Oikos and Oikonomia: Greek houses, households and the domestic economy

Author(s): Bradley A. Ault

Source: British School at Athens Studies, Vol. 15, BUILDING COMMUNITIES: House,
Settlement and Society in the Aegean and Beyond (2007), pp. 259-265
Published by: British School at Athens
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 28
Oik os and Oikonomia:
Greek houses, households and the
domestic economy
Bradley A. Ault

Taking at the outset the literal meaning of 'economy' however, by focusing on aspects of the ancient economy
as household management, I would like to explore what I that to our minds are more representative of the macro-
see as the foundations of the Greek macro- or regional or political economy, through studies in land credit,
economy of antiquity in the domestic microeconomy. shipping, the grain and slave trades, and the like.
The degree to which the ancient household actually Finley could be quite critical of what archaeology
contributed to anything approximating our had to offer, especially in the realm of interpretation,
contemporary understanding of 'economic' has been and particularly down into the historical periods. 'If it
repeatedly questioned and the debate is ongoing, its is often the case that the usefulness of archaeology to
origins going back to the late nineteenth and early history increases with an increase in documentation, it
twentieth centuries in the so-called 'Bücher-Meyer is also the case that certain kinds of documentation
controversy' (relevant texts having been collected in render archaeology more or less unnecessary' (Finley
Finley 1979^). I believe that even in the most humble 1975, 101). He decried the 'number fetishism' with
circumstances in the Archaic and Classical periods, which many of us, myself included, are to a certain
households engaged in a range of activities from textile extent obsessed (Finley 1999, 25), and claimed: 'We are
production and other craftwork, to agricultural too often victims ofthat great curse of archaeology, the
production and processing, which had the potential for indestructibility of pots' (Finley 1981^, 190).
going beyond mere subsistence. Ultimately our time- The long shadow cast by Finley, and other economic
honoured notions of domestic self-sufficiency are in historians, has largely precluded systematic con-
need of revision, if not of being recognised as myths sideration of the ancient Greek household as
and discarded altogether. Rather, the orientation of the constituting a viable economic enterprise. In essence,
household would tend, in stressed and favourable Finley and the substantivist school of economic thought
circumstances alike, towards market exchange, and are correct. The ancient economy was 'embedded' in
hence local and regional economic involvement. The social institutions.1 Since it is therefore not distinct from
stigma against non-agrarian, banausic activities or them, its consideration has been subsumed into the
mercantile involvement so often cited in the primary study of society generally. Now we all know that it is
sources (for these, see below) similarly needs to be the political and religious aspects of institutions which
dismissed as elitist and moralising in tone rather than have received most attention from historians, even
being reflective of reality. In short and in fact, the ancient where they also have important economic or other
Greek domestic economy was to a large extent co- aspects. And because the Greek household has until
terminous with the macroeconomy. recently merited so little concern, the domestic economy
As stated by Aristotle, 'The economic art is rule over has been more a subject for neglect than anything else.
children, wife, and household generally' {Politics 1278 Here, then, oikonomia is a subject area that archaeology
b 37-8). And while Xenophon's Oikonomikos provided can drive to the fore, well suited as it is to extract the
the basic framework for treatises on household maximum amount of evidence from an institution
management for centuries to come, M. I. Finley noted comparatively less well documented than others in the
that it contained 'not one sentence that expresses an primary written sources.
economic principle' (Finley 1999, 19). He went on to In what follows, I would like to explore briefly both
make the point that since all ancient advice on the matter quantitative and qualitative indications of the domestic
came closer to folk wisdom than scientific economic
theory, it should be discredited as 'economic' altogether
(Finley 1999, 20). This, of course, did not stop Finley
from assuming his rightful place as among the greatest 1 See Granovetter (1985) for an important consideration of the
economic historians of the ancient world. He did so, 'embeddedness' of 'economic action'.

