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The Origins of Business, Money, and Markets
Understanding the origins of business is fundamental to grasping modern life, yet most historians look no further than the nineteenth century for their narratives. While the industrial revolution profoundly shaped business practice and much of the corporate organization we recognize today, the full sweep of business history actually begins much earlier, with the initial cities of Mesopotamia. In the first book to describe and explain those origins, Roberts travels back to the society of ancient traders and consumers, recasting the rise of modern business and underscoring the parallels between early and modern business practice.
Roberts's narrative begins five thousand years ago in the Middle East, explaining why prehistoric tribes had no "business." He describes the lack of material conditions and conceptual framework that made such an interchange impossible, and then locates the origins of business in the long distance trade of ancient Mesopotamia, especially within its slave trading, retailing, and financing practices. He maps the rise of modern models of currency, markets, and business in Greece, along with the emergence of banking, mercenaries, and reliable small coinage, and he follows the conquests of Alexander the Great, which brought these advances to the Mediterranean world and the Middle East.
With the growth of agribusiness, Romans developed public contracting, corporations, and even shopping malls, yet in the third century A.D., business mysteriously, virtually disappeared. In each of his chapters, Roberts portrays the major types of business thriving within a certain era and the status, wealth, and treatment of business owners, managers, and workers. He focuses on issues of business morality, the nature of wealth, the role of finance, and the development of public institutions shaping business possibilities, advancing an absorbing account of a long neglected history.
Roberts's narrative begins five thousand years ago in the Middle East, explaining why prehistoric tribes had no "business." He describes the lack of material conditions and conceptual framework that made such an interchange impossible, and then locates the origins of business in the long distance trade of ancient Mesopotamia, especially within its slave trading, retailing, and financing practices. He maps the rise of modern models of currency, markets, and business in Greece, along with the emergence of banking, mercenaries, and reliable small coinage, and he follows the conquests of Alexander the Great, which brought these advances to the Mediterranean world and the Middle East.
With the growth of agribusiness, Romans developed public contracting, corporations, and even shopping malls, yet in the third century A.D., business mysteriously, virtually disappeared. In each of his chapters, Roberts portrays the major types of business thriving within a certain era and the status, wealth, and treatment of business owners, managers, and workers. He focuses on issues of business morality, the nature of wealth, the role of finance, and the development of public institutions shaping business possibilities, advancing an absorbing account of a long neglected history.
- GenresBusiness
382 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 16, 2011
11 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 1, 2021
I can't say I didn't learn anything from this book, but it's not particularly engaging or illuminating. My biggest gripe is a lack of narrative thrust or "connective tissue" - most of the time it's just a string of facts, figures, and anecdotes that I struggled to connect to any larger point or through-line. The sub-sections often don't seem to follow one another logically and exist as little snippets focused on a random subject. The massive amount of citations show the author did his research, but again most of the citations are for a hodgepodge of factoids that don't really connect to a larger framework or make a point (charts showing *very* rough coinage equivalencies, Rome had 10,000 slaves/dancing girls in 365 CE, a slave was worth 15 HS, etc.). The author seems to go to great pains to write this as straight history & not editorialize, which has its merit, but ultimately imo that hampers this book greatly.
The author doesn't strike me as a pro-business ideologue, but he certainly has a fondness for business and the entrepreneurial spirit. Not inconsiderable portions of the book focus on the morality (or lack thereof) of business - the author obviously is aware of the negative reputation of profit-seeking business, but goes out of way to insist this isn't business' fault, you guys! This is where my personal political beliefs affect my opinion of the book, and others may not see it the same way. His take on the 07/08 crash is that yes, fraud was the underlying issue, but that's because regulators were too weak! Should we do away with all those great financial "innovations" (CDOs; his words) just because a few tens of millions of people lost their homes and livelihoods?! Be reasonable! In his closing section:
"The pursuit of profit has long been morally suspect. Its self-serving nature borders on the sin of greed, while the special rules that govern markets, which differ in certain ways from the moral rules of society, have generated distrust. ...This dubious view of business morality is mistaken, not because businesses are inherently moral, but because they have no inherent morality at all, good or bad."
