Athenian mercantile community : a reappraisal of the social, political and legal status of inter-regional merchants during the fourth century
This quotation from Plato's Laws has often been seen as representative of the perception of inter-regional trade and traders held by the majority of classical Greeks. Plato and Aristotle dominate the moral philosophy of the classical world for modern scholars because their works survive in a fairly complete form, whereas, in contrast, the writings of other philosophers of the same era are frequently fragmentary. However, the quality and immediacy of the evidence presented by Plato and Aristotle can be dangerously seductive and, as a result, these works have been given disproportionate importance in previous studies of mercantile operations in the Greek world. In general the picture of merchants and inter-regional exchange that these two men present is very negative. One underlying reason for this negativity is their belief that wealth generated through trade unsettled the balance of society and, in certain circumstances, led to stasis. Rather than being based on the principles of equality and fair exchange, inter-regional commerce was seen as centred on the more aggressive concept of profit maximisation. Plato and Aristotle both saw inter-regional merchants as a symbol of failure for the polis, in its attempts
Woolmer, Mark
Athenian mercantile community : a reappraisal of the social, political and legal status of inter-regional merchants during the fourth century. This quotation from Plato's Laws has often been seen as representative of the perception of inter-regional trade and traders held by the majority of classical Greeks. Plato and Aristotle dominate the moral philosophy of the classical world for modern scholars because their works survive in a fairly complete form, whereas, in contrast, the writings of other philosophers of the same era are frequently fragmentary. However, the quality and immediacy of the evidence presented by Plato and Aristotle can be dangerously seductive and, as a result, these works have been given disproportionate importance in previous studies of mercantile operations in the Greek world. In general the picture of merchants and inter-regional exchange that these two men present is very negative. One underlying reason for this negativity is their belief that wealth generated through trade unsettled the balance of society and, in certain circumstances, led to stasis. Rather than being based on the principles of equality and fair exchange, inter-regional commerce was seen as centred on the more aggressive concept of profit maximisation. Plato and Aristotle both saw inter-regional merchants as a symbol of failure for the polis, in its attempts
athenian mercantile community reappraisal social_political legal_status inter_regional merchant quotation plato laws often_see representative perception inter_regional trade trader hold majority classical greeks plato_aristotle dominate moral_philosophy classical_world modern_scholar work survive fairly complete form whereas contrast write philosopher era frequently fragmentary however quality immediacy evidence_present plato_aristotle work give disproportionate importance previous_study mercantile operation greek_world general_picture merchant inter_regional exchange men present negative underlie reason negativity belief wealth generate trade unsettled balance society certain circumstance lead stasis rather base principle equality fair exchange inter_regional commerce see centre aggressive concept profit plato_aristotle saw inter_regional merchant symbol failure polis attempt