the weakening of the close connection between the citizen and his polis, and created the preconditions for the development of contradictions between private and state interests, for the clash of various social groups within the civil collective.
The loss of close polis unity was one of the important reasons for Greece's loss of independence and its subjugation in 338 BC. e. Philip of Macedon, whose son and heir, Alexander, created in the 30-20s of the 4th century. BC e. the largest world power of antiquity. From that time on, the poleis ceased to be the leading force in the Greek world; they were replaced by Hellenistic monarchies.
In general, Hellenism became a higher stage in the historical development of the peoples of classical Greece and the Ancient East, who took a step forward in economic life, the complication of the social class structure, state building, culture and religion.
1.4 Economic views of ancient Greek thinkers
Economic thought presupposes generalization, abstraction, i.e. economic analysis.
Theoretically, the greatest contribution to the development of socio-economic thought of mankind was made by the ancient Greeks. Their socio-economic worldview was based on views related to private farming, which included both their own work and hired and slave labor. The natural conditions in Ancient Greece are different in that for normal farming there is no need to build complex hydraulic structures, as in the ancient East.
The economic views of Xenophon, Plato and Aristotle were formed in the conditions of the crisis of the slave-owning polis, the intensification of the struggle between the aristocracy, between the rich and the poor, between slaves and slave owners, which, undoubtedly, was strongly reflected in their works.
“Economics” is a word of ancient Greek origin, literally meaning “housekeeping” and first found in Xenophon.
His teacher was Socrates. However, the philosophical ideas of that time, including the teachings of Socrates, had only a slight influence on him. He adhered to the traditional thoughts and teachings of the time in which he was born.
The treatise “Domostroy”, written by Xenophon, can be literally translated as “economics”. It is written in the form of a dialogue between Socrates and the Athenian Critobulus and talks about the rational management of the household, according to Socrates. In fact, this is the first essay on economics in history.
The economic views expressed in this work by Xenophon are, in fact, a guide to how to properly use the resources of the slave economy. The author considers agriculture to be the main branch of the slave economy. Xenophon has a negative attitude towards crafts. Considering them an occupation unworthy for any free Greek. At the same time, in the interests of the slave economy, Xenophon allowed the use of commodity-money relations.
“Domostroy” is numerous advice to slave owners to properly maintain their farms. Xenophon was one of the first among the thinkers of antiquity to pay great attention to the issues of division of labor, considering it as a natural phenomenon, as an important condition for increasing the production of use values. He came close to the principle of manufacturing division of labor. Xenophon was the first to point out the relationship between the development of the division of labor and the market. In his opinion, the division of professions depended on the volume of the market.
Xenophon was the first to notice the dual purpose of things: on the one hand, it is a consumer product, on the other, an exchange equivalent.
The ancient Greek philosopher Plato (427-347 BC) also paid great attention to the role of economics in life. His most famous work is “Politics or the State,” in which he views the state as a community of people, which is ultimately always divided into two parts - rich and poor.
Like Xenophon, Plato viewed the division of labor as a natural phenomenon. He understood the division between slaves and free people as a normal state. Slaves were the main productive force, and their use was a means of enriching landowners.
The main branch of the economy for Plato is also agriculture, but unlike Xenophon, he approves of crafts. The economic support of the state is a subsistence economy based on the use of slave labor.
Plato allowed petty trade. However, he had a negative attitude towards large trade. Plato believes that it should be done by foreigners, slaves.
Ideally, the state, according to Plato, should be divided into three classes:
1) Philosophers who govern the state;
3) Landowners, artisans, traders
Slaves did not belong to more than one class, as they were considered tools of labor. Philosophers and warriors were a privileged part of society, which must be provided with everything necessary. Which gives reason to interpret this as a kind of “aristocratic communism.”
The greatest contribution to the development of economic teachings was made by Aristotle (384-322 BC). He can be called the first economist in the history of science. Being a student of Plato, he, however, did not share his ideas. In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle argued that exchange value or contractual justice requires the exchange of equivalents. Aristotle posed a problem that became central to economists over the centuries and is still the subject of debate, which is formulated: “What determines the proportions of exchange of goods” (what makes goods comparable).
His main views on Plato's thoughts are set out in his work “Politics”. Unlike Plato and Xenophon, Aristotle did not support the aristocracy, but was a supporter of slave-owning democracy. At the same time, he justified the natural division of people into slaves and freemen, which only Hellenes can be. As for foreigners, they can only be slaves.
He divided all citizens of Greece into five classes: 1) agricultural class, 2) artisan class, 3) trading class, 4) hired workers, 5) military. Slaves formed a separate group, not included in the civil community. Aristotle associated slavery with the natural division of labor, believing that slaves by nature are such and are only capable of physical labor. The slave was equated with other things that belonged to free people and was included in their property. Slaves, according to Aristotle, were supposed to provide all types of physical labor.
Aristotle, you are different from Xenphon and Plato, tried to penetrate into the very essence of economic phenomena.
As a supporter of a natural economy based on the exploitation of slaves, Aristotle viewed economic phenomena from the point of view of the greatest benefit. Everything that corresponded to the interests of strengthening the economy was accepted as natural and fair. And everything that harmed him is unnatural.
2. Organization of production in Ancient Greece
2.1 Organization of production in agriculture
The separation of crafts from agriculture became an important factor and condition for the development of both agriculture and handicraft production, and determined the growth of specialization and professionalism of workers. In the field of crafts, this contributed to technical progress and the organization of clearly defined industries: metallurgy and metal processing, ceramic production and shipbuilding. The Greeks learned to impart special hardness to iron (harden) through forging on a blacksmith's anvil or through carburization of iron, i.e. they could obtain certain types of steel (Laconian steel was famous). Of great importance for the wide distribution of iron in various industries was the development of technology for connecting various pieces of iron by welding and soldering, discovered by the master Glaucus from the island of Chios.
The main production cells in the agriculture of Greece V-IV centuries. BC e. there was a small plot of a farmer (3-5 hectares) - a citizen of a given policy, cultivated by the labor of his family members, who could be helped by 1-2 slaves, and an estate of 15-25 hectares, cultivated by slaves (15-25 slaves) . The economy of both types was diversified, practically every farm cultivated grain, had a vineyard, olive plantations, a garden of fruit trees, a vegetable garden, and small herds of sheep and goats grazed. If the products of the peasant household, as a rule, went to satisfy the needs of the farmer's family and had little connection with the market, then the slave estates received significant surpluses of products: grain, wine, oil, which were sold on the local market or were exported.
Terrace farming
The “builders of the highland civilization” transformed the mountain slopes into fields, mastering terrace farming.
Slope terracing and irrigation are an integral and characteristic feature of ancient civilizations. These methods of increasing productivity have long been known in Ancient Greece, where all city residents could count on a high standard of living only if they knew how to make a thin stream of water go a long way, and also protect the soil on the hills from erosion. The fact that slope terracing was carried out already in ancient times is evidenced by the fact that it is used, although on a much smaller scale, even by some modern African tribes right up to western Darfur.
Hundreds of thousands of acres were carefully cultivated for crops that occupied the slopes almost to the top.
Policy. Agrarian policy.
