Price Laws and Items of Convenience: An Inquiry Into the Question of “Ancient Middle Class”

Abstract

The main goal of this study is to make ancient economic data accessible to students and scholars of business and economics. It also demonstrates the capacity of classical and neoclassical economics for making theoretical contributions to economic history and anthropology. Primary data are drawn from Iraq and Iran between the sixth century BCE and the seventh century CE, with comparisons taken from the Mediterranean. Convenience is a useful concept for locating a middle class or an “intermediate economic group” in ancient societies. Symbolically, convenience may be understood through the notion of “item of convenience,” which is necessary for creating an intermediate economic group. Convenience is also associated with comfort, which is only available to the elite and those intermediate economic groups who have access to limited surplus and are engaged in production, distribution, exchange, and consumption. Ancient price laws, which were intended to protect buyers and sellers, testify to institutional intervention among a group of people who were freely engaged in market conduct and desired a more convenient access to fair market prices.