150 PETER ACTON
metals, often for further processing in Athens.^3 The Classical period saw a major
increase in output, especially in mining, metalwork, stone, timber and housing,
leading to labour shortages, the encouragement of metics, and vastly increased
imports of slaves.^4 Houses were large and comfortable by the standards of the
time.^5 Expenditure on furniture and furnishings grew commensurately and
conspicuous consumption became increasingly common in the fourth cen-
tury. Some couches and tables were highly ornate and inlaid with gold or
silver, men and women wore jewellery of outstanding craftsmanship, and deco-
rative ceramics or silverware for festivals might take several man-years of work.^6
Manufacturing and manufactured items played a central role in Athenian life.
This chapter applies contemporary business concepts to make sense of the lim-
ited and often confusing data about how Athenian manufacturing businesses
actually worked.
The topic is neglected in many accounts of Classical Athens. If one were to
consult any reference book or dictionary of Athens or the ancient world and
look under ‘Industry’ or ‘Manufacturing,’ at best one is likely to find a reference
saying ‘see under Crafts.’ Under ‘Crafts’ one might find, again at best, references
to a few instances where a citizen craftsman has come to the attention of Plato,
or Demosthenes has acted for an aggrieved workshop owner. Manufacturing is
largely neglected in most histories of Classical Athens, books that bring schol-
arly perception and insight to its politics, its diplomatic and military strategies,
its social structure, art, literature and architecture. One highly regarded book,
published as recently as the 1990s and purporting to present a ‘portrait’ of
Athens in her glory days, describes a city almost wholly innocent of commer-
cial pursuits.^7 Nowhere in its more than 500 pages does it attempt to address
how Athenians made a living. The index of thirty-two pages has no entries for
craft, industry, manufacturing, metalwork, pottery, retailing, selling, vending or
workshop. Artisans working near the agora receive a desultory two paragraphs
amid pages describing the religious festivals and events that took place there.
Manufacturing has not been neglected altogether: a number of scholars
have made major contributions in specific areas, such as the life and work of
craftsmen,^8 the range of specialized manufacturing trades,^9 banking,^10 the laws
governing commerce,^11 and the economies of Greek cities.^12 J. K. Davies has
laid out some of the challenges and choices in modelling economic flows in
the ancient world.^13 Others have approached specific historical questions with
an open mindedness about economic perspectives that often leads to important
insights. All the same, the last major works devoted exclusively to manufactur-
ing were published in 1900/01 (Francotte) and 1920 (Glotz).^14 It remains
‘striking how much of the economic historiography of the Mediterranean has
concerned itself not with production but with exchange.’^15
One factor behind the relative neglect of manufacturing is the reluctance of
many historians to see it as a serious pursuit, vigorously conducted by intelligent