Welcome in Ancient Economies

Between October 2024 and February 2025, the Dipartimento SARAS at Sapienza Università di Roma hosted a seminar series titled
Ancient Economies: Economists and Scholars of Antiquity Engaging in Dialogue.
The seminars aimed to foster dialogue between scholars of antiquity and social scientists, particularly economists. The goal was to encourage the exchange of ideas by enabling scholars of antiquity to engage with tools from the social sciences – especially economics – and by helping economists place their research within a broader historical framework. This website features profiles of the speakers who generously agreed to participate, along with recordings of their talks.

Alessandro Piccolo, Ph.D.,
is an Egyptologist specializing in cultural and economic Aegean–Egyptian interactions between 3000 and 300 BCE. He is also a Teaching Assistant in Egyptology and Coptic Studies and organized this initiative within the “BE-FOR-ERC” Excellence Program, under the supervision of Prof. Lorenzo Verderame and Prof. Paola Buzi.

Speakers

Macroeconomics

Marco Veronese Passarella

Marco Veronese Passarella is currently Associate Professor of Economics at the Università degli Studi dell'Aquila and Senior Research Fellow in Economics at the University of Leeds. He has authored numerous scholarly works, many of which have been influential both scientifically and politically. Among them is the volume L'austerità è di destra (e sta distruggendo l'Europa), co-authored with Emiliano Brancaccio. The book stands out as one of the most accessible and well-argued critiques of the economic austerity measures implemented by the EU in the aftermath of the European debt crisis.

David Alan Warburton

David Warburton is a renowned Egyptologist who has held full professorships at several institutions, including Northeast Normal University. He has made numerous fundamental contributions to the field of Egyptology. Among his many achievements, he served as one of the editors of The Ancient Egyptian Chronology and published an English translation of the Amduat. Particularly noteworthy is his extensive work on Pharaonic and ancient Near Eastern economies, in which he combines exceptional philological rigor with a deep understanding of modern economic theory. This interdisciplinary approach has established him as a leading authority in the field.

Microeconomics

Antonella Palumbo

Antonella Palumbo is currently an Associate Professor of Economics at the Università degli Studi Roma Tre. Among her numerous research interests, her work on theories of value stands out, particularly within classical and Marxian economics. She has authored several influential scholarly contributions, including the short volume Supply and Demand in Kaldor's Model of Growth, published by Aracne Editrice. In this work, Palumbo examines the development of Nicholas Kaldor's ideas on economic growth, tracing how his views evolved over time and assessing their broader theoretical implications.

Lorenzo Verderame

Lorenzo Verderame is currently an Associate Professor of Assyriology at Sapienza Università di Roma and has made numerous significant contributions to the field. Among his many accomplishments, the books Introduzione alle culture dell'antica Mesopotamia and Letterature dell'antica Mesopotamia, both published by Mondadori, deserve particular mention. His research interests are broad and varied, spanning ancient Mesopotamian culture and religion, as well as Sumerian administrative texts. It was through the study of the latter that his interest in ancient economies emerged, which he approaches primarily from an anthropological perspective.

Production

Roberto Fineschi

Roberto Fineschi is currently Professor of Political Philosophy at the Siena School of Liberal Arts. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential Italian scholars of Karl Marx and his philosophy, particularly in relation to Hegel. His work on this connection is marked by exceptional philological rigor. Most recently, in 2024, he produced a critical edition and new Italian translation of Das Kapital Book I, published by Einaudi. In addition to this major achievement, he has authored numerous scholarly works that have been highly influential in both national and international academic circles.

Juan Carlos Moreno García

Juan Carlos Moreno García is currently a CNRS Researcher in Egyptology at the University of Paris IV–Sorbonne. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential Egyptologists on ancient Egyptian politics, administration, society, and economy. His work on the latter stands out for its innovative approach, challenging conventional distinctions between public and private spheres. He has published extensively on these subjects. Among his most influential works are the edited volume Ancient Egyptian Administration and the monograph The State in Ancient Egypt, both of which have significantly shaped current scholarly debates in the field.

International Trade

Pariboni & Cesaratto

Riccardo Pariboni, Associate Professor of Economics at the same university, works within a post-Keynesian framework, focusing especially on the international economy. His main research areas include growth theory, income distribution, the labour market, and environmental sustainability. He has published extensively in leading international journals.
Sergio Cesaratto is Full Professor of Economics at the Università degli Studi di Siena, with wide-ranging research interests that include pre-capitalist economies. Among his key publications are the volumes Sei lezioni di economia and Sei lezioni sulla moneta.

Astrid Möller

Astrid Möller is currently an Associate Professor of Ancient History at the University of Freiburg. Her research focuses on the economy of ancient Greece, especially mechanisms of goods transfer, ranging from gift-giving to forms of “trade.” She is the author of the seminal monograph Naukratis: Trade in Archaic Greece. In this work, she examines the city of Naukratis in the Egyptian Delta, granted by the Saite Pharaohs to the Greeks as a commercial hub. Using a Polanyian framework, she argues that Naukratis functioned as a “port of trade,” i.e., “an institution serving to control trade and contact with foreigners on the borders of a political power”.

Before Coinage

Massimo Amato

Massimo Amato is currently Associate Professor of Economic History and History of Economic Thought at Università Bocconi. His research spans the history of economic thought and the evolution of monetary and financial institutions. These interests make him particularly well suited to address topics such as the economy before coinage, offering theoretical insight grounded in historical analysis. Among his many scholarly contributions, L’enigma della moneta e l’inizio dell’economia and Per un pugno di Bitcoin stand out for their originality and interdisciplinary reach. His work bridges economics, history, and philosophy.

