 previous article in this issue | next article in this issue  |
Preview first page |
Document Details : Title: Public Granaries and Private Transactions Subtitle: Infrastructure and Standardization Author(s): KUTNER, Melissa Bailey Journal: Ancient Society Volume: 54 Date: 2024 Pages: 91-132 DOI: 10.2143/AS.54.0.3293599 Abstract : This paper assesses the impact of taxation infrastructure, especially public granaries, on private transactions (leases in kind) in Roman Egypt from the perspective of standardization. The data shows a substantial impact during the second and third centuries CE, when the granary system was at its height and the compulsory liturgical system for tax collection fully developed: people used the granaries and their measures more often than any other single measure, and the granaries and taxation system influenced notions of quality as well. This likely increased quantitative standardization (the use of similar or identical units) during this time, but the article also emphasizes the informationsharing aspects of the network of granaries and officials, as well as its advantages as storage space and arbiter of quality. These factors, while not standardization in the usual quantitative sense, helped create overlapping communities of measurement within which the transfer of value was eased. The article argues that questions of standardization should regularly investigate such communities of measurement, and briefly discusses some implications elsewhere in the Roman world, especially regarding the large horrea of Ostia, Portus, and Rome. |
|
