City and Country in the Ancient World (Paperback, 1st Paperback Ed)

The ancient Greco-Roman world was a world full of cities: not of cities in the modern sense of massive conglomerations, but in a distinctive sense of communities in which countryside was dominated by urban centre. Interest in the special relationship of town and country in the ancient world goes back to Max Weber and beyond. This volume of papers by influential archaeologists and historians seeks to bring together the two disciplines in exploring the city-country relationship and its impact on social, political, economic and cultural conditions in classical antiquity. Topics include the rise of the "polis" in ancient Greece, the economic and cultural role of city elites in Athens, central Italy and Asia Minor, and the role of taxation in subordinating town to country.