Financing the Athenian Fleet. Public Taxation and Social Relations.

Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 2010. XVII,306p. Paperback. Nice copy. ' The records of the superintendents (Epimeletai) of the shipyards in the Piraeus (...) have long been recognized as a valuable source of information not only about the trireme and the state of the Athenian navy in the fourth century, but also about the social class that funded it. Consequently they have been plundered and pillaged by naval and social historians alike, in search of information specific to their individual studies. A definitive modern overview of their content and significance from both perspectives has been lacking. A pre-requisite for such a study is a new edition of the text of the inscriptions. But this has been long promised and as long delayed. In the meantime, the work here reviewed comes as close as possible to satisfying the need. (...) The author has produced a most informative study of the trierarchy and trierarchs. Part I is concerned with the origin of the trierarchy (...) and leads to the conclusion that the trierarchy was, from its inception, a tax, like the other elements of the litugical system that were developed in the first decades of the fifth century. (...) Part II deals with the qualifications for the trierarchy. (...) The long Part III examines the financial responsabilities of the trierarch in thre chapters - The Crew, The ship and Equipment - and tries to distinguish between expenditure by the state and by the individual. (...) The reform [of Periandros - ND] and the later modification of it by Demosthenes in 340 are the subject of the final section IV (Institutional Transformation). In this G. shows how a system that had maintained the appearance of voluntariness by exploiting the aristocratic ideology of public munificence was gradually transformed into one of straightforward taxation. (...) This book will be essential reading for all those interested in the operation of the Athenian navy and the social structure upon which it was based.' (PHILLIP HARDING in The Classical Review (New Series), 1996, pp.96-98).