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 2Ó0 BRADLEY A. AULT

<:% ^^^ ^y/^ Fig. 28.1. Meg

<x*r ^/^ house growth betw
*^^ centuries bc.

economy. These include

eighth andhouse size
sixth centuries and
(FIG. 28.1; value
cf. Vallet 1973
numismatic evidence 89-91).
from domestic
In both contexts,
cases it is worth pointing out that th
expansion
household luxury, slavery, of the houses may
industry, andreflect a change in the
evidence f
composition of activities.
home-based agricultural-related the family, from nuclear to mor
extended groupings, but there is no evidence for
HOUSE SIZE AND VALUE this, whereas increasing the available storage spac
appears consistently to have been a prime concern.4
Work is currently being undertaken by Ian What Morrisis to
also evident from the growth seen here is an
re-evaluate 'the ancient economy' generally, and as
ongoing tendency towards specialisation of domestic
formulated by Finley (Morris 2005; forthcoming).2
space, and, arguably, an intensification of the domestic
A central feature of his analysis is to pointeconomy
out the along with it.
dramatic growth in house size between the eighth By theand latter fifth and certainly the fourth centuries
we encounter
fourth centuries. He calculates this as averaging on the the fully developed Greek courtyar
order of a fivefold increase in the area occupied
house,by or 'single entrance courtyard house' (following
Nevett
houses, from c. 55 to 230 m2.3 He also notes the rise in1999, esp. 83-103; FIG. 28.2). Within the insula
certain amenities of construction, roof tiles being
of regularly planned cities, house-plots are not only o
common from the sixth century on, and second storeysequivalent sizes, but much larger than they had
roughly
by the end of the fifth.
For example, at Zagora, on Andros, the sequence of
domestic growth between 775 and 700 BC is best
documented across two housing units, H24-25-32 and
2 See the recent piece by Davies (1998), which also suggests an
H26-27 (Cambitoglou et al 1988, 107-28, 154-8; see
ambitious new approach to the ancient economy.
3 The
the discussions of Coucouzeli and Lang in this whole argument is presented in detail in Morris 2005. In
volume,
fact, the average dimensions of houses from the eighth to sixth
and Parisinou, FIG. 24.4 ä, b). Initially erected as single-
centuries vary dramatically, but a trend in growth is percepti-
room dwellings, they become, in the last quarter of the
ble. Cf. the tables of area measures provided by Lang 1996, 81,
eighth century, not only internally subdivided but
text fig. 18 (for apsidal Profanbauten); and 89, text fig. 20 (for
extended across another two or three rooms (H40-41-
quadrangular structures).
42). Moreover, the central space that lies between the
4 Lie Angelis (2002; nas pointed out tne existence 01 under-
expanded built units, is itself partitioned with ground
a wall silos, very probably intended for the storage of grain,
and appears to have been unroofed. H33 and H43 can with several of the early houses at Megara Hyblaia.
associated
therefore be identified as nascent courtyards. He sees these as likely indications of the storage of surpluses,
A similar scenario is attested within the setting of
not merely for subsistence but for market exchange. This goes
the earliest well-documented orthogonally planned
a long way towards supporting the argument advanced through-
out this
Greek city, at Megara Hyblaia in Sicily, between thepaper.

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 OIKOS AND OIKONOMIA 261

c L • Field ■?• 'a />-^ /^V*>^ V5' HouscB //

Ephoreia c L • Field ■?• 'a j^^y¡^ />-^

x'''' ^^S^a7 Housc a

'/^ Area 6 f^^sx<^>^ '
'>^><r^' '

0 10 20m ''''''/X' ^S? ^^X ^

)/^/ fx^.o 'yHouscC ' Xx

//'' >V/Housc 9,'/'"^ '

Housc E A ^/x^^ / ^ ^^ ijr

^^^^VTV^^Southcast Gate

Fig. 28.2. H alieis, eastern quarter of the lower town, showing the d
presses (P) in excavated areas.

