Quantifying Ancient Building Economy

In recent years, the study of ancient construction has focused increasingly on putting the different aspects of the process of building into an economic framework. This entailed examining the various steps of construction and the organization of a building site in detail. It also meant that attempts were made to quantify the use of both the materials and the labour necessary for the building project, as these illustrate the scale of a building project and its impact on the overall economy. The goal of this volume is to bring together different approaches of the study of the economy of building. With the help of methods of quantification and intensive architectural studies, the case studies of city walls, baths, temples and timber buildings in this volume not only shed light on the various constructional characteristics of these buildings, but also on a wide range of economic implications. The collection of papers ranges from Messene in the 4th century BC to Imperial Rome and are completed by practical insights from 19th century building manuals.