Calcolo economico, archivi finanziari e credito nel mondo greco tra VI e IV sec. a.C.

The aim of the paper is to take issue with some of the conclusions of G.E.M. de Ste. Croix's influential essay on ‘Greek and Roman Accounting’, concentrating on the following areas: a) the acrophonic numerical system and its consequences on Greek book-keeping techniques; b) the narrative form of Greek accounts and their unsuitability for calculating rates of return; c) the alleged incapability of the Greeks to make rational economic choices. It is argued that the widespread use of abaci compensated for the shortcomings of the acrophonic numerical system and that the epigraphic accounts presuppose the existence of a mass of more detailed accounts and records. Such accounts allow the comparative appraisal of the rate of profit in annual administration. An attempt is also made to show that, notwithstanding the constraints of a limited range of alternative choices, the Greeks could estimate the profitability of their business adventures and indeed organized their investments rationally.