From the Ptolemies to the Romans

Andrew Monson is Assistant Professor in the Department of Classics, New York University. He has published or presented aspects of his research in journals and conferences devoted to dialogue between history and the social sciences; he is currently working on an edition of a land survey from early Ptolemaic Egypt and a project comparing fiscal regimes in the Hellenistic world.

• Preface; Part I. Introduction: 1. The political economy of Egypt; 2. Geography and population; Part II. The Land Tenure Regime: 3. The regionalism of land tenure; 4. The continuity of agrarian institutions; Part III. Fiscal and Administrative Reforms: 5. Land taxation and the economy; 6. Administration and redistribution; Part IV. The Politics of Economic Change: 7. The impact of empire; 8. Conclusion.

'In this important book, Andrew Monson analyses documents from late Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt to study the large structural changes that make this transitional period crucial for the shape of the Roman economy up to the third century CE … This book has many merits: it explores in depth the impact of the Roman conquest on Egyptian agriculture and the economy, and applies methods taken from the social sciences and modern economic analysis, as well as a comparative approach that looks at similar developments in other areas of the ancient world, ultimately showing that it is no longer possible to explain Egypt with Egypt only, and that, when used correctly, documentary papyri can be much more than a 'stupendous illusion'.' Livia Capponi, sehepunkte.de