Risk in the Roman World
£22.99
Part of Key Themes in Ancient History
- Author: Jerry Toner, Churchill College, Cambridge
- Date Published: November 2023
- availability: Available
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9781108723213
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Modern risk studies have viewed the inhabitants of the ancient world as being both dominated by fate and exposed to fewer risks, but this very readable and groundbreaking new book challenges these views. It shows that the Romans inhabited a world full of danger and also that they not only understood uncertainty but employed a variety of ways to help to affect future outcomes. The first section focuses on the range of cultural attitudes and traditional practices that served to help control risk, particularly among the non-elite population. The book also examines the increasingly sophisticated areas of expertise, such as the law, logistics and maritime loans, which served to limit uncertainty in a systematic manner. Religious expertise in the form of dream interpretation and oracles also developed new ways of dealing with the future and the implicit biases of these sources can reveal much about ancient attitudes to risk.
Read more- Argues for a cultural definition of Risk instead of a purely numerical approach
- Shows how Romans deployed a range of strategies to understand and limit risk
- Proposes new understandings of various Roman practices, such as interest rates, divination and the use of the law to deal with risk
Reviews & endorsements
'This is a highly readable, superbly documented survey of the ancient Roman cultural encounter with risk and uncertainty. J. S. Louzonis, CHOICE
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×Product details
- Date Published: November 2023
- format: Paperback
- isbn: 9781108723213
- length: 160 pages
- dimensions: 229 x 151 x 9 mm
- weight: 0.25kg
- availability: Available
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
1. Risk and uncertainty
2. A world full of risks
3. A risk culture
4. Risk management
5. Moral hazards: constructing risk
6. Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.
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