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2Ó2 BRADLEY A. AULT

been in the Dark Ageexchange

andsystems
Archaic provides further
period.confirmation
Tho of
robust
Olynthos, for example, domestic economies
average 294 (cf.m2. Kim In
2002).addit
to the important implications for social organisa
that I believe this ostensibly
LUXUS isonomic hou
shows, domestic space has become increasin
segmented, with specificA further
areas indicator
being here given
is that of domestic
over luxury. By
to livi
working and storage. the fourth century we see a marked rise in such amenities
Recent studies by at the household
Nicholas level (Walter-Karydi
Cahill and Lisa1994). The
Nevet
of the series of domestic andron had become
sales inscriptions recovered f commonplace. Mosaics
Olynthos have shown becomethose
that more frequent,
housesas does the evidence for stucco-
nearest the a
sold for substantially work and painted
higher plaster walls.
prices than Smallthose
waterproofed
fur
away; some rooms
2000-2700 set aside for washing
drachmas or bathing
more are oftent
than
elsewhere (Cahill 1991, identifiable.
377-84, Andwith
the elaboration
fig. of 74;
courtyards
2000,with
columns and even peristyles
9, with fig. 7; 2002, esp. 276-81, with fig. 62, 29 speaks for the incorporation
Nevett 2000). These of elements of certainly
prices public sphere architecture into the private
relate to
profitability of households being located adjacent to
realm. Morris concludes (pers. comm., autumn 2000)
that 'economic output per capita probably doubled
agora, and may well also attest to the status attached
between 800 and 300 BC';
residence in the 'high rent' district of andthethatcity.5
'Such sustained
(Ind
growth may be unique
it seems that these inscriptions were in the pre-industrialdisplay
publicly world, and
along the house requires a new approach to Greek economic history'.
frontage.)
In this regard I think it appropriate to acknowledge
NUMISMATIC EVIDENCE FROM DOMESTIC David Small's recent argument that the economic
CONTEXTS
strategies of aristocratic Greek households, the 'regional
elite economy' as he terms it, stood in contradistinction
tohouses
Similarly, the distribution of coins from the that ofatthe polis itself (Small 1994; 1997, esp. 222-3).
Olynthos is markedly higher around the agoraWhile Small sees the latter as short-sighted and never
(Cahill
1991, 368-72, with fig. 73; 2000, 503; 2002, 266-73,
realising its potential, he notes that a network of wealthy
domestic
with fig. 60). And while their overall numbers do noteconomies was brought together on a regular
stand as an absolute index of the wealth of basis
individual
at the pan-Hellenic festivals. There, he argues,
households, they do attest to the existence of aheads of aristocratic households conducted major
monetary
economy in which the oikoi of the citybusiness
activelytransactions in the form of redistributing
participated both at home and abroad. For not agricultural
only were surpluses to regions where there had been
production
there issues of Olynthos and the Chalcidic League, but shortfalls.7 Such a position has, I believe, a
25% to 30% of the coins recovered from thenumber of attractive features, and is not necessarily
site were
struck by foreign mints. mutually exclusive with my earlier proposition that the
This situation is interesting when compared domestic
with the economy is very much coextensive with the
political
city of Halieis, in the southern Argolid, which alsoeconomy. Indeed, to return to a fundamental
concept
minted its own coinage. While Olynthos yielded morefrom the substantivist model, the two are
than 4400 Greek coins, the intramural areasembedded
exploredin one another.
at Halieis yielded only around 240. 6 Of these, it
should be noted, nearly 40% were foreign issues. SLAVERY
To what
should we attribute these differences? First is simply the
With information like this, we have already come a long
scale of the projects that led to the recovery of these two
sites. Olynthos was a much more extensive excavation
way from Finley. Yet, his discourse continues to
structure the dialogue, especially when we turn to the
than Halieis, with more than 100 houses being revealed,
topic of slavery. I quote here from his piece, 'Was Greek
a great many in their entirety. By way of contrast, at
civilization based on slave labour?', with regard to the
Halieis, only six houses were exposed in anything
approximating their full plan (out of portions of 20 or
so which were brought to light by excavations in the
lower town; FIG. 28.2). But it is also worth reminding
5 See also Hoepfner and Schwandner 1994, 317-18, for a gen-
ourselves of the destruction of Olynthos in 348eral
BCdiscussion
by of house values relative to other costs of living
Philip II of Macedón. Indeed, many of the 4400+
in coins
ancient Greece.
recovered come from hoards. Halieis appears to6 have been
For discussion of the coins from Halieis, see Dengate 2005.
subject to a more systematic, considerably less
7 Seeviolent
also the rebuttal of Small (1997) by Morris (1997), in the
abandonment around or just after 300 BC. And while
same volume. At the same time, it cannot be denied that mar-
there certainly is a difference in wealth between the twoperiodic fairs were one of the primary venues at which
kets and
cities, with Olynthos being the more upscale, the intra-
overalland even interregional household exchange took place,
on a
similarity of involvement of the households in moneyed variety of economic levels (see Andreau 2002).

