06-18-2011, 02:53 AM
It only makes sense to talk about something being cheap or expensive relative to something else. When we look at 5th and 4th century Greek towns, we find that most of the population lived in large, well built stone and mud-brick buildings. On the other hand, manufactured goods like cloth or iron tools probably cost a lot of labour; and no amount of money could let your children expect to live to age 10.
I'm of the camp that believes the Greco-Roman world was rich by preindustrial standards (so neither the riches of middle-income countries today, or the utter desperation of the poorest countries today). Engines, the population explosion, and modern medicine have changed things hugely though, so its hard for us to grok what a preindustrial economy looked like. Food and housing were often affordable, but manufactured goods like cloth or tools tended to be expensive, and most people would be just a little richer or poorer than their parents.
Cutting stone was a lot of work, and so was moving it. The right type of stone wasn't always available locally, especially for monuments like the pyramids. Egypt was able to do so much stone building because the Nile made it practical to move large amounts of stone to distant building sites. Today most of the work for big building projects is hidden in oil refineries and truck factories and steel mills and dynamite plants.
I'm of the camp that believes the Greco-Roman world was rich by preindustrial standards (so neither the riches of middle-income countries today, or the utter desperation of the poorest countries today). Engines, the population explosion, and modern medicine have changed things hugely though, so its hard for us to grok what a preindustrial economy looked like. Food and housing were often affordable, but manufactured goods like cloth or tools tended to be expensive, and most people would be just a little richer or poorer than their parents.
Cutting stone was a lot of work, and so was moving it. The right type of stone wasn't always available locally, especially for monuments like the pyramids. Egypt was able to do so much stone building because the Nile made it practical to move large amounts of stone to distant building sites. Today most of the work for big building projects is hidden in oil refineries and truck factories and steel mills and dynamite plants.
Nullis in verba
I have not checked this forum frequently since 2013, but I hope that these old posts have some value. I now have a blog on books, swords, and the curious things humans do with them.
I have not checked this forum frequently since 2013, but I hope that these old posts have some value. I now have a blog on books, swords, and the curious things humans do with them.
