Managing Financial Resources in Late Antiquity

Greek Fathers' Views on Hoarding and Saving
1. Auflage 2017
ISBN: 978-1-349-85036-5
Verlag: Palgrave Macmillan UK

Buch, Englisch, 257 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 148 mm x 210 mm, Gewicht: 356 g

Reihe: New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture

This book examines the views of Greek Church Fathers on hoarding, saving, and management of economic surplus, and their development primarily in urban centres of the Eastern Mediterranean, from the late first to the fifth century. The study shows how the approaches of Greek Fathers, such as Clement of Alexandria, Basil of Caesarea, John Chrysostom, Isidore of Pelusium, and Theodoret of Cyrrhus, to hoarding and saving intertwined with stances toward the moral and social obligations of the wealthy. It also demonstrates how these Fathers responded to conditions and practices in urban economic environments characterized by sharp inequalities. Their attitudes reflect the gradual widening of Christian congregations, but also the consequences of the socio-economic evolution of the late antique Eastern Roman Empire. Among the issues discussed in the book are the justification of wealth, alternatives to hoarding, and the reception of patristic views by contemporaries.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Gotsis, George

Merianos, Gerasimos

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Europäische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Geschichte der klassischen Antike Griechische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Geschichte der klassischen Antike Spätantike
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wirtschaftsgeschichte
• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftsgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Historical Background: Early Christian Conceptions of Hoarding.- Chapter 3. Justifying Savings but not the Pursuit of Wealth: Contradictions, Tensions and Accommodations in Early Patristic Texts.- Chapter 4. Savings for Redistributive Purposes: Stewardship of Wealth in the Teachings of Basil of Caesarea and John Chrysostom.- Chapter 5. Fifth-Century Patristic Conceptions of Savings and Capital: Isidore of Pelusium and Theodoret of Cyrrhus.- Chapter 6. Contextualizing Patristic Concepts of Hoarding and Saving.- Chapter 7. Conclusions.- Bibliography.- Index.

Über Autor(innen)

Gerasimos Merianos is Senior Researcher in Byzantine History at the Institute of Historical Research of the National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens, Greece.

George Gotsis is Associate Professor of Economics in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.