© Columbia University Press
The Edinburgh History of the Greeks, ca. 500-1050: The Early Middle Ages
March, 2011
Cloth, 320 pages,
ISBN: 978-0-7486-3809-3
Edinburgh University Press
$135.00
Florin Curta writes an absorbing account of the social, economic, and political factors of Greek life between the years of 500 and 1050 B.C.E. His interdisciplinary approach relies on archaeological evidence and information gleaned from coins and seals, fiscal documents, medieval chronicles, and hagiographic literature. Several themes connect these chapters: the Balkan context, the social role of the army, and the onset of economic growth. Special attention is paid to the size of the economy in early medieval Greece, and both social and economic aspects are presented as fundamentally overlapping spheres of activity.