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Ancient History
Lisarow High School
The Economy of Athens
When we discuss the economy of Athens in the time of Pericles, two social groups
stand out as the basis for the immense wealth and prosperity of this city.
The Metics, foreigners who had come to call Athens home, and the thousands of
slaves that did not choose to live in Athens, but through trade or war, never the less
ended up there. They worked so that their masters, often Athenian citizens, didn’t
have to, to give them all the leisure time they needed for the democratic politics that
occupied most of the time of male citizens at this time. Much of the economy and
many occupations were also based at the Piraeus and the Agora. The Navy and Army
were also very prominent occupations that had a large influence on the economy of
Athens at this time.
As Roebuck clearly states: “the development of Athenian commerce and industry
seems to have been largely in the hands of the resident alien”. So who were these
Metics? They were immigrants not of dual Athenian parentage, and thus given no
rights as citizens. A group somewhere in between the slaves, with no rights or control
over their lives at all, and the Athenian citizens, who controlled all the politics of this
very ample Greek city state. However, the Metics were still expected to pay a tax of
one drachma a month, even though as non-citizens they could not even own their own
land. As a list recovered on a parchment made in 401BC states; Metics were primarily
craftsman or traders in fields including; farming, statuette making, bath making, nut
selling, gardening, baking, oil merchants, carpentry, fullers and mule drivers. These
professions cover such a wide variety that it is most obvious, as Powell states that,
“the Metics were a large and economically important group in classical Athens”. As
Pericles declared Athens as “an education to Greece”, thousands of Metics flocked to
the city, whether to just live amongst its power and prosperity or to make a living for
themselves.
Despite limitations of land ownership and non-citizenship, some Metics became quite
wealthy. From a surviving prosecution speech we learn of a Metic named Timarches
owned a workshop of nine shoemakers and a foreman. This sort of factory
manufacturing was common place in Athens, with one wealthy Metic, Cephalos of
Syracuse, friend of Pericles, employing 120 slaves in an armour factory. The
organisation of this concentration of different occupations into large groups
contributed greatly to the economy of Athenian society, as the state itself would often
contract out to the smaller of the Metic factories or workshops. Surviving records of
men employed on the Erechtheion in 405BC tell us that of the 71 workers, 20 were
citizens, 35 Metics and 16 slaves and of the 6 foremen; 3 were citizens, 2 Metics and
one a slave. It is clear the contribution of these ranges of occupations to the economy
was not exclusive to the Metics.
Slaves were perhaps the key part of fast development at little cost of any ancient
empire, Athens being no exception. Aristotle describes these people as “a tool that
happens to be alive…a possession that breathes”. They had almost no rights and they
did the work so their masters didn’t have to, as Aristotle states “…citizens must not
lead the life of craftsmen or tradesmen, [or] farmers, since leisure is both necessary
for development of virtue and the performance of political duties”. With an attitude
like this, it is clear the without the 80 to 100 thousand slaves in Athens at this time,
and even without the Metics, Athenian economy would have been in ruins.
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Slaves had different occupations usually dependant on their sex. Women were more
concerned with domestic chores and various forms of entertainment. While domestic
slaves were considered of higher stature then their rural brethren, Male slaves were
usually much more valuable as they could be hired out or work for themselves, paying
their master a fee, in fields like crafts, trades and mining. Slaves were used in the
various workshops and factories throughout the city and involved in agriculture,
manufacturing, domestic service and more specifically at the Laureion silver mines
which helped pay for the large amounts of grain imported by Athens. As Xenophon
tells us “those who can do so buy slaves to share their work with them” or in many
cases, to do it for them. Despite their low stature slaves were usually payed equal
amounts of money for equal amounts of work as any other inhabitant of Athens, be he
citizen or Metic. Without the slaves to complete such a wide variety of jobs for the
Athenians, the economy would not have been able to function as it did, yet they were
considered nothing more then possessions by the citizens of Athens.
Perhaps the reason for such a successful economy at this time can be directly
attributed to the fine art of organisation the Athenians employed, most prominent in
the Agora, the central business district of Classical Athens, and the Piraeus, the
greatest trading harbour in the world at this time.
Eubolos tells us the Agora was where “ Everything will be for sale in the same place
at Athens, figs, summoners, bunches of grapes, turnips, pears, apples, witnesses,
roses… lambs, loans, indictments”. It was here that all these occupations, usually
filled by Metics and slaves, came together to share their wares whether for themselves
or for their masters, all contributing to the mutual enrichment of a smooth economy.
The Piraeus was the reason for so much outside wealth streaming into Athens, with its
series of 3 natural harbours, and the thriving economy centred around it at this time.
The inhabitants of Athens were involved in a great variety of occupations, concerned
mainly with the importation of flax, skins, wheat, wine, salted fish and meats, sheep
and slaves and the more important exportation of pottery, wine, olive oil, honey and
Metic or Tradesmen goods. Both the harbour itself and the Agora are excellent
primary archaeological sources for us today that provide a wealth of information
about how the inhabitants of the city came together from a very wide range of
occupations for trading, the most important economic boosting feature of Athenian
society at the time of Pericles.
The last consideration for occupations and their economic importance in Athenian
society at this time is perhaps the city states most notable legacy. The Navy and also
the Army required compulsory service from the Athenian citizens and again the
Metics. People were expected to put their lives on hold in the city, to contribute to
Athens defence. It can be said that it was through their Navy and Army that Athens
was able to start and build upon the Delian League, made possible by the many men
whose compulsory occupation it was to contribute to this defence force. From this
seed, they were able to establish themselves as a powerful leader, and when Pericles
moved the League treasury to Athens in 454BC, he had an unlimited supply of funds
to fortify the Piraeus and beautify the Agora, the two landmarks Athenian economy.
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It is true that the vast majority of occupations in Athens at this time, Classical Greece
in the time of Pericles, were made up of the slaves and Metics of Athens, and through
the organisation of their economy of the Piraeus and Agora and their protection of the
city state’s interests via their vast Naval fleet, whether Metic, slave or citizen, all
inhabitants of Athens, in whatever field their occupation took them to, contributed to
the mutual enrichment of the economy and were all important in the own way.