Assessing Ancient Inequalities: Hellenistic Delos

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Filippo Battistoni, Department of Civilizations and Forms of Knowledge, University of Pisa; Marco Martinez, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies Pisa

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
  replication_package 01/23/2025 06:27:AM

Project Citation: 

Battistoni, Filippo, and Martinez, Marco. Assessing Ancient Inequalities: Hellenistic Delos. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2025-01-23. https://doi.org/10.3886/E216381V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary This paper presents a new dataset that measures inequality levels on the city-state of Delos at two different points in time during the period of its independence (314-167 BCE). We propose a new approach for quantifying ancient inequality and its evolution by relying on inscriptions that indicate property data and artisanal remunerations. A probabilistic approach is adopted to assess the uncertainty of the estimates and their sensitivity to assumptions. This paper finds that there was a decrease in wealth inequality of about 20% between the early and late periods of independence. We hypothesize that the main reason for the socio-economic changes is to be found in the new political status of autonomy that occurred in 314 BCE and resulted in a greater share of wealth being held by the middle class.



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