It was within the framework of the polis system that the ancient Greeks created a brilliant civilization in the classical period of their history, which became a great contribution to the treasury of world culture and provided ancient Greek society with an honorable place in world history.
Each of the many Greek city-states was an individual phenomenon, but with all the originality and originality, in most Greek states some common features emerge that allow us to consider them specifically city-state organisms.
The internal content of the policy cannot be reduced only to a certain state structure and system of spiritual values. Regardless of size, each Greek polis represented a society in all its diversity, with a specific economic system, social structure, political organization and a complex cultural complex.
The Greek city-states varied in size and population. There were very large policies. For example, Lacedaemon, or Sparta, had a territory of 8400 sq. km (1/5 of the Moscow region), and a population of about 150-200 thousand people. The Athenian policy had a total territory of about 2500 thousand sq. km with a population of 120-150 thousand people, but there were very small policies with a territory of 30-40 sq. km and with a population of several hundred people, such as Phocis polis Panopeia (on the border with Boeotia).
However, the most common type of Greek polis had a territory of the order of 100-200 sq. km, i.e. 10x10 or 10x20 km with a population of 5-10 thousand people, including women, children, foreigners and slaves, full-fledged male warriors could be from 1 to 2 thousand people.
A typical Greek polis was a tiny state, the territory of which could be walked from end to end in one day, with a small number of inhabitants, most of whom knew each other by sight, with one center where the People's Assembly met, temples of the most revered gods, and craft workshops were located. , lived the main population. The city stood either on the seashore or a few kilometers from the seashore, but on the seashore it had a harbor or port (the harbor of Falera was located 5 km from Athens). The city center of the polis could be surrounded by a ring of defensive walls, but in the 6th century. BC e. Many cities did not yet have fortifications. Most of the population of the polis was concentrated in the urban center. In the city, trade operations were carried out in the central square, city-wide festivals and sports competitions were held. Although there were several rural settlements on the territory of the policy, there was only one urban center. That is why the polis is also defined as a city-state.
The basis of the polis economy is agriculture. Due to natural conditions, agriculture included several branches: arable farming, viticulture, olive growing, vegetable gardening and cattle breeding.
Many Greek city policies, due to their small size, did not have on their territory a sufficient amount of the necessary metals (iron, copper, bronze), timber and other types of raw materials. Therefore, there was a need to purchase them in other places. Commodity relations and trade exchange became one of the foundations of the entire economic life of the policy. Villagers brought wine, oil, grain, wool to the market to buy tools, fabrics, clothing, leather and other products necessary for life. The polis economy opened up greater opportunities than in the East for the development of commodity relations, and therefore the accumulation of wealth, the emergence of large estates in the countryside and large craft workshops in the city using slaves.
The social structure of the policies assumed the existence of three main classes: the ruling class, free small producers, slaves and dependent workers of various categories. The bulk of the polis population consisted of free small producers, primarily farmers (in Athens they were called zeugites and fetas), as well as craftsmen and merchants who earned their living by their own labor.
Slaves in the 6th century BC e. there was little, slave labor was used only on large estates and craft workshops, their role in the Greek city-states of the 6th century. BC e. was small. However, as the policy economy becomes more complex, commodity-money relations develop, handicraft industries flourish and trade operations expand, the number of slaves in the policies increases.
The core of the social structure of the Greek polis was the existence of such a social category as a civil collective, which included full citizens: indigenous residents (i.e., those who lived in a given area for several generations), owning a hereditary plot of land, taking part in the activities of popular assemblies and having place in the phalanx of heavily armed hoplites. Those who came to live from other Greek cities, even from a neighboring polis located several kilometers away, could not be part of the citizens and constituted a special class of metics, non-citizens. The loss of a plot of land could lead to deprivation of civil rights and exclusion from the civil collective. True, in developed trade and craft centers, such as Corinth or Athens, there lived citizens who had lost their land plots and were forced to engage in crafts and trade. Such people were not deprived of their civil rights, but they were subjected to a kind of public censure and became second-class citizens. At the first opportunity, they sought to purchase land and rehabilitate themselves in public opinion. The police authorities tried to help such landless citizens. In each policy there was a reserve fund, the so-called ager publicus (public field), from which new plots could be cut out to allocate them to citizens who had lost land. The ager publis also included inaccessible areas, swamps, quarries, river floodplains, forests, and lands that were used by the entire collective of the policy.
Ownership of a plot of land was considered as the main guarantee of a citizen’s fulfillment of his duties to the polis, to the entire civil collective. Citizens of the policies owned their land plots as owners with the right to full economic independence up to the sale of the plot, but the possibilities for selling the land were limited.
The most general features described above are characteristic to one degree or another of each polis, however, among the many Greek city-states, two main types can be distinguished: an agrarian polis, with weak development of trade and crafts, a large share of the labor of dependent workers and, as a rule, the dominance of the oligarchy . An example of this type is Lacedaemon, or Sparta. The other type was a society and a state with a large share of handicraft production and trade operations, commodity-money relations, the introduction of slave labor into production and everyday life, the active participation of citizens in public and political life, and a democratic structure. The most striking example of such a policy is Athens.
The Greek polis became a form of ancient society and state within which favorable conditions were created for the development of the economy, social relations, political institutions, and brilliant Greek culture, which opened one of the brightest pages in the history of world civilization.
In addition to the above-mentioned features of the agrarian polis, the most important factor for Sparta was the conquest of the local population by the Dorians and their transformation into dependent helots. The conquest explains the militarized organization of the ruling Spartiate class and the conservatism of the general structure and life of Spartan society.
2.2 The situation of small independent producers
Small producers worked on plots of land, in craft workshops, mines or in construction, where, as a rule, they did not use slave labor. There are known cases of small artisans or farmers using slave labor as additional labor: the main labor force was the farmer or artisan himself and his family members. Small producers included small farmers; artisans and traders who had civil rights; artisans and metic traders.
Associated with different sectors of the economy and having different legal status, these social groups differed in interests and sometimes had different political orientations. In any Greek polis, the social group of small free farmers was one of the most important. The strength of polis institutions, the functioning of democratic institutions, and the nature of socio-political clashes depended on its economic well-being, political activity, and civic maturity. Small farmers are usually called peasants. This term is also applied to the farmers of the Greek city policies. The farmer, as a rule, did not pay taxes on the land. To purchase tools, clothing and other handicrafts, the peasant took agricultural products to the market and sold them, that is, he acted partly as a commodity producer. He was connected with the market, knew prices, traders, and had a well-known economic outlook. However, its connections with the market were sporadic; only a small part of the harvest was sold.
According to Greek laws, only a member of the polis collective, a full citizen, could be the owner of land. Small landowners were full citizens, participants in public assemblies, could be elected to various positions, and served in the civil militia. Participation in public meetings, where the most important issues of internal and external life were discussed, developed the personality of the ancient peasant and formed a sense of self-worth and social significance.
The polis peasantry as a whole came out with a democratic program for the development of their hometown, but from a fairly moderate position, they were suspicious of radical democratic concepts, which the conservative circles of Greek society used to their advantage.
