[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review]
This book belongs to a growing body of literature devoted to the study of poverty in the ancient world, significant contributions to which have been made by the editors and contributors of the present volume.[1] Despite the publisher’s blurb, the combined contributions here by no means constitute ‘a comprehensive view of the ancient world’, but rather, in the words of the editors, ‘in-depth analysis of specific societies and historical moments, exploring the many dimensions and the socially pervasive character of poverty in the ancient world’ (6-7). This is not a handbook, but a collection of discrete essays exploring a single theme.
That said, there is an impressive coherence of approach in this volume. Split into three chronological parts (Greece, Rome and Late Antiquity), the authors explore poverty from a variety of angles, utilising an array of source material, ranging from lyric poetry to bioarchaeological data. A keen awareness of the multifaceted nature of poverty runs throughout the book. As the editors lay out in the introduction, recent decades have seen the notion of “absolute poverty”, defined in narrowly economic terms, make way for a broader understanding of poverty as a concept, or process, shaped by specific historical circumstances and discourses. It is this broader, culturally contingent, understanding, developed primarily by sociologists, which is demonstrated throughout this volume.
A key concept, recurrent in most of the contributions, is the Bourdieusian notion of capital—symbolic, social, cultural and economic—the possession of which, in historically specific combinations, serve to define one’s social position.[2] In any given society, to be ‘poor’ is defined and reinforced by a nexus of social, cultural and political values, and may or may not be tied to the possession of material wealth (economic capital). Cumulatively, the contributors here make an extremely compelling case for the importance of non-economic considerations in the definition and analysis of ancient poverty.
In keeping with this approach, it should come as no surprise that very few of the chapters take as their subject the materially destitute. A notable exception is Berti’s chapter, which explores the functioning of alimentary sacrifice as a ‘“safety valve” in the social fabric’ of Greek communities, providing food for the very poorest members of society (though charity was not its primary function). Rowan’s chapter also concerns itself with food poverty. Emphasising a distinction between calorific and cultural definitions of food poverty, Rowan examines discourses of ‘voluntary poverty’ in the Roman world, entailing the adoption of an ostensibly frugal, rural lifestyle, alongside the archaeological evidence for the ‘common poor’, which reveals a heterogenous group whose lifestyles varied according to their access to resources as well as to specific historical circumstance.
By and large, however, it is with discursive constructions of poverty that the authors are concerned. Often these discourses apply to those living far above any line of economic subsistence, though their lack of other forms of capital see them categorised them as poor.
Part I begins with Cecchet’s exploration of the different conceptions of the poor held by the elites of Archaic Megara (through Theognis) and in Classical Athens, preceded by a brief vignette of poverty in the aristocratic world of Homeric epic. The section on Athens is naturally the fullest, where Cecchet argues that the nature of public discourse and the conditions of the late fifth century affected the development of Athenian notions of class and wealth, as much as the development of political theory and elite propaganda. Bernardo’s chapter, meanwhile, tackles poverty as ascribed to the citizens of Sparta, attempting to identify the distinctive and important features of Spartan social and political life and considering how economic disadvantages (e.g. for mothakes or those struggling to keep up with their mess contributions) translated into deficiencies in a Spartiate’s ability to compete for honour.
In perhaps the most thought-provoking contribution of the volume, Taylor reappraises the evidence from Bau Z in the Kerameikos. Taylor exposes how modern analyses have often taken at face value certain facets of ancient discourse, and uncritically imposed them onto our archaeological evidence. Taylor demonstrates how previous reconstructions, which envisage foreign hetairai weaving by day and engaging in sex work by night, stem from associations of women’s work with unrespectability and economic hardship, and a rather tenuous link between textile work and prostitution in Athens, both ideas rooted in the writings of elite Athenian men. In contrast, Taylor vividly reimagines the social bonds formed among weaving women as they worked, and suggests radically different interpretations of the material evidence; jewellery, for example, might be better interpreted as objects of personal pride and property, rather than of male sexual gratification. This reinterpretation might be as tenuous as that which it seeks to problematise, as the author admits, but functions as a valuable experiment in how the same evidence might be brandished in support of near-opposite conclusions, and crucially, centres the agency of the women at work in this building.
