The economic life of people was first comprehended in ancient Greece. Plato and Aristotle stood at the origins of material and economic ideas. Xenophon. These thinkers looked at economic processes from a theoretical point of view. They gave explanations for commodity-money relations, for money itself, for the processes of exchanging it for commodities. Microeconomics came to the fore in the research of these scientists. They dealt with the development of private economy and small industries.

The ideas of Plato and Aristotle are significantly different from the thoughts of antiquity, during which the enrichment of the state as a whole was never considered, but only a person. He was a consumer and a "hoarder" of goods. On the works of Plato and other scientists, European economic thought also developed later.

Basic Economic Ideas of the Ancient Greeks

For the first time they understood and calculated that if a year had a large harvest of fruits, because of the excess, their value falls. People who are engaged in the sale of crops go bankrupt and begin to engage in another type of trade. In another year, when, for example, there is little fruit, some merchants enrich themselves by buying a small crop from farmers and raising a significant price on it.

Ancient Greek thinkers analyzed the division of labor and identified the links between this process and the market itself, considered the impact of the division of labor on the turnover. Enrichment, according to Greek thinkers, is the preservation of surplus. If you subtract all expenses and leave net profit, spend part of it, the remainder - and there is wealth. Scientists have linked this process with labor productivity.

The Greeks attributed 2 functions to money at once

1. medium of exchange.
2. A means of accumulation.

The intellectual activity of the Greeks in the field of economics reached its peak in the 4th-3rd centuries. BC. At that time, a crisis occurred in the policies (city-states). To bring the economy out of this state, it was necessary to make cardinal decisions and change direction. economic development. Scientists began to study the processes occurring in the subsistence economy, analyzed slavery and began to search effective method housekeeping.

Xenophon defended the slave system and subsistence farming most of all. He brought agriculture to the fore, because thanks to the cultivation of the land and the harvest, the Greeks received everything they needed for food and a fulfilling life. Xenophon published Domostroy, where his economic ideas were presented. They boiled down to the following:

The division of labor, labor force and slavery is a natural process.

Craft drives people into darkness, and agriculture opens the sun.

The simplest work is the most productive.

The larger the sales market, the more intense the division of labor.

Each product has a benefit and value in the eyes of the consumer.

Money does not tolerate waste, it is invented to accumulate wealth.

Most of the contemporaries of Xenophon, Aristotle and Plato supported their teachings and were even guided by them in running their household.

As for Aristotle, he is considered almost the first economist. This figure considered questions of economic relations from various points of view: social, statistical and even sociological. When creating works, Aristotle gathered his students and conducted research. He analyzed only the facts. So, for example, he subjected almost 160 ancient Greek city-states to the study of the state structure.

This scientist gave a definition of the class stratification of society. He said that physical labor is for the lower strata of the population, the fruits of mental labor are produced by aristocrats. They are also responsible for military activities.

I searched and tried to create a model of an ideal state. He despised hoarding and believed that she was the basis of laziness and greed. He considered any surplus product as enemy intrigues for the destruction of society and order in it.

He clearly divided the population into classes, connecting people with their activities. In his writings, even 2 ideal models appeared. He represented the rulers of his state as aristocrats and warriors. Philosophers - sane people - will be able to manage people, conquerors will expand the boundaries of the state. And no personal preference. Warriors must be brought up according to the Spartan system in strict discipline and under the conditions of a camp regime. They shouldn't have gotten rich. None of the upper classes (aristocrats and warriors) can be the owners of anything and make a profit from it. According to Plato, the public should provide them financially.

The rest of the population - the third estate - is the mob and slaves. This class is made up of artisans, farmers, pastoralists, and merchants. Their main duty is to produce goods. Craftsmen and other members of the class must have a strong interest in their activities. That is why the third estate should receive the right private property.

The second model of the ideal state supports the ideas of condemning usury, and condones agriculture as the basis of economic activity. Craft and trade come to the background. Here the upper class is endowed with the right of property and disposes of it at its own discretion. Income from the land allotment should ensure the comfortable life of an aristocrat. The earth is inherited.

According to Plato, it is necessary to strictly define the boundaries of poverty and wealth. The poorest person is the one who owns only one piece of land. The rich had 4-5 plots. The super-rich should be dispossessed of the kulak and give part of their property to the poor. So Plato introduced the ideas of communism.