The free small producers also included city dwellers who lived by the labor of their own hands, both citizens and metics. Citizens - artisans and traders - took an active part in the political life of the city, in the activities of people's assemblies and its numerous bodies. Their property situation, especially with the spread of large workshops, was very unstable, and the state took measures to ensure a living wage for this layer of citizens. The most thoughtful social policy towards them was carried out in Athens.
An important measure to maintain the property well-being of the poorest citizens was to provide them with work, for which they could receive payment and provide for their families. With the ever-increasing competition of slave labor, such a state policy was necessary and socially oriented.
The state ensured that the prices of bread, the staple food, were more or less stable; heavy fines were imposed on traders who artificially inflate prices.
The position of artisans and metic traders was more difficult than that of citizen artisans. They were excluded from the political life of the polis, did not have the right to be taken to the colony, and the state cared little about them. At the same time, they paid a tax per person (in Athens it was called metoikion and reached 12 drachmas per year). The metics had very little prospect of acquiring civil rights and becoming at least legally equal to the citizen artisans, side by side with whom they worked in workshops, ship docks, loaded ships, and traded in markets. Most of the free residents who did not have civil rights belonged precisely to this category of small producers, the most degraded social group after slaves.
Nevertheless, in economically prosperous cities, even they found work and had a known living wage. According to rough estimates by modern historians, in Athens the total number of metics was quite impressive and reached 15-20% of the total population.
Another category of small producers - perieki - constituted a special class in a number of Greek agricultural-type policies of Argolid, Elis, Thessaly, and on the island of Crete. The perieci of Sparta have been most fully studied. In the V-IV centuries. BC e. the perieki were one of the three main classes of Spartan society (along with the helots and the Spartiates). The Perieci, like the Spartiates, were considered Lacedaemonians (unlike the helots), served in the army and had the right to an equal share of military spoils with the Spartiates. However, they did not have the rights of Spartiates, did not take part in public assemblies, and were not as well trained and educated as the Spartiates. The Perieki lived separately in self-governing villages located around the Laconian Valley and were engaged in agriculture. They performed duties, paid taxes directly to the state, and were engaged in crafts and trade operations (excellent Laconian weapons were made by the perieki).
2.3 Monetary relations in Ancient Greece
At the turn of the 2nd-1st millennium BC. e. Due to the predominance of subsistence farming and the weak development of trade, there was no money as such; its role was played mainly by cattle. During the era of the Great Colonization, metal ingots, bars, and, finally, around the turn of the 7th-6th centuries, were increasingly used as money. BC e. coin minting begins. By the 6th century BC e. In Greece, there were two main monetary systems - Aegina and Euboean. The basis of each system was talent - a weight unit, which in Euboea was 26.2 kg, and in Aegina - 37 kg. One talent was minted into 6 thousand drachmas - silver coins. The Aeginian standard was distributed over most of the territory of Greece and the islands of the Aegean Sea, the Euboean standard - on the island of Euboea, in many western Greek colonies, as well as in the two largest policies - Corinth and Athens.
During the archaic period, usury developed among people with money circulation, and insolvent debtors, as a rule, were turned into slaves and could even be sold abroad.
In the V century. BC e. The minting of coins covers the entire Greek world, at this time the minting of bronze small change coins begins. All independent Greek policies enjoyed the right to mint their own coins, so it is not surprising that the development of trade in the 5th century. BC e. brought to life a special profession of money changers. Gradually, money changers begin to perform some of the functions characteristic of banks: storing money, transferring various amounts from one client’s account to another, issuing cash loans. The usual loan interest secured by land or a city house was about 15%, the interest on maritime loans (on the more unreliable pledge of ships and goods) could exceed 30%. Money changers also performed some of the functions of notary offices - they concluded transactions, drew up bills of sale, and stored documents. .
2.4 International connectionsAncient Greece
The oldest form of international relations and international law in Greece was “proxenia”, i.e. hospitality. Proxenia existed between individuals, clans, tribes and entire states. The proxenus of this city enjoyed in it, in comparison with other foreigners, certain rights and advantages in relation to trade, taxes, court and all kinds of honorary privileges. For his part, the proxenus assumed a moral obligation in relation to the city where he enjoyed hospitality, to promote its interests in everything and to be a mediator between him and the authorities of his city. Diplomatic negotiations were conducted through proxenos; When embassies came to the city, they turned first of all to their proxenus.
The institution of proxeny, which became very widespread in Greece, formed the basis for all subsequent international relations of the ancient world.
The “amphiktyony” was an equally ancient international institution. This was the name given to religious unions that arose near the sanctuary of a particularly revered deity. As the name itself shows, these unions included tribes that lived around the sanctuary (Amphictyons - those living around), regardless of their family relations. The original purpose of amphictyony was general sacrifices and celebrations in honor of the revered deity, the protection of the temple and its treasures accumulated from private and public offerings, as well as the punishment of sacrileges - violators of sacred customs.
If necessary, those gathered for the festivities consulted on public affairs of interest to all members of a given amphictyony. During the festivities, war was prohibited and “God’s peace” (jeromemia) was proclaimed. Thus, the amphictyony turned into a religious and political institution of an international nature.
The supreme body of the amphictyony was the general meeting. It was convened twice a year, in spring and autumn, at Thermopylae and Delphi. The decisions of the general meeting were binding on all amphictyons. The authorized persons of the assembly, who actually managed all matters, were the hieromnemons, appointed by the states according to the number of votes of the amphictyony, i.e., 24. One of the main duties of the hieromnemons was the observance of “God’s peace” and the organization of religious festivals.
At the end of the 5th and 4th centuries BC, another new college appeared - the “pilagoras”. Through the mediation of the Pylagors and Hieromnemons, the cities that were part of the Amphictyony swore oaths to each other and assumed certain obligations towards the Amphictyons. The Delphic-Thermopylae amphictyony represented a significant political force that had a great influence on the international politics of Greece. Both secular and spiritual power was concentrated in the hands of the Delphic-Thermopylae amphictyony. The Delphic priests declared and ended war, appointed and removed common rulers who were part of the amphictyony. Hieromnemons were considered the harbingers of the will of Apollo. According to legend, the Delphic priests had “secret books” that contained ancient predictions. They were only allowed to be read by those who were recognized as descendants of Apollo himself, that is, priests and kings.
A powerful weapon in the hands of the Greek priesthood was the holy wars, which it directed against everyone who caused any damage to the sanctuary of Apollo. All members of the amphictyony, bound by an oath, had to take part in the holy war.
All political treaties, directly or indirectly, were approved by the Delphic priesthood. On all controversial issues of international law, the litigants turned to Delphi. The power of the priesthood lay not only in its spiritual, but also in its material influence. Delphi had enormous capital, formed from contributions from cities, from income from the mass of pilgrims, from temple fairs and usurious transactions. All this explains the passionate struggle that was waged between the Greek states for influence and votes in the Delphic Amphictyony in the 5th-4th centuries BC.
The third type of international relations of Greece were treaties and military-political alliances - “symmachy”. Of these, the most significant were the Lacedaemonian and Athenian (Delian) symmachy.