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 OIKOS AND OIKONOMIA 263

AGRICULTURE of
agricultural workforce: 'Some proportion IN THE OIKOS
these
smallholders owned a slave, or even two, but we cannot
The one index of oikonomia that I would like to turn to
possibly determine what the proportion was, and in this
in rather more detail, and which was deliberate
sector the whole issue is clearly not of the greatest
excluded from the foregoing list of economic activit
importance' (Finley 1981^, 100). I think that we would
engaged in by the ancient household, is that connect
disagree, particularly as regards the matter at hand. The
with agriculture, agricultural processing and storage
general consensus now is that, and here I quote from
produce. This was the most common and basic featu
Michael Jameson, 'all who could afford to made use of
of the ancient Greek domestic economy, and the ancien
them, at home and at work' (Jameson 19900, 104).8
economy generally, as reiterated by the title of a recen
Domestic and agricultural slavery, then, was
edited collection, Economies beyond Agriculture in t
widespread. But in spite of its ubiquity, it is interesting,
Classical World (Mattingly and Salmon 2001). It
and a commentary on the degree to which the institution
one that is prominent in the remains of houses, in t
was integrated into the oikos^ that we are essentially
field of landscape and settlement archaeology, and i
unable to identify slaves in the archaeological record of
the literary testimonia.
the houses themselves (Ault 2005^). For example, a
Some of the most dramatic archaeological evidenc
recent study by Ian Morris, appropriately entitled
for the involvement of Greek households in agriculture
'Remaining invisible', was unable to distinguish the
comes from Halieis. This includes several examples
mining slaves of Thorikos on the basis of either
the features known as koprones (FIG. 28.2). These stone-
architecture or pottery that might have associated them
with their attested Thracian and Anatolian homelands lined pits sunk into courtyards served to collec
(Morris 1998^). At the same time, however, the household waste, kopros, of all varieties, both organ
buildings at the site are riddled with small cubicles that
and inorganic (Ault 1999, esp. 550-9).9 From literar
sources we know that in Athens, at least, the state
are more likely to have housed slaves than mine owners
oversaw the collection of garbage in conjunction wit
and their families or overseers left in charge (see Jones,
private entrepreneurs (the koprologoi) who were able to
this volume). The prices fetched for slaves, as well as
their varied occupations, attest to the strength and turn a profit by recycling and selling waste materials a
diversity of the domestic economy. To cite only the fertiliser. In the relatively infertile region of t
best-known example, the average cost of the 25 southern Argolid around Halieis, application of suc
slaves sold in the Attic Stelai was 174 drachmas each soil enrichments would have been especially welcom
(Pritchett 1956, 276-81). In addition to koprones as many as 1 1 olive oil press
installations can be recognised in the houses at Halie
DOMESTIC INDUSTRY (several of which are indicated in FIG. 28.2; Ault 199
559-64).10 Up to 20 more examples of press furnitur
have been
That such 'help' was commonplace is indicative of noted
the on Classical to Hellenistic sites
degree to which the household was oriented towards
production. And this is not merely subsistence, but
surplus production. Such is the case made also by Tobias
8 See also Jameson
Fischer-Hansen in his recent survey of ergasteria in 1977-78; 1990^, 191; 1992; 2002; Burford
Magna Graecia and Sicily (Fischer-Hansen 2000, 1993, 208-22; Cox 1998, 190-4; Morris 1998^; Cahill
esp.
91-4), as well as by Karen Stears, in a paper presentedActually, Finley was more willing to admit the
2002, 261-4.