Most people would consider amorality "bad"! In an earlier section, he describes a Roman businessman (Marcus Crassus, apparently the richest Roman and the 8th-richest person, ever) who became Rome's foremost landowner. His private fire brigade would put out fires resulting from the unsafe tenements that most people lived in, but only after the owner had agreed to sell him the property at an extremely debased price. I presume he did not rebuild fire-protected tenements in their place in order to address the social ill of the vast majority of the population being jammed into deathtrap shanties. To our author, this is an example of the *good* business can do:
"By contrast [to corrupt multinational publican societies], the story of the world's most successful business entrepreneur, Marcus Crassus, illustrates how beneficial a creative entrepreneur could be. He saw a business opportunity that others did not and created an organization that allowed him to seize it. ...Crassus' career refutes those cynics who argue that business success is morally degrading."
I dunno, Keith, buying up distressed properties through strong-arm tactics in order to personally enrich yourself at the expense of others strikes me as morally degrading, but viewed through another lens, it's just an "entrepreneurial opportunity"!
The author doesn't strike me as a pro-business ideologue, but he certainly has a fondness for business and the entrepreneurial spirit. Not inconsiderable portions of the book focus on the morality (or lack thereof) of business - the author obviously is aware of the negative reputation of profit-seeking business, but goes out of way to insist this isn't business' fault, you guys! This is where my personal political beliefs affect my opinion of the book, and others may not see it the same way. His take on the 07/08 crash is that yes, fraud was the underlying issue, but that's because regulators were too weak! Should we do away with all those great financial "innovations" (CDOs; his words) just because a few tens of millions of people lost their homes and livelihoods?! Be reasonable! In his closing section:
"The pursuit of profit has long been morally suspect. Its self-serving nature borders on the sin of greed, while the special rules that govern markets, which differ in certain ways from the moral rules of society, have generated distrust. ...This dubious view of business morality is mistaken, not because businesses are inherently moral, but because they have no inherent morality at all, good or bad."
Most people would consider amorality "bad"! In an earlier section, he describes a Roman businessman (Marcus Crassus, apparently the richest Roman and the 8th-richest person, ever) who became Rome's foremost landowner. His private fire brigade would put out fires resulting from the unsafe tenements that most people lived in, but only after the owner had agreed to sell him the property at an extremely debased price. I presume he did not rebuild fire-protected tenements in their place in order to address the social ill of the vast majority of the population being jammed into deathtrap shanties. To our author, this is an example of the *good* business can do:
"By contrast [to corrupt multinational publican societies], the story of the world's most successful business entrepreneur, Marcus Crassus, illustrates how beneficial a creative entrepreneur could be. He saw a business opportunity that others did not and created an organization that allowed him to seize it. ...Crassus' career refutes those cynics who argue that business success is morally degrading."
I dunno, Keith, buying up distressed properties through strong-arm tactics in order to personally enrich yourself at the expense of others strikes me as morally degrading, but viewed through another lens, it's just an "entrepreneurial opportunity"!
February 2, 2019
History of the ancient world through Hellenistic and Roman civilization with an economic lens. Author has an obvious ideological leaning, made known through his personal interpretation at the end of each chapter. Still presents the history in a fairly objective way.
February 26, 2019
It's good to see where we've come from as a civilization, compared to the challenges we face today. The Roman section gets a little depressing and tedious, but there are great insights sprinkled throughout.
August 15, 2012
This is a pretty outstanding scholarly work in the field of business history. It's a field that I've never been compelled to read in but the author actually managed to make ancient business history not only bearable but almost interesting.
