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Managing Financial Resources in Late Antiquity

Greek Fathers' Views on Hoarding and Saving

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  • © 2017

Overview

Authors:
  1. Gerasimos Merianos

    1. Institute of Historical Research, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens, Greece

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  2. George Gotsis

    1. Department of History and Philosophy of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

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  • Provides a comprehensive overview of Greek patristic responses to the management of surplus income and savings from the late first to the fifth century
  • Seeks to identify differing types of hoarding practices and examines multilevel outcomes of hoarding behaviours
  • Utilises a range of sources, informed by the history of ideas, economic history, and history of economic thought

Part of the book series: New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture (NABHC)

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xi
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  2. Introduction and Acknowledgements

    • Gerasimos Merianos, George Gotsis
    Pages 1-13

  3. Historical Background: Early Christian Conceptions of Hoarding

    • Gerasimos Merianos, George Gotsis
    Pages 15-41

  4. Justifying Savings but not the Pursuit of Wealth: Contradictions, Tensions and Accommodations in Early Patristic Texts

    • Gerasimos Merianos, George Gotsis
    Pages 43-72

  5. Savings for Redistributive Purposes: Stewardship of Wealth in the Teachings of Basil of Caesarea and John Chrysostom

    • Gerasimos Merianos, George Gotsis
    Pages 73-115

  6. Fifth-Century Patristic Conceptions of Savings and Capital: Isidore of Pelusium and Theodoret of Cyrrhus

    • Gerasimos Merianos, George Gotsis
    Pages 117-158

  7. Contextualizing Patristic Concepts of Hoarding and Saving

    • Gerasimos Merianos, George Gotsis
    Pages 159-195

  8. Conclusions

    • Gerasimos Merianos, George Gotsis
    Pages 197-205

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 207-257
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Keywords

About this book

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.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Institute of Historical Research, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens, Greece

    Gerasimos Merianos

  • Department of History and Philosophy of Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece

    George Gotsis

About the authors

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.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Managing Financial Resources in Late Antiquity

  • Book Subtitle: Greek Fathers' Views on Hoarding and Saving

  • Authors: Gerasimos Merianos, George Gotsis

  • Series Title: New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56409-2

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2017

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-56408-5Published: 03 April 2018

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-85036-5Published: 13 November 2020

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-56409-2Published: 21 March 2018

  • Series ISSN: 2730-9363

  • Series E-ISSN: 2730-9371

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XI, 257

  • Topics: History of Medieval Europe, Economic History, Cultural History, Financial History, Ancient History

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