The Ancient Greek Economy. Markets, Households and City-States

AgRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN HELLENISTIC gREECE 199

trade. Information to be gained from the study of the amphorae and the iden-

tification of possible places of origin will certainly provide additional informa-

tion on the trade connections of Kompoloi and allow this issue to be explored

further. Engagement in extensive viticulture did not necessarily entail only the

production of wine but probably also included production of raisins, as the

evidence from the cellar of the living quarters suggested. These were produced

as an additional vine product, either for consumption on the estate or in larger

quantities for exchange or even trade.

Viticulture, to a greater degree than cereal and even olive farming, demanded

a novel type of intensified agriculture and with it a new set of rural values that

emphasised farm residency and investment in land sometimes beyond equal

return in profits (Hanson 1992 ). In order to be engaged in large-scale viti-

culture, the landowner of Kompoloi must have had the capital and resources

available for practising a specialised economy, and could afford a high-risk

investment with uncertain profits and returns. Kompoloi is a wealthy estate,

suggested not only by its size and storage facilities but also from the quanti-

ties of fine pottery and coins and the presence of gold in its premises (Poulaki

2001 ). In order to be engaged successfully in such an extensive and intensive

farming practice Kompoloi would also have had to fulfil specific prerequisites

suggested for viticulture: security, transportation infrastructure and connection

to different industries present in the local economy (Hitchner 2002 ). These

industries included amphora production for the transport of the wine to dif-

ferent places. Kompoloi’s engagement in a market-oriented economy would

have been facilitated by its geographical location, on the route connecting

Thessaly with Macedonia, close to two urban centres, Heraklio (Krania) and

Livithra. In the historically recorded and recent past as in the present, extensive

and systematic cultivation of and specialisation in both olive and vine has been

generated by demand from a market or similar mechanism (Hamilakis 1995 ).

Ports acted as export points through which the surpluses of a wide region

were funnelled (Mattingly et al. 2001 ); it seems likely that wine would have

been transferred from Kompoloi to the harbour of Krania for medium or even

long range export.

It has been suggested that the production of the famous Mendean wine

represented production from a large area of Chalkidiki (Papadopoulos and

Paspalas 1999 ). Given the location of Kompoloi opposite Mende, it seems rea-

sonable to posit that Kompoloi was one of a number of estates producing the

large quantities of wine needed for the Mendean ‘brand’ of wine (see Panagou,

Chapter 9 in this volume for a detailed account of amphora distribution).

Completely different economic mechanisms were employed at Platania. By

growing a variety of crops, ‘a little of everything’ (Forbes 1976 ), at Platania,

the risk of uniform failure was reduced. The mixture of cereal and pulses

with slightly different growth requirements and tolerances would afford some