"This book gives a structured account of Egypt's transition from Ptolemaic to Roman rule by identifying key relationships between ecology, land tenure, taxation, administration and politics. It introduces theoretical perspectives from the social sciences and subjects them to empirical scrutiny...

Charters, transaction costs, and trust -- The business of trust -- Reputation management -- Reputation, rhetoric, and participation -- Associations in legal thought and practice -- Associations in Late Roman Egypt -- Conclusion

The first systematic treatment of the role of land transport within the economic life of Roman Egypt, an everyday economic activity at the centre of the economy not only of Egypt but the Roman world. - ;The papyri of Egypt offer a rich and complex picture of this important Roman province and...