ABSTRACT
In this chapter we shall complement the analysis of Chapter 6 by asking why such market capitalism(s) as had begun to appear did not advance beyond the embryonic stages described. Our discussion will be based on the analysis Weber provides in Economy and Society which sets out the causal preconditions of the modern variant of capitalism. From this starting point we shall develop a counter-factual argument which is designed to bring out precisely why in the case of antiquity market capitalism could not progress beyond the limited level that was nonetheless achieved.