Marcella Frangipane

Marcella Frangipane is Full Professor of Prehistory and former Professor of Prehistory and Protohistory of the Near East at Sapienza Università di Roma. A member of several prestigious academic associations, including the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, she has led numerous groundbreaking archaeological projects, most notably at Arslantepe in Turkey. Her exceptional contributions have earned her multiple honors, including the title of Cavaliere Ufficiale dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana. Among her many influential publications is the seminal volume La nascita dello Stato nel Vicino Oriente.

Money

Guglielmo Chiodi

Guglielmo Chiodi is a distinguished economist who previously served as a Full Professor of Economics at Sapienza. Throughout his remarkable career, he has been affiliated with numerous prestigious institutions, both in Italy and abroad. He currently serves as the president and a founding member of the association Nuova Accademia. His diverse research interests encompass monetary theory, as well as the theory of value and distribution, with a particular emphasis on Classical economics. Among his many notable scholarly contributions, the following books deserve special mention: Teorie dei prezzi: Introduzione all’economia politica and Wicksell’s Monetary Theory.

Eligio Daniele Castrizio

Eligio Daniele Castrizio is currently a Full Professor of Numismatics at Università degli Studi di Messina. His research interests are broad and diverse, encompassing a Mediterranean-wide perspective and spanning an extensive chronological scope, from Antiquity to the early Middle Ages. However, he has a particular focus on Southern Italy, especially the city of Reggio. In his work, he has explored coins not only from an archaeological perspective but also from an economic one. Among his many significant publications is the volume La monetazione mercenariale in Sicilia. Strategie economiche e territoriali tra Dionisio I e Timoleonte.

Economic Policies

Paolo Piacentini

Paolo Piacentini is currently a Full Professor of Economics at Sapienza. He has been affiliated with numerous academic institutions, both in Italy and abroad, and has also served on the advisory boards of several prestigious organizations, including the Ministero del Lavoro and CNEL. Among his many research interests, Development Economics stands out, particularly his focus on economic policies aimed at fostering growth. He has published extensively, with numerous scientific papers appearing in both national and international journals.

Michael Jursa

Michael Jursa is currently a Full Professor of Assyriology at the University of Vienna. He is widely regarded as a leading expert on the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Most notably, he has conducted extensive research on the social and economic history of the ancient Near East, particularly through the lens of New Institutional Economics. His work combines rigorous philological analysis with theoretical models drawn from the social sciences. Among his many scholarly contributions, I Babilonesi, a concise Italian volume published by Il Mulino in 2007, deserves special mention.

Debt & Credit

Michael Hudson

Michael Hudson has held a variety of positions, both in academia and beyond. He is currently a Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. He has produced some of the most thought-provoking analyses of the contemporary world. Notably, his book Super Imperialism (1972) explores the economic forces behind U.S. global dominance. He has also written extensively on debt and credit, always with a deeply historical perspective. In this context, his book …And Forgive Them Their Debts stands out as a seminal study, tracing the history of debt and credit from the Bronze Age to modern times.

Alain Bresson

Alain Bresson is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago, where he served in the prestigious Department of Classics and History, the Oriental Institute, and the College. He is widely recognized as one of the leading authorities on the ancient Greek economy, which he approaches through the lens of New Institutional Economics, though not in its strictest form. His seminal work La cité marchande deserves particular mention; it was recently translated into English under the title The Making of the Ancient Greek Economy. Notably, Bresson examines ancient economies from a comparative perspective, enriching his analyses with cross-cultural insights.

Institutions and Economic Analysis

Sergio Cesaratto

Sergio Cesaratto is currently a Full Professor of Economics at Università degli Studi di Siena. His diverse research interests include macroeconomics, the recent European crisis, and, most notably, pre-capitalist economies. Prof. Cesaratto’s approach is rooted in classical economic theory and its so-called “unorthodox” offspring, including the works of Karl Marx and Piero Sraffa. Central to his framework is the “Surplus Theory,” which he employs as a lens to analyze economic systems, both ancient and modern. Among his scholarly contributions are the volumes Sei lezioni di economia and Sei lezioni sulla moneta.

Marco Maiuro

Marco Maiuro is currently an Associate Professor of Roman History at Sapienza Università di Roma. He has devoted significant attention to the social and economic history of ancient Rome, approaching it not only through a meticulous study of primary sources but also through the lens of New Institutional Economics – particularly as developed by Nobel laureates Ronald Coase and Douglass North. Among his many scholarly contributions, notable works include The Oxford Handbook of Pre-Roman Italy, which he co-edited with Jane Johnson, and the volume Greece and Rome: Social Life, Politics, and Culture.

Labour and Other Forms of Dependence

Antonella Stirati

Antonella Stirati has held a variety of positions both within academia and beyond. She is currently a Full Professor of Economics at Università Roma Tre. Her research interests are broad and diverse, with a particular focus on the labour market and its various implications, including wealth redistribution, employment, and unemployment – especially in relation to inflation and technological change. These areas of expertise make her an ideal speaker for this panel. Among her scholarly contributions, one must highlight her book Lavoro e salari – Un punto di vista alternativo sulla crisi, published by L’Asino d’Oro.

Annunziata Rositani

Annunziata Rositani is an Associate Professor of Assyriology at Università degli Studi di Messina, where she is also a key member of the “Centro di Ricerca Interdisciplinare sull’Economia del Vicino Oriente Antico”. She is a world-renowned expert on the reign of Hammurabi, with research that primarily explores social and economic aspects of ancient Mesopotamia. Her work places particular emphasis on labour and other forms of dependence. Notably, her book La letteratura sapienziale nell’antica Mesopotamia, published by Le Monnier/Mondadori, stands out as a significant contribution to the field.