The Lacedaemonian symmachy was formed in the 6th century BC as a union of cities and communities of the Peloponnese. The alliance was led by Sparta. The highest union body was the all-union assembly (syllogos), convened by the hegemonic city (Sparta) once a year. All cities that were part of the union had one vote in it, regardless of their size and importance. Cases were decided by majority vote, after long debates and all sorts of diplomatic combinations.
Another major union of Hellenic cities was the Athenian, or Delian, symmachy, headed by Athens. The Delian symmachy was formed during the Greco-Persian wars to fight the Persians. The Delian symmachy differed from the Lacedaemonian in two features: firstly, its allies paid a special contribution (foros) to the public treasury in Delos; secondly, they were more dependent on their hegemon - Athens. Over time, the Delian symmachy turned into an Athenian power (arche).
Relations between both symmachys were hostile from the very beginning. Ultimately, in the second half of the 5th century, this led to the all-Greek Peloponnesian War.
Conflicts that arose between communities and policies were resolved through special authorized persons, or ambassadors. In Homeric Greece they were called messengers (keryuks, angelos), in classical Greece - elders (presbeis).
In the states of Greece, such as Athens, Sparta, Corinth and others, ambassadors were elected by the People's Assembly from persons of respectable age, not younger than 50 years. This is where the term “elders” comes from. Usually, ambassadors were elected from wealthy citizens who enjoyed authority, had proxens in other cities, were sedate, sensible and eloquent. Most often, ambassadorial assignments were given to the archons of a given city and especially to the archon-polemarch (military leader).
The number of members of the embassy was not established by law: it was determined depending on the conditions of the moment. All ambassadors were considered equal. Only later did it become a custom to elect the chief ambassador - the “archelder,” the chairman of the embassy board. During their term of office, certain sums of money, “travel money,” were allocated for the maintenance of ambassadors. A certain staff of servants was assigned to the ambassadors. Upon departure, they were given letters of recommendation (symbola) to the proxens of the city to which the embassy was traveling. The purpose of the embassy was determined by the instructions handed over by the elders, written on a letter consisting of two sheets folded together. This is where the term “diplomacy” comes from.
The instructions served as the main guide for the ambassadors. They indicated the purpose of the embassy; however, within the limits of these instructions, the ambassadors enjoyed a certain freedom and could exercise their own initiative.
Ambassadors who arrived at their destination, alone or together with a proxenus, were sent to the official of the given city who was in charge of diplomatic affairs. They presented their letters to him and received appropriate instructions and advice from him.
In the days immediately after registration (usually five days in Athens), the ambassadors spoke in the Council or People's Assembly explaining the purpose of their arrival. After this, public debates were opened or the case was referred to a special commission.
As a rule, foreign ambassadors were treated with respect, given a good reception, offered gifts, and invited to theatrical performances, games and celebrations. Upon returning to their hometown, the embassy members gave a report to the People's Assembly on the results of their mission. If approved, they were given honorary awards. The highest of them was a laurel wreath with an invitation to dine the next day in the prytanium, a special building near the Acropolis in which honored guests of the state dined. Each citizen was given the right, when reporting to the ambassador, to express his opinion and even make accusations against the ambassador.
One of the main responsibilities of ambassadors in Greece, as in general in ancient states, was concluding alliances with other states and signing treaties. In the ancient world, contracts were viewed as something magical. Therefore, the conclusion of treaties and the conduct of diplomatic negotiations in Greece were surrounded by strict formalities. Contractual obligations were sealed with oaths that called upon the supernatural force that supposedly sanctified the signed agreement as witnesses. The oaths were taken by both parties in the presence of the magistrates of the city where the contract was signed. The oath was accompanied by a curse that fell on the head of the contract breaker.
Disputes and clashes arising from a violation of the contract were referred to an arbitration commission. She imposed fines on the perpetrators of the violation, which were deposited into the treasury of some deity - Apollo of Delphi, Zeus of Olympus, etc. From the inscriptions such penalties are known as ten or more talents, which at that time amounted to a very large sum. In case of persistent unwillingness to obey the demands of the arbitration court, coercive measures were taken against rebellious cities, up to and including the holy war.
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Formational approach
According to the formational approach, whose representatives were K. Marx, F. Engels, V.I. Lenin and others, society in its development passes through certain, successive stages - socio-economic formations - primitive communal, slaveholding, feudal, capitalist and communist. Socio-economic formation is a historical type of society based on a certain method of production. Mode of production includes productive forces and production relations. TO productive forces include means of production and people with their knowledge and practical experience in the field of economics. Means of production, in turn, include objects of labor(what is processed in the labor process - land, raw materials, materials) and means of labor(that with the help of which objects of labor are processed - tools, equipment, machinery, production premises). Relations of production- these are relations that arise in the production process and depend on the form of ownership of the means of production.
The formational approach proceeds from the fact that the development of society, various countries and peoples proceeds along certain stages: primitive communal system, slave system, feudalism, capitalism and communism. This process is based on changes occurring in the production sector. Supporters of the formational approach believe that the leading role in social development is played by historical patterns, objective laws, within the framework of which a person acts. Society is steadily moving along the path of progress, since each subsequent socio-economic formation is more progressive than the previous one. Progress is associated with the improvement of productive forces and production relations.
Civilizational approach
Among them, two main varieties can be distinguished.
Theories of staged development of civilization(K. Jaspers, P. Sorokin, W. Rostow, O. Tofler, etc.) consider civilization as a single process of progressive development of humanity, in which certain stages (stages) are distinguished.
Rostow created a theory of stages of economic growth:
1) Traditional society. Agrarian societies with primitive technology, the predominance of agriculture in the economy, class-class structure and the power of large landowners.
2) Transitional company. Agricultural production is growing, a new type of activity is emerging - entrepreneurship and a new type of enterprising people. Centralized states are taking shape and national self-awareness is strengthening.
3) “Shift” stage. Industrial revolutions occur, followed by socio-economic and political transformations.
4) Stage of “maturity”. A scientific and technological revolution is underway, the importance of cities and the size of the urban population are growing.
5) The era of “high mass consumption”. There is a significant growth in the service sector, production of consumer goods and their transformation into the main sector of the economy.
Theories of local civilizations(N.Ya. Danilevsky, A. Toynbee):
Civilization is a closed society, characterized by a set of defining features (selection criteria - religion, form of organization and territorial feature), each civilization has a certain cultural and creative core, around which the forms of spiritual life, socio-political and economic organization inherent in a given civilization are created.
Toynbee considered the driving forces of civilization to be: a challenge posed to civilization from the outside (unfavorable geographical position, lagging behind other civilizations, military aggression); the response of civilization as a whole to this challenge; the activities of great people, talented individuals.
There is a creative minority that leads the inert majority to respond to the challenges posed by civilization. At the same time, the inert majority tends to “put out” and absorb the energy of the minority. This leads to cessation of development, stagnation. Thus, each civilization goes through certain stages: birth, growth, breakdown and disintegration, ending with death and the complete disappearance of civilization.
Toynbee identifies 21 civilizations: Egyptian, Andean, Chinese, Minoan, Sumerian, Mayan, Indus, Hellenic, Western, Orthodox Christian (in Russia), Far Eastern (in Korea and Japan), Iranian, Arab, Hindu, Mexican, Yucatan and Babylonian.
