Economy
Manufacturing
Manufacturing absorbed small numbers of workers who operated with
little mechanical assistance. Of these, a significant number must
have been slaves, since no free man worked for wages unless driven to
it by poverty. It has been estimated that only about 500 potters and
painters were active in 5th century Athens at a time when the city
supplied most of the luxury tableware for the entire Greek world.
Manufacturing,
transport and food production demanded a broad range of skills. The
stone, clay and metal trades needed quarrymen, masons, sculptors,
potters, painters and foundry workers; the clothing industry,
weavers, dyers and fullers; the leather trade, tanners and cobblers;
construction, stone cutters, carpenters and architects; maritime
transport, ship-builders, dock-loaders and sailors; food production,
anything from farmers, herdsmen, bee-keepers and fishermen to bakers
and cooks.
The Ancient Greek World Index
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Pennsylvania Museum Homepage
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WORLD
CULTURES: ANCIENT AND MODERN
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Copyright 1996