This new work from Thomas Gallant provides a highly original analysis of the ancient Greek domestic economy. The nature of their environment together with only rudimentary technology caused the Greek peasants to develop an extensive but delicate web of risk-management strategies. The author details these strategies alongside the key adaptive measures by which the ancient Greeks coped with major fluctuations in food production and supply. As a whole, the book makes a major contribution to the perennial debate about how peasants secure the basic conditions of material subsistence.

Thomas W. Gallant is a historian who specializes in modern Greek history and archaeology. He is holder of the Nicholas Family Endowed Chair in Modern Greek History at the University of California, San Diego.