Options for periodizing economic history
There are three theories of periodization of economic history:
1) The theory of historical circulation. It proceeds from the fact that human history is in a constant cycle. Peoples rise and then return to barbaric states. (Representative Gecombatisto Vico)
2) The theory of civilizations. Representatives Toynbee and Danilevsky believed that the history of mankind is a collection of separate civilizations, each of which goes through the same stages: emergence, growth, decay and death.
3) Karl Marx. Marx's formation theory. He identifies five socio-economic formations that almost every country in the world went through: primitive communal, slaveholding, feudal, capitalist, communist.
3. Primitive communal model of economic development: main stages of formation and features.
Signs:
Low level of development of productive forces and their slow improvement
Collective appropriation of natural resources and production results
Equal distribution, social equality
Lack of private property, exploitation, classes and state
Low rates of development of society.
Stages:
Paleolithic (ancient Stone Age) – 3 million – 12 thousand years BC.
Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) – 12 – 8 thousand years BC.
Neolithic (New Stone Age) – 8 – 3 thousand years BC.
1st early Paleolithic (up to 100 thousand years BC). Pithecanthropus, Sinanthropus, Neanderthals - gathering, fishing and driven hunting.
2-Middle Paleolithic (ended 40 thousand years ago). Cro-Magnon man along with Neanderthals. Articulate speech. Making fire. Stone technology.
3-Late Paleolithic (ended in the 12th millennium BC). Matriarchy. Social prohibitions. Simple appropriative economy - hunting, fishing and gathering. The level of stone technology has increased. Labor as simple cooperation without division. Everything is collectively owned. Labor distribution of production. Exchange between communities.
4-Mesolithic (XII-VIII millennium BC). Individual hunt. Improvement of weapons, appearance of the bow. New techniques in fishing. Lightening the weight and reducing the volume of stone tools. The appropriative economy of lower hunter-gatherers and fishermen. The principle of collectivization. Use of boats. Development of new lands. Several nearby clans began to unite into a tribe. Patriarchy.
5-Neolithic (VIII-IV millennium BC). The first social division of labor into agriculture and cattle breeding. Then the second social division of labor - the separation of crafts from agriculture - the individualization of labor, the emergence and development of private property. The first craft is pottery production. “Neolithic Revolution” - the emergence of new technology, forms of production and way of life, the development of new territories and their effective use. The origin of exchange – because surplus agricultural and handicraft industries appeared. Transition to a sedentary lifestyle.
6th Eneolithic (4-3 thousand BC). The appearance of metals - copper, gold, bronze. The system of irrigated and plow agriculture, increasing wealth inequality.
4. "Neolithic Revolution": causes, essence and consequences.
Essence:
The emergence of new technology, forms of production, human exploration of new territories and their more efficient use were radical in nature. This is the Neolithic Revolution - the transition of humanity from subsisting on hunting and gathering to subsisting on agriculture.
Reasons:
A sharp rise in temperature on the planet between the 11th and 9th millennia BC. e. –> reduction in the number of animals -> man had to learn to cultivate cereals and raise livestock in captivity, which brought much more benefits with less labor. As a result, the population increases.
Consequences:
Improvement of productive forces (use of metal at the end of the Eneolithic), commodity production, social division of labor. Individualization of it. The emergence of surplus production, the emergence of exchange, the formation of market relations. The emergence of private property.
5. “Eastern” model of economic development: main features and features.
“Asian mode of production” - a term introduced by K. Marx, characterizes the essence of the socio-economic development of eastern (non-European) societies.
The Asian mode of production was the basis of the first class socio-economic formation, which first emerged in the East at the end of the 4th millennium BC. and existed there until the end of the second millennium AD.
The Eastern (Asian) model of economic development is characterized by the following features:
1. Slaves did not constitute the main productive force of society, i.e. the production of material goods in agriculture and crafts was carried out by people who were considered free.
2. The land was not private, but state or state-community property.
3. A relationship of subjection has developed between the state and community farmers - the absence of rights with the unconditional performance of duties in favor of the state.
4. The state in the East acquired the form of “eastern despotism”, i.e. complete lack of rights of subjects in the face of the state. That is why this type of society is called the “oriental slavery society.”
5. The communities were resilient, which was due to the need to create and maintain an irrigation system for agriculture.
6. The economy was conservative, which led society to stagnation.
Peculiarities:
In the Ancient East, before the rest of the world, a fairly high material culture began to flourish (favorable climatic conditions); it was possible to obtain a significant surplus product with a low level of farming technology and the expenditure of small human resources. As a result, people have free time and the opportunity to devote themselves not only to obtaining food. A division of society into classes arises.
In Eastern society, the state owns everything and exercises effective centralized control over society. Being in power gives you privileges.
The Asian mode of production, unlike the slave-owning one, is based on the exploitation not of slaves, but of community members. The number of slaves is very small; they are not used in large-scale commodity production, but as servants. There are also few artisans and merchants, and trade is less developed compared to the slave system.
Under the Asian mode of production, two most important classes can be distinguished: the peasantry and the bureaucracy. The peasantry is formally free, but the impossibility of selling land and some duties in favor of the state resemble feudal dependence.
The overwhelming number of inhabitants of the states of the Ancient East were employed in the structure of agriculture. But land without water was of no value. Irrigation systems were the property of the state. The creation of such systems required large human resources. Community labor service soon turned into state labor. Thus, the state subjugated the communal farmers, and they practically ceased to be free. They were used in the creation of complex irrigation systems, in the construction of temples and other cyclopean structures. Unlike slaves, this was a free labor force that did not need to be fed and clothed. Their labor could be used very wastefully.
Economically, these countries hardly developed. This is commonly called eastern stagnation. The main reason for stagnation was that the interests of the individual were subordinated to the public. The interests of the community, caste, state. Any entrepreneurial initiative that was impossible without free disposal of property was suppressed.
The main features of the economic development of Ancient Greece.
Slavery in Ancient Greece had a military origin, there was no indentured servitude, and there was industrial use of slaves. The economy of ancient states is the economy of city states (polises). In Ancient Greece there was a military nature of the reproduction of labor force, the political system was military democracy. That is, people served in the branch of the military in which their wealth allowed. The bulk - people of average income - served in the infantry; the rich - in the cavalry (or equipped ships); the poor, armed with what was at their disposal (darts, stones), took part in hostilities; a citizen of the policy and the owner of a piece of land could only be a warrior.
The Athenian type of economy, widespread in Ancient Greece, is characterized as artisanal.
The universal participation of all citizens in military operations gradually led to changes in economic life. The ancient military system (phalanx) ensured ancient reproduction, but at the same time this system absorbed the free peasantry. Peasants who could not cultivate their plots went bankrupt and went to the city.
In Ancient Greece, in Athens, the use of slaves in handicraft production predominated, since the land was not suitable enough for agriculture. Poor roads and a lack of food led to the development of foreign trade. Since the population was regulated in the policies, the excess population had to immigrate. This process was carried out in three directions: to the south (North Africa), to the east (the Black Sea region), to the west (to Spain). This process was called the great Greek colonization.
