Il grande affare della guerra. Il vettovagliamento degli eserciti greci in età classica

Abstract

In ancient Greece the war upset the normal life of the poleis, but it also offered merchants a great opportunity to earn money through the provisioning of the fighting armies. Indeed, warring poleis had to offer favourable terms for trade with their armies by limiting as much as possible restrictions and impositions about the sale prices in order to entice the merchants to follow their troops to provide them with what is necessary for the sustenance of soldiers. The food provisioning during war is therefore a further example of how emporoi escaped the control of the polis, forcing it to allow the provisioning of their armies to be secured under free market rules.