Chapter 10. Purchase and Redemption Abstract Indo-European had words for “to be worth” and “value.” But a study of the Homeric usage of alphánō ‘to bring in, yield, fetch’ makes it clear that alphḗ designated originally the exchange value of a man put up for sale. Skt. arhat ‘a man of particular merit’ brings confirmation of this ancient sense. With the Germans, the custom of selling a man who had… Read more
Chapter 11. An Occupation without a Name: Commerce Abstract The comparison of Indo-European languages furnishes no common designation for commerce as a specific activity, as distinguished from buying and selling. The particular terms which appeared in different places are usually recognizable as borrowings (Lat. caupo, Gr. kápēlos), or recent creations (Gr. émporos). The Latin negōtium, itself a recent word, has a peculiar history: 1) A calque on Gr. a–skholía, neg–ōtium… Read more
Section 4: Economic Obligations Chapter 12. Accountancy and Valuation Abstract Latin duco and Greek hēgéomai have the same senses; the literal sense “lead, command” and the figurative sense “believe, judge, estimate.” But we must be careful not to deduce from this that there were parallel lines of development in both cases, from the literal to the figurative sense. Whereas with Greek hēgéomai ‘command’ there was a direct passage from… Read more
Chapter 13. Hiring and Leasing Abstract Unlike French, Latin opposes conducere ‘to hire, take on lease’ to locare ‘let out on hire, to lease’. The specialized sense of conducere , which basically signifies “lead,” started in the military context of recruiting and becomes specifically “to hire” when a chief (dux) engages men for a given sum of money: conducere mercede. By a parallel development, locare ‘to put a thing in… Read more
Chapter 14. Price and Wages Abstract When studied in their most ancient uses and referred to their Indo-European origin, the words for wages—in particular Gr. misthós, Got. laun (German Lohn)—show that before designating the “price for some piece of work,” they signified “reward for a brilliant exploit,” “prize in a competition.” As for Lat. merces, which also does not signify “wage” in the modern sense, its connection with merx ‘merchandise’… Read more
Chapter 15. Credence and Belief Abstract The exact formal correspondence between Lat. crē–dō and Sanskrit śrad–dhā– is a guarantee of ancient heritage. Studies of the uses of śrad–dhā– in the Rig Veda show that the meaning of the word is “act of confidence (in a god), implying restitution (in the form of a divine favor accorded to the faithful).” The expression of the same complex notion, the IE *kred-, recurs… Read more
Chapter 16. Lending, Borrowing, and Debt Abstract In contrast to Bartholomae, who distinguishes two roots par-, it is shown that the Iranian derivatives (and the Armenian ones) of par-, from which comes Iranian *pr̥tu-, and from it Armenian partkc ‘debt’, can be attached to a single basic meaning “compensate by something levied on oneself, on one’s own person or one’s own possessions.” Lat. par ‘equal’ can be brought together with… Read more
ΕΙΣΑΓΩΓΙΚΑ Α—ΑΙ ΒΥΖΑΝΤΙΝΑΙ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΚΑΙ ΠΗΓΑΙ Ἐκ τῶν σπουδαιοτέρων συγγραφέων τῆς περιόδου τῆς Εἰκονομαχίας (726-843) εἶναι ὁ Νικηφόρος Α΄ (758-828), πατριάρχης ΚΠόλεως (806-815). Θεολόγος καὶ ἱστορικὸς τοῦ ὁποίου ἡ Ἱστορία καὶ τὰ συγγράμματα πρὸς ὑπεράσπισιν τῶν σεπτῶν εἰκόνων παρέχουν εἰδήσεις ἄλλως μὴ διαθεσίμους εἰς τὴν πρώιμον χριστιανικὴν σκέψιν καὶ πρακτικήν. [1] Ἡ Ἱστορία Σύντομος ἀπὸ τῆς Μαυρικίου βασιλείας ἐγράφη τὸ 775… Read more
ΙΣΤΟΡΙΚΟΝ ΠΛΑΙΣΙΟΝ ΤΩΝ ΓΕΓΟΝΟΤΩΝ ΠΡΟ, ΚΑΤΑ ΚΑΙ ΜΕΤΑ ΤΗΝ ΑΡΑΒΙΚΗΝ ΚΑΤΑΚΤΗΣΙΝ 1. ΙΣΤΟΡΙΚΟΝ ΠΛΑΙΣΙΟΝ ΤΩΝ ΓΕΓΟΝΟΤΩΝ ΠΡΟ ΤΗΣ ΑΡΑΒΙΚΗΣ ΚΑΤΑΚΤΗΣΕΩΣ Ἡ Βυζαντινὴ Διοίκησις. Σταθμὸν εἰς τὴν Βυζαντινὴν ἱστορίαν ἀποτελεῖ ἡ βασιλεία, κατὰ τὸν ζ΄ αἰ., τοῦ Ἡρακλείου (610-641).Ὁ Ἡράκλειος, ἀφοῦ ἀνέτρεψε τὸν Φωκᾶν καὶ τὸν διεδέχθη εἰς τὸν θρόνον, ἀνέλαβε νὰ διασώσῃ τὴν Αὐτοκρατορίαν ἀπὸ τὰς ἐπεκτατικὰς βλέψεις τῶν Περσῶν καὶ νὰ τὴν ἐκσυγχρονίσῃ διοικητικῶς. Εἰς… Read more
ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΗΣΙΣ ΤΗΣ ΠΑΙΔΕΙΑΣ ΕΙΣ ΣΥΡΙΑΝ, ΠΑΛΑΙΣΤΙΝΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΑΙΓΥΠΤΟΝ ΠΡΟ ΤΗΣ ΑΡΑΒΟΚΡΑΤΙΑΣ (Δ΄, Ε΄ ΚΑΙ Ϛ΄ ΑΙΩΝΕΣ) 1. Η ΣΧΟΛΗ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΕΙΑΣ Μεταξὺ τῶν πόλεων τῆς Μ. Ἀσίας κατὰ τὸν β΄ μ.Χ. αἰ., εἰς τὴν πλέον ἀκμάζουσαν περίοδον τῆς Βυζαντινῆς Αὐτοκρατορίας, [1] ἡ Ἔφεσος, ἡ Σμύρνη καὶ ἡ Πέργαμος ἦσαν τὰ κορυφαῖα κέντρα τῆς σοφιστικῆς. Κατὰ τὸν δ΄ μ.Χ. αἰ. ὅμως ἐσκιάσθησαν… Read more
