"Roman Frugality offers the first-ever systematic analysis of the variants of individual and collective self-restraint that shaped ancient Rome throughout its history and had significant repercussions in post-classical times. In particular, it tries to do the complexity of a phenomenon justice...

Bread was the staple of the ancient Mediterranean diet. It was present in the meals of emperors and on the tables of the poorest households. In many instances, a loaf of bread probably constituted an entire meal. As such, bread was both something that unified society and a milieu through which...

"In this book, Gabriele Cifani reconstructs the early economic history of Rome, from the Iron Age to the early Republic. Bringing a multidisciplinary approach to the topic, he argues that the early Roman economy was more diversified than has been previously acknowledged, going well beyond...

"In an essay published in 2002, I discussed the nature of technical specialization in the economy of Classical Athens. Although I found little evidence for vertical specialization (different skills needed to provide a single good or service), I showed that there was plentiful evidence for...

1. Introduction: Chaînes Opératoires and the Making of Roman Bread -- 2. Baking as Cultural Heritage: Regional Variation in the Roman Production of Bread -- 3. Modes of Production: Bakeries as Factories and Workshops -- 4 Experiencing the Bakery: Training, Status, Labor, and Exploitation -- 5....

"This volume reconsiders the economic history of the ancient and late ancient Mediterranean and Near East from the perspective of David Graeber's anthropological theory. It pursues two purposes. On the one hand, it tests the accuracy of the grand narrative put forward in his 2011 monograph Debt:...