Helmer explores the relationship between poverty and truth in Classical and Hellenistic philosophical discourse, identifying two conceptualisations of this relationship: one negative (poverty as an obstacle to truth), the other positive (poverty as necessary/useful in the pursuit of truth). The chapter then concerns itself with two manifestations of the positive relationship: poverty as a result of philosophical pursuit, and the more radical Cynic view, which sees poverty as a necessary condition for the pursuit of philosophical truth, accommodating the ideals of autarkeia and parrhesia.
The contributions to Part II underscore most vividly the relativity of poverty, and a sharp focus on impoverishment among the Roman elite is found in the chapters by Webb, Rollinger and Carlà-Uhink.
Webb’s rich contribution investigates ‘impoverished’ senatorial women, whose economic means fell short of their status in the mid-republican period, and the consequences for their experiences and opportunities. Webb demonstrates that third-century senatorial women, the daughters of Rome’s finest military leaders, received financial assistance from the senate and became exempla of ‘fortunate poverty’ (felix paupertas) for imperial writers, while in the second century some senatorial women were able to wield their symbolic capital (inherited rank and status) to make up for their lack of economic capital (dowries). Nevertheless, Webb notes, these women were vulnerable to a loss of status and independence. Rollinger argues that, while the late republic saw men of senatorial rank incurring astronomical debts, this was rarely equated with poverty and did not incur moral condemnation. In contrast, the early principate saw the development of a discourse of shameful poverty among Rome’s elite. This, Rollinger argues, must be seen in the light of Augustus’ purge of the senate, and particularly Tiberius’ institution of inquiries into senatorial finances. As senators were forced to rely on ‘imperial liberality’, rather than ‘senatorial solidarity’, and were forced to justify their circumstances, distinctions developed between “innocent” and “shameful” poverty.
Carlà-Uhink continues the theme with a precise focus on the presentations of impoverishment in the speeches of Cicero, convincingly arguing that poverty does not, in and of itself, represent a universally positive or negative condition in Ciceronian rhetoric. Its value is rather determined by the extent to which a lack of economic capital impacted one’s possession and exercise of social and cultural capital. Hence, Cicero ascribed a negative value to poverty in circumstances where it led to desperation (to acquire economic capital) and the consequent relinquishment of other forms of capital; where poverty was unhidden; and where it led to dependency. On the other hand, Cicero regularly praises frugality. In general, Cicero views poverty not as good, but as appropriate depending on status.
Part III concerns the world of Late Antiquity, where a decreased emphasis on legal status and citizenship and a focus on economic and social distinctions brought the issue of poverty into sharper relief.
Caner examines the discourse of poverty in the Greek-speaking authors of the eastern empire of the fourth and fifth centuries. An increased emphasis on the plight of the (economically) poor, and the resulting foundation of charitable Christian institutions, are well-established facets of the Late Antique world. However, Caner seeks to nuance this image. The distinction between ptocheia and penia does not appear in our late sources, as in the Classical conception, as the distinction between absolute poverty and the state of needing to work for a living. Rather, unlike one born into penury, the ptochos was one who had suffered loss of wealth, a reversal of fortune, and was the main object of philanthropic concern from Christian writers. The Christian discourse, Caner explains, was not simply rhetoric, but influenced the way in which charitable institutions operated. Those who qualified as deserving ptochoi were more likely to receive aid than those born into destitution (penia).
Machado considers how poverty was visualised in the Late Antique world, the modes and mechanisms by which those in need were identified and differentiated, and how this knowledge was converted into social control. Machado, like Caner, stresses the growing importance (and difficulty) of identifying and differentiating the poor in Late Antique Rome. Where clerics and benefactors providing charitable aid needed to locate those in need, but also to establish those less worthy of their assistance (e.g. the young and able-bodied), they developed informal and formal systems of gathering information about poor members of the community. The same institutions which produced knowledge of poverty, this chapter contends, also served as sources of social control, creating client-like relationships between elites and their poor beneficiaries, and providing the church with a means of accruing and maintaining power.