If the introduction is to be believed, this is the first book to take a stab at pulling together the ancient roots of business. I can only be thankful that someone else took the years to scour a massive number of resources in order to write a relatively succinct summary. The book started with the Fertile Crescent around 3000 BCE then took us through the Greek and Roman Empires, ending around the fifth century CE. Everything was thoroughly footnoted, clearly written (even if my head would be spinning from all the names and places), and the author even finished each chapter with a nice little summary (in case, like me, you got a little lost in the detail).
I have two quibbles with the book. First, the author summarily dismisses the notion that non-Western civilization had anything to contribute to ancient business. Ok, so I know nothing about the topic, but I'm always skeptical when everything east of the Middle East is written off in a short paragraph.
Also, while I really appreciated those chapter-end summaries, that's where the author unleashed some commentary that seemed out of place. Ok, so I loved his Wall Street Journal zinger. But the comment about health care reform doesn't seem like it's going to age well. I just think it wasn't the best editorial decision to leave the casual comments in.
But those things aside, I'm happy I read the book; I learned a lot and it was relatively painless going down!
If the introduction is to be believed, this is the first book to take a stab at pulling together the ancient roots of business. I can only be thankful that someone else took the years to scour a massive number of resources in order to write a relatively succinct summary. The book started with the Fertile Crescent around 3000 BCE then took us through the Greek and Roman Empires, ending around the fifth century CE. Everything was thoroughly footnoted, clearly written (even if my head would be spinning from all the names and places), and the author even finished each chapter with a nice little summary (in case, like me, you got a little lost in the detail).
I have two quibbles with the book. First, the author summarily dismisses the notion that non-Western civilization had anything to contribute to ancient business. Ok, so I know nothing about the topic, but I'm always skeptical when everything east of the Middle East is written off in a short paragraph.
Also, while I really appreciated those chapter-end summaries, that's where the author unleashed some commentary that seemed out of place. Ok, so I loved his Wall Street Journal zinger. But the comment about health care reform doesn't seem like it's going to age well. I just think it wasn't the best editorial decision to leave the casual comments in.
But those things aside, I'm happy I read the book; I learned a lot and it was relatively painless going down!
June 26, 2015
Sometimes a superb writer can ask you a question you never, ever considered, and then answer it in ways that make you wonder why you never asked the question.
Where did business start and what was the profession? Who discovered the magic of money? When did the concept of profit raise its stakes? Why? How? Where? When?
The Origins of Business, Money and Markets by Keith Roberts answers questions rarely asked. The book does it with wonderful writing, compelling anecdotes, surprising facts and extraordinary scholarship.
If you truly want to know someone, you must understand their history, their origins. Only then can you grasp that person’s true meaning and value.
The same goes for business, money and markets. Keith Roberts takes readers on an enlightening trip from the beginnings in Sumeria to the downfall of ancient business in the Third Century. The lessons, the stranglehold of corruption and power that darkened the Ages that followed, seem more understandable given the knowledge gained from this wonderful book.
Where did business start and what was the profession? Who discovered the magic of money? When did the concept of profit raise its stakes? Why? How? Where? When?
The Origins of Business, Money and Markets by Keith Roberts answers questions rarely asked. The book does it with wonderful writing, compelling anecdotes, surprising facts and extraordinary scholarship.
If you truly want to know someone, you must understand their history, their origins. Only then can you grasp that person’s true meaning and value.
The same goes for business, money and markets. Keith Roberts takes readers on an enlightening trip from the beginnings in Sumeria to the downfall of ancient business in the Third Century. The lessons, the stranglehold of corruption and power that darkened the Ages that followed, seem more understandable given the knowledge gained from this wonderful book.
November 3, 2013
An excellent overview of the different "ecoomic systems" that prevailed in the ancient world from the Phoenicians through the Greeks and Babylonians. The author has a legal background, but looks at the broad economic context as well. A great overview.
Want to read
July 16, 2012I got a chapter into this one - I think I would like to pick it back up.
April 8, 2016
Fascinating and enlightening to observe that the drivers and mechanisms of business, money, and markets haven't changed much in the past few thousand years.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews