Kapêloi and Economic Rationality in Fourth-Century B.C.E. Athens

Abstract

Though extremely important within the debate over the ancient economy, economic rationality has been the focus of little empirical analysis, and scholars are still sharply divided over this critical issue. The behavior of kapêloi in fourth-century B.C.E. Athens, however, which has been largely neglected in debates over economic rationality, provides new insights into the problem. This behavior both constitutes some of the most compelling evidence that ancient Greeks did behave in an economically rational manner and reveals that the behavior of individuals and the performance of the overall economic system also operated according to the rules of modern economic theory.