In Greece, the money changer business developed, since each policy had its own coin. The money changers were called trapezits, and the meal exchange offices themselves were called trapezits. Meals are the prototype of a bank, since in addition to exchange, payments for goods, acceptance of deposits, and issuance of loans were carried out there. In general, commodity-monetary relations in Ancient Greece depended on the influx of slaves, and when the flow began to decline, an economic crisis began.
7. Economic development of Ancient Rome: main features and peculiarities.
The periodization of the history of Ancient Rome is based on forms of government, which in turn reflected the socio-political situation: from royal rule at the beginning of history to the dominant empire at its end.
Periods of the history of Ancient Rome:
· 8-6 c. BC e. royal Rome;
· 6-1 c. BC e. republic;
· 1 c. BC e. – 1st century n. e. empire;
· 395 AD e. the collapse of the Roman Empire into Western and Eastern (the latter existed until 1453).
Tsarist period: there was no monarchical state. Roman "kings" are military leaders. The social system of Rome during this period was military democracy.
In the VI century. BC e. a state arises. The period of the republic begins. Rome of this period is a city-state similar to the Greek polis. During the wars of conquest, Rome subjugated other Italian states. The defeated peoples recognized their dependence on Rome, but were not included in the Roman polis.
The Roman Republic was aristocratic - power remained in the hands of the family aristocracy. As economic development progressed, urban farming, crafts and trade appeared, and with them the “new rich” who sought to share power with the old Roman nobility and join its ranks. Separate parts of Italy are gradually merging into one state. However, political and property rights remain in the hands of citizens of the Roman polis only - the Quirites -> social tension and political conflicts.
The army becomes the decisive force. Warlords seize power in the country and turn into emperors. In the 1st century BC e. The Roman Republic was replaced by an empire that lasted until the 5th century. n. e.
The leading branch of the economy is agriculture. Fertile soils and a mild climate ensured high yields. The rapid rise of agriculture in the 2nd-1st centuries. BC e. can be explained by three reasons:
widespread introduction of slavery,
development of simple commodity production,
· transition from small-scale farming to production on large areas.
The dominant type of economy is a large slaveholding estate, carrying out commodity production and subsistence farming at the same time. Also, the distribution of land in small plots for rent to landless and land-poor free tenants - colons.
The concentration of land, the spread of private property, the development of crafts, trade, money circulation, and the emergence of a commodity economy required cheap labor. It was difficult to force a free small owner, who sought equal rights and was allocated a plot of land, to work. Such labor could be a slave, deprived of all rights and property, received from outside. This explains the aggressiveness of Rome, its endless wars, mass robbery and enslavement of the conquered population. Successful wars contributed to a large influx of slaves and the growth and introduction of slavery.
The use of slave labor destroyed subsistence farming. In the II-I centuries. BC e. landowners and artisans sought not only to obtain a larger surplus product, but also to realize it in money. All this caused increased exploitation of slaves, who became the main commodity producers.
As a result, the number of slaves constantly increased. They became the largest class of Roman society. Slavery spread to agriculture, mining, metallurgy, and construction. The labor of free or semi-dependent workers was still used, but played a subordinate role.
In the II-III centuries. n. e. The crisis of the slave system began.
8. The crisis of the “ancient” model of economic development: causes, essence and consequences.
1. Dominance of small private farms in the economy
2. Formation of a special group of feudal dependent peasants
3. Class struggle
4. Economic and political fragmentation
5. Activation of the barbarians
6. New religions that helped strengthen the power of the new land magnates
Essence:
1. Low community productivity
2. Decline of state farms
3. Difficulties in expanding the production of small farms and independent policies
4. Insufficient political protection in international relations
5. Excessive centralization of power
Consequences:
1. The gradual movement of private slaveholdings to cities
2. Nationalization of most of the rural territory
3. The emergence of self-governing farms within large states
4. Economic decline
5. Development of land ownership independent from the community
6. Decomposition of the community
7. Decline of the cities-centers of the commodity slave economy
9. Main types and features of the feudal economic model.
The main moments in the emergence of the feudal mode of production were the transformation of free producers of material goods and slaves into feudal-dependent peasants and the formation of large feudal landownership. These processes were prepared by feudal tendencies that arose in the process of decomposition of the primitive communal system and ancient society.
The feudal system was formed on the following principles:
· the dominance of large land ownership and the monopoly of feudal lords on it;
· the direct producer - the peasant leads an independent individual farm on land received from the feudal lord for temporary or hereditary use;
· non-economic coercion, which is a form of dependence of the direct commodity producer on the feudal lord;
· rent relations, payment in kind – corvée, quitrent;
· class inferiority of peasants (dependence);
· dominance of subsistence farming and small-scale production; the predominance of the agricultural sector of the economy;
· primitive level of technology used in production (individual production skills are of particular importance);
· class character of society;
· hierarchical structure of the feudal class;
· corporate relations.
Feudal systems developed unevenly in different parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The process of development of feudalism in each country had significant regional characteristics, which allows us to talk about different types of feudal systems.
Main types of feudal systems:
· European feudalism;
· Eastern feudalism.
European feudalism is the result of the implementation of three types of development of feudalism:
· Birth directly from the primitive communal system of barbarians, bypassing the stage of a developed slave society. In Europe, examples of this option are England, Scandinavia, Trans-Rhine Germany, Rus', Poland, and the Czech Republic.
· The emergence on the basis of feudal relations ripening within a slave society, formed at the last stage of development of the primitive communal system of barbarians. This type of genesis of feudalism found its embodiment in Northern Gaul, among a number of South Slavic peoples.
· The emergence on the basis of a synthesis of elements of late antique society with feudal relations that were formed in barbarian societies, with a clear predominance of ancient principles. This path was typical for Byzantium, Italy, Southern Gaul, and Visigothic Spain.
Eastern feudalism developed on the basis of the Asian mode of production. Its main features:
· predominance of state feudal land ownership;
· preservation of specific forms of communal organization of the peasantry;
· special forms of organization of the feudal class;
· high degree of state centralization.
10. Formation and development of the feudal economy in Western Europe: stages and main directions.
The feudal society of the Middle Ages in its development passed three main stages:
· Early Middle Ages (V-X centuries). During this period, the first shoots of feudalism appeared: land was concentrated among the upper strata of society; a layer of dependent peasantry was formed
· Developed feudalism (XI-XV centuries) – the period of maturity of the feudal economy. Characterized by the formation of feudal cities, the development of the internal market, and commodity production.
· The Late Middle Ages (late 15th-mid 18th centuries) – the era of the decomposition of feudal society, the emergence of a market economy.
So, class society and the state were formed in the ancient world in a different and independent way from the countries of the Ancient East. The slave system that developed in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome differed significantly from ancient Eastern slavery both in the relatively higher level of development of productive forces and in more mature slave-owning production relations.
Since Ancient Greece did not represent a single state, we present the following periodization of the economic history of Ancient Greece:
- Crete-Mycenaean period (XIX-XII centuries BC);
- Homeric period (XII-VIII centuries BC);
- the era of colonization and the formation of slave states (VIII-VI centuries BC);
- the heyday of ancient Greece (VI-IV centuries BC);
- Hellenistic period (III-II centuries BC).
