ABSTRACT
Most of the material included in this chapter is directly concerned with attitudes towards labour, technology, and innovation in the Greek and Roman cultures, although the connection sometimes is implicit rather than explicit. Many passages in earlier chapters are relevant to this topic. Generally the texts from the eighth century bc to the late Roman Empire express a general disdain for manual labour, the so-called banausic prejudice of the upper classes. Yet, ample archaeological evidence, particularly from the Roman period, demonstrates that artisans and craftspeople were proud of their work, and many not only prominently displayed their accomplishments, but some managed to accumulate by their manual labour, practicality, and business acumen wealth that rivalled that of the upper classes. The Tomb of the Haterii and the Tomb of Eurysaces, the Baker, are striking examples. The sequence of topics in this chapter runs from early attitudes towards labour and innovation to the appearance of banausic prejudice and its expression in the Greek and Roman cultures to positive and negative attitudes towards experimentation, technology, and innovation to visions of future progress in human knowledge.