at this conference, with regard to the homepresence

textileof domestic slaves than agricultural ones, but even
then his viewpoint could be considered somewhat parochial
industry. Various manufacturing and craftwork activities
(e.g. Finley 198 1¿, 101-2).
are attested from households at Olynthos and Athens,
9 In addition to the domestic koprones already identified (Ault
which provide the best-studied examples from Greece
I999» 555-6, with notes 15-20), Karl Reber informs me that
itself (Cahill 1991, 347-68, with fig. 72; 2000, 504-5, with can now be identified at Eretria, in House IV, in
two examples
fig. 6; 2002, 236-65; 2005; Harris 2002; Tsakirgis 2005).
the West Quarter, south-west of Room K (Reber 1998, 68, fig.
Thus, in spite of the elitist and moralising condemna-
91); and in the street south of the House with the Mosaics
tions of Xenophon (Oikonomikos iv 2-3), Plato (e.g.
(Ducrey et al. 1993, 48, fig. 48; also visible on the folding state
Republic 495 d-e, 522 b, 590 c) and Aristotle (e.g.plan at the end), where it was related to the bathroom, room
Politics
16. The
1278 a 8), the material evidence shows how prevalent putative kopron in a late Classical house at Stymphalos
such
work actually was. Everything from large-scale (Ault 1999, 556, with note 20) was explored by excavation in
weaving,
the summer of 2000 and proved not to be such a feature after
to stonemasons and sculptors, cobblers, coroplasts,
all (Hector Williams, pers. comm., September 2000).
metalworkers, bakers and shop-owners is archaeo-
10 This figure updates that which appeared in Ault 1999, 559,
logically documented. Clearly the entrepreneurial spirit
following a recent reanalysis of the domestic architecture in
was alive and well in the Greek polis. Moreover, that it
the lower town at Halieis (Ault 2005«). Since the present
was home-based is to be expected in a pre-industrial
section is heavily based on Ault 1999, the reader is referred
society, even if the long-term growth of productivity
there for fuller discussion, documentation and illustration of
exceeds expectations (as noted previously by various
Morris).points.

