Rise of the Rich: A New View of Modern World History Book

Finley's "The Ancient Economy" is a fascinating look into how very different the concept of an economy is in the ancient world from our modern assumptions and understanding. Without a strong narrative or central thesis, the book can feel a bit too broad, but it does an excellent job of pushing back against an ahistorical view of the classical economy (or, perhaps more accurately, economies).

Finley's book does an excellent job of placing the Roman and Greek slave societies within their context and discussing them dispassionately from an analytical point of view, rather than getting lost in our understandable revulsion at economic models that are heavily based on the enslavement of other human beings. In fact, a large portion of his work focuses on the importance of relationships (master and slave, patron and client) and land-ownership in the socio-economic system. It is well-written and successfully reaches out to the non-academic reader. I'm not sure I share his view that economics can teach us little about the ancient economy (as, he reasons, economics is such a new field), but I take his point that imposing modern assumptions about economic activity and incentives is foolish at best.

A lack of a strong narrative connecting the various chapters gives them a bit of a disjointed feeling, perhaps a reflection of the book's origin as a lecture series, and leads to a rather abrupt ending (despite the further considerations chapter of the second edition that I read). But the reader comes away better informed about the period and the perspectives of their main economic actors. Recommended as supplemental reading for those interested in the period.