In this ground-breaking analysis of the world's first private
banks, Edward Cohen convincingly demonstrates the existence and
functioning of a market economy in ancient Athens while revising
our understanding of the society itself. Challenging the
"primitivistic" view, in which bankers are merely pawnbrokers and
money-changers, Cohen reveals that fourth-century Athenian bankers
pursued sophisticated transactions. These dealings--although
technologically far removed from modern procedures--were in
financial essence identical with the lending and deposit-taking
that separate true "banks" from other businesses. He further
explores how the Athenian banks facilitated tax and creditor
avoidance among the wealthy, and how women and slaves played
important roles in these family businesses--thereby gaining legal
rights entirely unexpected in a society supposedly dominated by an
elite of male citizens.
Special emphasis is placed on the reflection of Athenian
cognitive patterns in financial practices. Cohen shows how
transactions were affected by the complementary opposites embedded
in the very structure of Athenian language and thought. In turn,
his analysis offers great insight into daily Athenian reality and
cultural organization.
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