The basis of the economy of Crete was agriculture. In Crete, at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. e. they used the plow and grew wheat, barley, beans, lentils, peas, flax, and saffron. The Cretans were already good gardeners and were famous for their harvests of olives and grapes, figs and dates. Cattle breeding (cattle and small cattle, pigs, poultry) was also developed in Crete. The main occupation of most Cretans was fishing.
Crete was famous for its artisans who made products from ivory, clay, faience, wood and produced various types of weapons. Bronze was used to make household items and craft tools. From gold and silver, Cretan artisans made luxury items and religious accessories for kings, nobility and priesthood.
The Cretans conducted brisk trade with many countries and regions of the Mediterranean: Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Sicily, Cyprus, the Black Sea regions, southern France and Italy.
Since the 15th century. BC e. the decline of the Cretan slave society begins. Slavery in the Mycenaean era had not yet acquired much development. Slaves were not yet a class.
The Homeric period in the history of Ancient Greece represents a transitional period - the decomposition of the primitive communal system and the formation of a slave society (XII-VIII centuries BC). This period was characterized by the presence of clan communities, within which there was property inequality.
Under the influence of property stratification, clans began to split into large patriarchal families with hereditary private land ownership, which later grew into private land ownership.
Communities of the Homeric period settled in fortified cities, the economy of which was based on agriculture and pastoralism (horse breeding, pig breeding), and cattle breeding. Crafts had not yet separated from agriculture, and product exchange was still in its infancy (exchange of surplus).
Slavery was patriarchal. There was no contempt for work: even tribal leaders herded livestock and plowed. Slave labor was used little. In general, this is a period of gradual formation of economic prerequisites for the formation of classes and the state.
The positions of the leader of the tribe - basileus (king), elders of clans and their associations were transformed from elected into hereditary ones, although the functions of these persons were limited only to military and judicial power.
In the VIII-VI centuries. BC e. The first slave-holding city-states (policies) began to form.
At this time, crafts were finally separated from agriculture. Mining, blacksmithing, foundry, shipbuilding, ceramic production, trade began to develop, and minted coins appeared. Under the influence of the development of productive forces and trade, the ancient Greeks began to conquer and colonize new lands, which were carried out in three main directions:
- to the northeast, i.e. to the Black Sea;
- to the west, to Sicily and the south of the Apennine Peninsula;
- south to Egypt and the coast of North Africa.
As a result, the so-called Greek world was created, in which the colonial outskirts played the role of suppliers of slaves and food for the metropolises - the ancient Greek states. Of all the Greek states, Athens and Sparta were the most powerful.
Sparta arose 200 years earlier than Athens and was a striking example of an aristocratic slave state. The population of Sparta was divided into three main groups: Spartiates (full-fledged community members), perieki (personally free, but politically powerless) and helots (dependent rural population, slaves of the entire Spartan community).
The occupation of the Spartiates was war, and in peacetime - continuous and tireless preparation for it. Physical labor was considered a humiliating task. The perieki, who paid taxes to the Spartan state, were engaged in crafts and trade.
In terms of economic development, Sparta was one of the most backward states of Ancient Greece. The main branches of the economy were primitive agriculture and cattle breeding. The labor force was slaves who cultivated grapes, olives, barley, wheat and other crops. Crafts and trade were in their infancy. Sparta is characterized by a complete underdevelopment of exchange and monetary circulation: instead of money, the Spartans circulated iron plates, which were not accepted in neighboring regions.
The rise of Athens (the main city of Attica) began in the 7th century. BC e., which was facilitated by both favorable natural conditions and the significant development of trade relations, the availability of silver and building materials.
Agriculture in Athens was undeveloped due to infertility of the soil. Food was purchased in exchange for handicrafts. In the middle of the 5th century. BC e. Athens, exploiting other Greek states, reached its greatest prosperity. They became the political and economic center of all of Greece, becoming a trading city of world importance. The Athenian port of Piraeus dominated trade throughout the Mediterranean. The products of Greek cities were exported through Piraeus - wines, olive oil, various handicrafts, and metals.
Goods from many countries arrived in Piraeus: iron and copper from Italy, bread from Sicily and the Black Sea region, ivory from Africa, spices and luxury goods from the countries of the East. The grain trade was under state control. Slaves were a major import. The main means of replenishing the labor force for Greek policies at this time was the slave trade.
Along with trade, usury developed, which was carried out by the owners of money changers - trapezites.
Given the variety of coins circulating in the Greek world, money change was important for trade. Trapezites also carried out transfer operations and took money for safekeeping. Large moneylending operations were carried out by temples.
The victory of Greece in the Greco-Persian Wars (500-449 BC) contributed to the final establishment of the slave system in Athens and other Greek city-states. The capture of huge booty and masses of prisoners strengthened the economic position of Athens. It was from this period that the widespread displacement of the labor of free people by the cheaper labor of slaves began. Ancient Greece entered the heyday of the slave society.
In the 5th century BC e. The development of the Greek economy was marked by significant unevenness. Crafts and trade developed relatively early only in part of the Greek city-states, while in other areas (Boeotia, Thessaly, Laconia, or Sparta, Argolis) primitive agriculture and cattle breeding dominated.
Among the implements of agricultural production, a harrow with wooden teeth, a threshing board and a roller appeared. The beginnings of ancient agronomy emerge as a systematic generalization of the practical experience of ancient agriculture (the agronomic treatise of Theophrastus).
In the most fertile areas of Greece, agriculture developed with a predominance of grain crops: wheat, barley, spelt. In the infertile areas of European Greece, gardens, vineyards, and olive groves were planted. The islands of Chios, Lesbos, Rhodes and Thasos were the birthplace of the best wines in Greece. The population of Boeotia, Etolia, Arcadia and other regions was engaged in cattle breeding (cattle, horses, donkeys, mules, goats, sheep, pigs).
In agriculture, the labor of slaves and conquered populations was widely used.
The main organizational unit of handicraft production in Greece was a small slave-owning workshop - er-gasterium, where slave owners sometimes worked along with slaves. The tool was primitive, elements of the technical division of labor were absent.
Metal mining and processing played an important role in the Greek economy. Coin production, the manufacture of utensils and jewelry from non-ferrous metals were of great importance in metallurgy.
Slave labor was widely used in mining and construction. The most important branch of Athenian craft was the production of ceramic products, which were one of the export goods.
Spinning and weaving in Greece in the 5th century. BC e. did not become an independent craft and remained mainly home-based industries. However, there were special fulling workshops in Athens.
The growth of the military-political power of Athens contributed to the development of shipbuilding. The construction of the navy was supervised by the state.
After the Greco-Persian wars, the development of commodity production and commodity circulation accelerated. The Greek states gained freedom of trade and navigation over a large area of the Mediterranean basin. Greek cities with a high level of handicraft production - Miletus, Corinth, Chalkis, as well as the island of Aegina - became centers of maritime trade. In the middle of the 5th century. BC e. The largest trading harbor on the Aegean Sea was the Athenian port of Piraeus, whose trade was mainly of an intermediary nature: goods were resold here and sent to their destination.