Freu explores the rhetoric of poverty and the real economic status of plaintiffs in Late Antique Egyptian petitions. While many of the petitioners present themselves as poor, Freu perceives this a strategy of eliciting the sympathy of the judge, though few of these petitioners can accurately be described as economically poor. Very often, these are individuals of fair means, or even local elites. Genuinely poor individuals seem mainly to have petitioned in cases where they had suffered physical violence. Freu marshals several arguments to explain this: the kinds of cases at issue are often not applicable to the indigent; they could not afford legal fees; the legal system resented dealing with small claims; and social pressures made litigation against a more powerful employer-patron undesirable.
In the final contribution to this volume, Magalhães de Oliveira endeavours to restore the agency of the poor in the cities of North Africa during the life of Augustine. The author takes issue with the traditional model of a transition between a world of civic identity and civic benefaction to one of rich and poor, and of Christian charity. Oliveria shows that being a pauper did not preclude the possession of civic identity, and that both identities were deployed in different circumstances by the subjects of the empire. Furthermore, the new Christian discourse on concern for the poor was actively exploited by those who were not necessarily indigent, such as urban traders and craftsmen, but who desired material and social support.
Though it will no doubt provide clarity to the casual reader, anyone working their way through this book cover-to-cover will find some repetition of key concepts (relative vs absolute poverty; Bourdieu’s ‘capital’). Furthermore, on a number of occasions, it struck the present reviewer that the volume might benefit from a more explicit dialogue between the chapters, which often provided stimulating parallel reading.
Overall, however, this volume is highly recommended for its dynamic and engaging elucidation of the political, social and moral dimensions which informed ancient conceptions of poverty and wealth, and of how these conceptions evolved. It also provides a compelling reminder to the modern researcher of the need to approach ancient societies on their own terms, as far as possible shedding our own culturally determined notions.
Authors and Titles
- Introduction (Filippo Carlà-Uhink, Lucia Cecchet, Carlos Machado)
Part I: Greece
- Poverty, Wealth and Social Mobility: The Cases of Megara and Athens (Lucia Cecchet)
- Processes of Impoverishment: Bau Z in the Kerameikos and Discourses about Poverty (Claire Taylor)
- Poverty and Honour in Classical Sparta (Gabriel Bernardo)
- Greedy Gods and Hungry Humans: Sacrifice and the Poor in Classical and Hellenistic Greece (Irene Berti)
- Poverty and Truth in Ancient Greek Philosophy (Étienne Helmer)
Part II: Rome
- Impoverished Senatorial Women in Mid-Republican Roma: Opima Gloria and Felix Paupertas? (Lewis Webb)
- The Dynamics of Shame: Elite Poverty in Late Republican and Early Imperial Discourse (Christian Rollinger)
- Cicero, the Poor, and Roman Rhetoric (Filippo Carlà-Uhink)
- Rich and Hungry, Poor and Full: Social and Cultural Food Poverty in the Roman World (Erica Rowan)
Part III: Late Antiquity
- Not All Poverty Is to Be Praised: Defining the Poor in a Christian Roman Empire (Daniel F. Caner)
- Looking for the Poor in Late Antique Rome (Carlos Machado)
- The “Poor” Facing Late Antique Justice: The Cases from the Papyri (Christel Freu)
- Poverty, Charity, and the Social Strategies of “the Poor” in Late Antiquity: The View from North Africa in the Age of Augustine (Julio Cesar Magalhães de Oliveira)
Notes
[1] See L. Cecchet Poverty in Athenian Public Discourse. From the Eve of the Peloponnesian War to the Rise of Macedonia, Stuttgart 2015; C. Taylor Poverty, Wealth and Well-Being. Experiencing Penia in Classical Athens, Oxford 2017; C. Freu Les figures du pauvre dans les sources italiennes de l’antiquité tardive, Paris 2007.
[2] See Bourdieu ‘The Forms of Capital’, in J. Richardson (ed.) Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education, New York 1986, 241-58.