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 264 BRADLEY A, AULT

at Delos (Pritchett
identified by the Southern Argolid 1956, 184). WeProject
Exploration can combine these
prices
within the territory of Halieis and withitswhat has been offeredThe
neighbours. as a 'highly
speculative' but koprones,
oil-presses complemented the domestic 'conservative' estimate that in the every-
which,
other-year
as I have just suggested, represent cycle of olive fruiting,
deliberate efforts a family
to might obtain
250-300 litres
increase agricultural productivity of oil from itsproviding
through trees (Forbes and Foxhall
1978, 46-7).11
components for fertiliser (Ault 1999,So the 564-6).
potential value of a household's
These
presses served as a means forolive harvest could itself
processing fluctuate
the between
yield of76.14 and
the land. However - and this needs to be stressed - 418.55 drachmas. But did the domestic (micro)
the houses in question were clearly not laid out with economies of the inhabitants of Halieis, let alone the
press installations in mind. These are later features polis (macro) economy, turn on such transactions?
added in the fourth century, when the processing amply Some have argued that olive cultivation and oil
attested in the contemporary chora was for whatever production in antiquity were so ubiquitous in regions
reason deemed insufficient (compare the evidence for that supported them that it was neither very profitable
a similar phenomenon at Eretria presented by Reber,nor dependable as a source of income (Finley 1973, 133;
this volume, p. 285). Sallares 1991, 304-9; Foxhall 1997, esp. 261-2). Thus,
While the precise reasons behind an intensificationthe apparent late Classical and Hellenistic boom in olive
cultivation in the chora of Halieis could be seen as being
of olive cultivation and oil processing at Halieis remain
uncertain, Tjeerd van Andel, Michael Jameson and
of primarily local significance. That is, it was the result
Curtis Runnels observe that the highest-qualityof an attempt to supply the burgeoning population of
cultivable soils in the territory, the so-called 'deep soils',the Halieis peninsula (Acheson 1997). But Halieis must
were of fairly limited extent and lay about 2 km away have benefited from its situation at the mouth of the
from the city proper (Runnels and van Andel 1987; van Argolic Gulf. It possessed one of the finest naturally
Andel and Runnels 1987, 105-9, maps 20, 21; Jamesonsheltered bays and harbours in the Greek world. As
et al. 1994, 383-94, figs. 6.17, 6.18, back-pocket mapsuch, the polis must have lent itself to more than serving
8). Nearer and more abundant were alluvial deposits as a pawn in the military aspirations of others, which
is how it winds up being mentioned in almost all of
on hillsides and in valley bottoms. Although these soils
the limited references to the city in the primary sources
were less well suited to grain cultivation, they were ideal
for olives. It has been further suggested that it may have(cf. the historical overview in Jameson et al forth-
coming; Dengate et al 1994, 57-148). The enormous
been Halieis' ability to supply olive oil to new markets
that accounts for the degree of prosperity attained in quantities of Attic, Corinthian, Argive and other
its final, fourth-century phase. Potential customers fineware pottery present in all houses and across the
could initially have been found in Attica and its entire site indicate ongoing commercial activity with
commercial dependants which had been deprived of oil the wider Greek world. In addition, much, if not most,
of the plain and coarseware pottery from Halieis may
and other staples as a result of the annual ravaging of
crops during the Peloponnesian Wars. Subsequently,also have been acquired via market exchange. To cite
in the fourth century, there was rapid growth in the only rough figures, from the latest habitation phases of
territories of Thebes, Megalopolis and other poleis the five most completely excavated houses, more than
located in regions which were poorly suited to olive24,000 sherds were recovered.12 From these, a minimum
cultivation. And, finally, with the conquests ofnumber of nearly 3000 vessels can be accounted for.
Alexander the Great, whole new regions were openedThere is ultimately no reason why local surplus
up to Hellenic tastes and traders, offering themselves production of olive oil or any other commodity (such
as markets for exchange. as salt, to take a toponymically appropriate example)
Assessing the impact of oléiculture upon the economywould not have found its way onto trading vessels
of ancient Greece depends largely on projectingpassing through, or even sent out by, Halieis. And while
backwards the evidence for subsequent large-scale we should not overemphasise the role of the olive
Roman and more contemporary agribusiness (Mattingly in linking the local economy to wider networks,
1996). Hamish Forbes, in particular, has madeeverything about the domestic architecture and other
cautionary observations about overestimating the role evidence that we can muster to reconstruct household
played by olive cultivation in the southern Argolid organisation at Halieis attests to its full integration
(Forbes 1992; 1993), and by extension elsewhere. Still,within the koine of Hellenic culture.
from fourth-century Attica comes the estimate based
on [Demosthenes] xlii {Against Phainippos) that land
planted with olive trees was worth three times the same1 1 And this is not counting the periodic 'bumper crop' years, when
area sown with wheat (Pritchett 1956, 183-4, citing yields could be four to five times that of a normal year (see
Jardé 1925, 187). Also from the fourth century, there is Forbes 1992).
1 2
evidence for a great deal of fluctuation in the price of All artefacts recovered and recorded rrom the latest habitation

oil, where a metretes (39.4 litres) went for 12 drachmas phases of these five houses are presented with discussion, and
at Athens, 36 drachmas at Lampsakos, and 55 drachmas in tabular, quantified fashion in Ault 20050.