Internal trade in Ancient Greece was very limited due to the mountainous nature of the terrain, poor condition of roads, the almost complete absence of navigable rivers, and constant wars between Greek policies. Domestic trade was carried out mainly by small dealers and peddlers.
During major festivals, special fairs were held at churches. Fairs at the Pan-Greek Temple of Apollo in Delphi were very popular.
Money in the ancient Greek economy, on the one hand, was an intermediary of trade transactions, and on the other hand, it itself served as an object of trade. Money trading (usury) was widespread in Greece in the 5th-4th centuries. BC e.
Usury was carried out by the owners of money changers (trapes) - trapezites. The role of bankers in the financial transactions of the Greek world was played by temples, where huge funds flowed in the form of gifts and donations. The temples carried out lending operations, lending not only to individuals, but also to entire Greek policies.
Slavery in Ancient Greece had a military origin, there was no indentured servitude, and there was industrial use of slaves. The economy of ancient states is the economy of city states (polises). In Ancient Greece there was a military nature of the reproduction of labor force, the political system was military democracy. That is, people served in the branch of the military in which their wealth allowed. The bulk - people of average income - served in the infantry; the rich - in the cavalry (or equipped ships); the poor, armed with what was at their disposal (darts, stones), took part in hostilities; a citizen of the policy and the owner of a piece of land could only be a warrior.
The Athenian type of economy, widespread in Ancient Greece, is characterized as artisanal.
The universal participation of all citizens in military operations gradually led to changes in economic life. The ancient military system (phalanx) ensured ancient reproduction, but at the same time this system absorbed the free peasantry. Peasants who could not cultivate their plots went bankrupt and went to the city.
In Ancient Greece, in Athens, the use of slaves in handicraft production predominated, since the land was not suitable enough for agriculture. Poor roads and a lack of food led to the development of foreign trade. Since the population was regulated in the policies, the excess population had to immigrate. This process was carried out in three directions: to the south (North Africa), to the east (the Black Sea region), to the west (to Spain). This process was called the great Greek colonization
In Greece, the money changer business developed, since each policy had its own coin. The money changers were called trapezits, and the meal exchange offices themselves were called trapezits. Meals are the prototype of a bank, since in addition to exchange, payments for goods, acceptance of deposits, and issuance of loans were carried out there. In general, commodity-monetary relations in Ancient Greece depended on the influx of slaves, and when the flow began to decline, an economic crisis began.
8. Development of the economy of Ancient Rome: main features and features
The periodization of the history of Ancient Rome is based on forms of government, which in turn reflected the socio-political situation: from royal rule at the beginning of history to the dominant empire at its end.
Periods of the history of Ancient Rome:
· 8-6 c. BC e. royal Rome;
· 6-1 c. BC e. republic;
· 1 c. BC e. – 1st century n. e. empire;
· 395 AD e. the collapse of the Roman Empire into Western and Eastern (the latter existed until 1453).
Tsarist period: there was no monarchical state. Roman "kings" are military leaders. The social system of Rome during this period was military democracy.
In the VI century. BC e. a state arises. The period of the republic begins. Rome of this period is a city-state similar to the Greek polis. During the wars of conquest, Rome subjugated other Italian states. The defeated peoples recognized their dependence on Rome, but were not included in the Roman polis.
The Roman Republic was aristocratic - power remained in the hands of the family aristocracy. As economic development progressed, urban farming, crafts and trade appeared, and with them the “new rich” who sought to share power with the old Roman nobility and join its ranks. Separate parts of Italy are gradually merging into one state. However, political and property rights remain in the hands of citizens of the Roman polis only - the Quirites -> social tension and political conflicts.
The army becomes the decisive force. Warlords seize power in the country and turn into emperors. In the 1st century BC e. The Roman Republic was replaced by an empire that lasted until the 5th century. n. e.
The leading branch of the economy is agriculture. Fertile soils and a mild climate ensured high yields. The rapid rise of agriculture in the 2nd-1st centuries. BC e. can be explained by three reasons:
widespread introduction of slavery,
development of simple commodity production,
· transition from small-scale farming to production on large areas.
The dominant type of economy is a large slaveholding estate, carrying out commodity production and subsistence farming at the same time. Also, the distribution of land in small plots for rent to landless and land-poor free tenants - colons.
The concentration of land, the spread of private property, the development of crafts, trade, money circulation, and the emergence of a commodity economy required cheap labor. It was difficult to force a free small owner, who sought equal rights and was allocated a plot of land, to work. Such labor could be a slave, deprived of all rights and property, received from outside. This explains the aggressiveness of Rome, its endless wars, mass robbery and enslavement of the conquered population. Successful wars contributed to a large influx of slaves and the growth and introduction of slavery.
The use of slave labor destroyed subsistence farming. In the II-I centuries. BC e. landowners and artisans sought not only to obtain a larger surplus product, but also to realize it in money. All this caused increased exploitation of slaves, who became the main commodity producers.
As a result, the number of slaves constantly increased. They became the largest class of Roman society. Slavery spread to agriculture, mining, metallurgy, and construction. The labor of free or semi-dependent workers was still used, but played a subordinate role.
In the II-III centuries. n. e. The crisis of the slave system began.
9. “Ancient” model of economic development: main features and peculiarities.
The ancient model is a model in which personally free individuals independently carry out economic activities, bear full responsibility for the results of this activity, and have the opportunity to exchange these results on the market with minimal government intervention.
Peculiarities:
· The ancient city-state (polis) arose as a result of the fact that society was split into full-fledged citizens and everyone else (including slaves). An early form of state emerged.
· New social relations were formed in which the state is an instrument in the hands of its citizens. The main thing is the rights of a citizen, they are unquestionable and sacred, including the right to private property.
· The emergence of complex systems of ideas and institutions, legal registration of the rights and responsibilities of citizens. Society and economy, based on the personal initiative of a prosperous owner, began to develop rapidly. The free and administratively unregulated market put forward its own demands and provided new opportunities for enterprising people.
Traits:
· Geographical area: Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome (advantageous EGP).
· Fundamentals of the economy: Agriculture, cattle breeding, crafts. The property of slave owners in a slave, in the product of his labor.
· Nature of the economy: Subsistence farming. Significant development of simple commodity production and market relations (especially external).
· Main productive force: Worker. The peasant community is preserved. Crafts are predominantly in cities.
· Nature of slavery: Ancient slavery. High proportion of slaves in the total population. Slave labor - in all spheres of the economy and management.
10. The crisis of the “ancient” model of economic development: causes, essence and consequences.
1. Dominance of small private farms in the economy
2. Formation of a special group of feudal dependent peasants
3. Class struggle
4. Economic and political fragmentation
5. Activation of the barbarians
6. New religions that helped strengthen the power of the new land magnates
Essence:
1. Low community productivity
2. Decline of state farms
3. Difficulties in expanding the production of small farms and independent policies
4. Insufficient political protection in international relations
5. Excessive centralization of power
Consequences:
1. The gradual movement of private slaveholdings to cities
2. Nationalization of most of the rural territory
3. The emergence of self-governing farms within large states
4. Economic decline
5. Development of land ownership independent from the community
6. Decomposition of the community
7. Decline of the cities-centers of commodity slave farming
