In Greco-Roman society the typical labourer was a peasant, not a slave. Yet, while specialized studies of ancient slavery abound, the subject of free labour, its incidence, status and economic significance, has received little attention. This volume of essays provides a summary of the available evidence for non-slave labour in antiquity and a bibliographical guide, but in addition advances novel interpretations concerning, for example, the composition of the 'labouring class', the relation between slave and peasant systems of production, and the importance of free dependent labour in the Western Roman provinces.

How did ancient Greeks and Romans regard work? It has long been assumed that elite thinkers disparaged physical work, and that working people rarely commented on their own labors. The papers in this volume challenge these notions by investigating philosophical, literary and working people’s own ideas about what it meant to work. From Plato’s terminology of labor to Roman prostitutes’ self-proclaimed pride in their work, these chapters find ancient people assigning value to multiple different kinds of work, and many different concepts of labor.

The results of our rapidly expanded historical and archaeological knowledge have here been brought to bear on the Book of Acts to stunning effect. Outstanding as Jackson and Lake was in its day, this volume on the Graeco-Roman setting of Acts holds out the promise of equaling if not surpassing that great achievement. Paul Barnett, Bishop of North Sydney, Australia This well-written volume offers a remarkable, up-to-date collection of relevant new data to assist in scenario formation for a considerate reading of the Book of Acts . The largely Australian and British team of authors must be congratulated for preparing this very useful data set. There are authoritative descriptions of travel, of food supply, of domestic and political religion, of urban elites, and of the Eastern Mediterranean provinces and their leadership. Such information about the realm of the Graeco-Roman world will enable the interpreter of Acts to bring these data to bear in the process of interpretation.... Of great use to ancient historians, classicists, and biblical scholars, yet written and presented in such a way that it will be fascinating to intelligent nonprofessionals as well. Bruce J. Malina, Creighton University

During the Principate (roughly 27 BCE to 235 CE), when the empire reached its maximum extent, Roman society and culture were radically transformed. But how was the vast territory of the empire controlled? Did the demands of central government stimulate economic growth or endanger survival? What forces of cohesion operated to balance the social and economic inequalities and high mortality rates? How did the official religion react in the face of the diffusion of alien cults and the emergence of Christianity? These are some of the many questions posed here, in the new, expanded edition of Garnsey and Saller's pathbreaking account of the economy, society, and culture of the Roman Empire. This second edition includes a new introduction that explores the consequences for government and the governing classes of the replacement of the Republic by the rule of emperors. Addenda to the original chapters offer up-to-date discussions of issues and point to new evidence and approaches that have enlivened the study of Roman history in recent decades. A completely new chapter assesses how far Rome’s subjects resisted her hegemony. The bibliography has also been thoroughly updated, and a new color plate section has been added.

Rethinking the socioeconomic status of women in the Roman world. Moving beyond discussions of patriarchy and prescribed "women's roles" in the Roman world - discussions that have relied too much on elite literary sources, in her view - Katherine Bain explores what inscriptional data from Asia Minor can tell us about the actual socioeconomic status of women in the first and second centuries C.E. Her findings suggest that women's leadership in social associations - and by implication in Jewish and Christian congregations as well - was even more frequent than has been imagined. -- Book Cover.

Replete now with its own scholarly traditions and controversies, Roman slavery as a field of study is no longer limited to the economic sphere, but is recognized as a fundamental social institution with multiple implications for Roman society and culture. The essays in this collection explore how material culture – namely, art, architecture, and inscriptions – can illustrate Roman attitudes towards the institution of slavery and towards slaves themselves in ways that significantly augment conventional textual accounts. Providing the first interdisciplinary approach to the study of Roman slavery, the volume brings together diverse specialists in history, art history, and archaeology. The contributors engage with questions concerning the slave trade, manumission, slave education, containment and movement, and the use of slaves in the Roman army.