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 OIKOS AND OIKONOMIA 265

Pseudo-Aristotle,
Facilitating this integration will have too, mentions this strategy, in his
been the ability
not only to store agricultural surpluses
Oikonomika but
(i 1344also to
b 31-3):
market them in a timely fashion. While we cannot look
The
at the specific mechanisms of the latter, weAttic
can system
getofsome
economy is also useful; for they
insights about the domestic economy sell by
their considering
produce and buy what they want, and thus
there is not the need of a storehouse in the smaller
the former. As in the examples of house(-hold) growth
establishments.
at Zagora and Megara Hyblaia, domestic storage was a
prime concern (De Angelis 2002; and n. 4, above).
I think we would
Indeed, the terms Hamieiorì and ''pitheorì recurhave in
to disagree
the with Finley here, that
this is not the kind of documentation that renders
primary sources with reference to household storage
areas. To be sure, we will continue'archaeology more or less unnecessary'; quite the
to lack material
contrary. What
evidence for the quantities of clothing, bedding is more,andit shows that the domestic eco-
nomy of the Greeks
many other perishable items that would have been stored was anything but underdeveloped,
for it fed into
in the household.13 Agricultural produce and directly
should be fuelled the market economy.
another matter, however, since certain varieties would
have been held in ceramic containers. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
At Halieis, there is evidence for between 16 and 65
I would like to thank the organising committee of
amphoras, and 2 to 14 pithoi per house. While these
vessels are all fragmentarily preserved and do not conference for the opportunity to participate in
auspicious gathering that brought us all together, as w
represent any sort of synchronous assemblage, I believe
that, again, they underscore the household as a centre
as all the individuals, aspects of whose work I h
of production as well as a repository of wealth. And let
appropriated in the process of preparing my origin
presentation as well as this text. Nick Cahill, Ian Morr
us keep in mind the high cost of pithoi. Five that were
recovered from room j in the Villa of Good Fortune atand Lisa Nevett, in particular, deserve special ackn
Olynthos had prices inscribed on their rims, making
wledgement for sharing their data as well as th
their total value between 210 and 215 drachmas thoughts with me. I remain solely responsible for a
(Robinson and Graham 1938, 214-16). Examples misrepresentation of either in what follows. Spec
mended with lead clamps are frequent in the thanks are also due to James McCaw for assisting w
my illustrations.
archaeological record, and even cracked pithoi were sold
in the Attic Stelai (Amyx 1958, 168).
And so it is in the 'shadow of the Acropolis' that I
would like to close. For a version of what I have been
interpreting on the basis of the material record is
summarised in the actual practice of Athens' first
1 3 Although admittedly representing aristocratic households,
citizen.14 According to Plutarch's Life ofPerikles (16), the range of material assembled from domestic inventories o
fered for sale in the Attic Stelai (Pritchett 1953; 1956; Amy
As for the wealth he had legally inherited, he adopted 1958) and Ischomachos' discussion of storage in his oiko
what seemed to him the simplest and most exact (Xenophon, Oikonomikos, esp. viii 18- ix 10). I suspect th
method of dealing with it, to ensure that his fortune second-storey rooms were ideal for many of these sorts of items
should not be dissipated by neglect nor yet cause him 14 It is this strategy that Cahill proposes, to account for wha
much trouble or loss of time when his mind was
sees as the lack of large-scale domestic storage in the Nor
occupied with higher things. His practice was to Hill district at Olynthos, versus greater attention paid to it i
dispose of each year's produce in a single sale and then the Villa District to the east (Cahill 1991, 336-41, 376-7; 200
to buy in the market each item as it was needed for his 510; 2002, 281-8). I am grateful to him for having brough
daily life and his household. these passages to my attention.

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