ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book demonstrates that writers such as Xenophon and Philodemus understand oikonomia to be a branch of ethics, as the well-being of members of household and community are fundamental considerations in financial planning, both at the level of the household and the polis. It focuses on only a few aspects of the extramercantile economy but prompt some preliminary observations. The book provides additional data on issues recognized as important in the fields of early Judaic and early Christian studies. It presents cogent arguments to show that issues of gift exchange, patronage, and euergetism themselves must be understood as significant aspects of “the ancient economy,” which cannot be reduced to discussions of market exchange. The book also provides some of the tools that will be necessary when attempts are made to write such an economic history.
