Many Ancient Greek Occupations, but Few Professions

Harris, Edward M.

doi:10.1017/9781108878135.002

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Characterizing a profession as having “a professional association, cognitive base, institutionalized training, licensing, work autonomy, colleague control and code of ethics, with high standards of ethics as well as of professional and intellectual excellence, and special power and prestige”, Harris (2020) discussed four areas in the ancient Greek world where occupations to some extent became professions. These are in the performing arts, in the philosophical schools, in medicine and in sculpture.…”

Section: Comparing Occupational Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

The service sector in the classical world: focus on entertainment and well-being

Bröchner

2023

IJQSS

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Purpose Predicting effects of artificial intelligence on service occupations can be supported by a long historical perspective. Historical databases and archaeology help reconstructing the service sector in ancient societies. Here, the purpose of this paper is to analyse occupational specialization within services in cities of ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, as well as how the service sector is reflected in architectural remains, to identify differences and similarities with today’s Europe. Design/methodology/approach Occupational titles are traced in epigraphical and literary sources, sorted according to ISCO-08. Secondary sources are used for the architectural evidence of service activities, as well as for the role of contests and entertainment in antiquity. Findings Compared to current European service employment, professionals were fewer in classical Athens and imperial Rome, which had a greater proportion of specialized salespersons. There were few office buildings and no civic hospitals, but heavy investment in facilities for entertainment and well-being. Quality assessments for goods were little developed; contests for cultural and sports activities assessed entertainment service quality. Research limitations/implications This study covers two periods in classical antiquity and is restricted to Mediterranean cultures, although findings may help understanding the service sector in poor countries with informal employment. Originality/value While particular services provided in ancient cities have been studied, there has been no broad comparative overview of their service occupations. Services in earlier societies with primitive information and communication technologies can provide clues for current developments.

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Section: Comparing Occupational Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

The service sector in the classical world: focus on entertainment and well-being

Bröchner

2023

IJQSS

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“…However, such sources suffer from an elitism bias because they are unlikely to represent the everyday life of "common people" (Morris et al, 2007;Verboven & Laes, 2017). Historical and archaeological evidence shows that over 200 different occupations were present in classical Athens alone (Harris, 2020), but the extent of such variety depends on the market demands and the job market in Athens, as described in historical sources, should not be considered in any way representative of the entire Greco-Roman world. For example, demands greatly differed between rural and urban areas, leaving space for different job markets.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex differences in mechanical stress and associated labor in Hellenistic–early Roman Menainon, Sicily

Caruso,

Nikita

2024

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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This paper explores mechanical stress in the Hellenistic/early Roman community of Menainon (Sicily) to test the existence of sex‐based division of labor. For this purpose, human skeletal remains from 79 males and 65 females, dating to the 4th–1st ca. BCE, were examined for degenerative joint disease, intervertebral disc disease, cross‐sectional geometric properties, and entheseal changes. Our findings support an equal share of workload between males and females, who appeared to have experienced similar mechanical stress levels. In contrast, they do not support a systematically greater mechanical load among males, as would have been expected if females had been restricted indoors taking care of domestic tasks only, while men had dealt with most physically demanding outdoor activities. The patterns identified in the current study agree with a scenario where agriculture was a prominent subsistence activity (as attested historically for this region) and most members of this rural community engaged in agricultural tasks irrespective of sex. Our study has limitations regarding the available historical and archaeological information, which restrict our ability to formulate solid research hypotheses or fully contextualize the bioarchaeological results. Nonetheless, it does highlight the importance of critically assessing historical information regarding the role of men and women in the Greco‐Roman society.

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Wandering Workers: Mobility and Skills in the Roman World

Holleran

2024

The New Antiquity

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Many Ancient Greek Occupations, but Few Professions

Cited by 4 publications

References 274 publications

The service sector in the classical world: focus on entertainment and well-being

The service sector in the classical world: focus on entertainment and well-being

Sex differences in mechanical stress and associated labor in Hellenistic–early Roman Menainon, Sicily

Wandering Workers: Mobility and Skills in the Roman World

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