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Document Details :

Title: The Ethics and Economics of Ptolemaic Religious Associations
Author(s): MONSON, A.
Journal: Ancient Society
Volume: 36    Date: 2006   
Pages: 221-238
DOI: 10.2143/AS.36.0.2017836

Abstract :
This paper considers the economic status of the members
in Ptolemaic religious associations and offers a model to explain why
they participated. Drawing on Charles Tilly’s comparative study of
trust networks, I suggest that religious associations institutionalized
informal ethical norms into formal rules that lowered the costs of
transacting and facilitated cooperation among villagers. The rules
related to legal disputes illustrate how associations exercised this
power and even tried to prevent the Ptolemaic state from intruding in
their network.

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