Industry in the understanding of the philosopher is a workshop. Merchants should not inflate prices, this must be strictly monitored. There is no need to export products to other states and import other goods from there. According to Plato, the state is able to provide for itself without foreign trade.

The biggest scandals in Greece

Kayaking in Greece. Sports and great relaxation in the bosom of nature

Kayaking on the rivers of Greece. People began to develop mountain rivers from ancient times. This was done not for fun, but out of severe necessity. Highlanders have always been distinguished by their independent disposition, love of freedom and severity. There was no question of submitting to power, becoming someone's vassal, fulfilling someone else's will. Proud, free, independent peoples preferred death to slavery. But simply to die for the highlander meant ingloriously giving his life.

Rodini Park on the island of Rhodes.

Galleries in Greece

Rhodes. Rhodes fortress

If you are planning to visit the fabulous island of Rhodes, then by all means pay attention to the Rhodes fortress - since 1988 a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This striking monument of talented engineering was built in the Middle Ages by the Knights Hospitaller, who captured the island during the Crusades. For almost 220 years, this stronghold was considered the most impregnable and most protected in the entire Christian world.

Economic thought of Ancient Greece. The economic thought of Ancient Greece is represented by the works of prominent ancient Greek philosophers Xenophon(430-354 BC), Plato(428-347 BC) and Aristotle(384-322 BC), representing the best achievements of the economic thought of ancient slavery.

Xenophon He was a zealous defender of subsistence farming and slavery. He exalted agriculture, on which the well-being of the people depends and thanks to which "people get everything they need for life." Xenophon set out his economic views in treatise "Domostroy" which contains the following provisions:

division of labor into mental and physical views, and people - into free and slaves has a natural (natural) origin;

the natural destiny corresponds to the predominant development of agriculture in comparison with craft and trade (craft condemns a person to a sedentary lifestyle that is harmful to the body, and deprives people of the sun);

"the simplest work" can be performed productively;

the degree of division of labor is determined, as a rule, by the size of the sales market;

every commodity has useful properties (use value) and the ability to exchange for another commodity (value);

money was invented by people in order to carry out commodity circulation and accumulation of wealth, but not usurious enrichment.

Plato

Plato in his writings paid great attention to the model of an ideal state. He considered the main goal of an ideal state to be "the expulsion of the passion for profit" because excess breeds such disgusting qualities as laziness and greed. According to Plato, any surplus product should be considered as an undermining of the social order, as a theft. The model of an ideal state, devoid of the contradictions inherent in Athens, was built by Plato on a clear division of people into classes, in connection with their social and economic functions.

In his works "State" And "Laws" Plato characterized two projects of an ideal state. In his first essay, he noted that the administrative apparatus of an ideal state should be represented by two classes: the aristocratic class (philosophers) and the class of warriors. Philosophers are the most sensible people capable of knowing the world and managing people. The main task of philosophers is to act on behalf of and for the benefit of the whole society, renouncing then personal predilections. The main duty of warriors is to protect the people. For the successful performance of their functions, the soldiers were provided with a Spartan system of physical education, a camp regime, strict discipline, and a common table (equal distribution). The desire of warriors to enrich themselves was condemned. According to Plato, these two estates should not have property and burden themselves with the economy, their material support should become public. The rest of society is assigned to the third estate, called by Plato the mob (farmers, artisans, merchants who own and dispose of property), and to slaves. The main duty of this estate is the production of material goods necessary for the whole society. This estate should have a personal interest in the results of its labor and therefore it was endowed with private property.

In the second work (“Laws”), Plato puts forward an updated model of an ideal state, condemns usury, and justifies the leading role in the economy of agriculture compared to handicraft and trade. In this model, citizens of the upper classes were endowed with the right of possession and use (incomplete ownership) of a house and land allotment provided by lot by the state. The project stipulated the possibility of subsequent transfer of land by inheritance to one of the children. In the model of the ideal state proposed by Plato, the allotment of land was the basis of the income of free citizenship. Plato proposed to legislate the "limits of poverty and wealth." The “limit of poverty” was considered one land plot, which cannot be lost under any circumstances (it was always kept in the family). “The limit of wealth” is four or five plots of land (or their value in money). Property in excess of the "limit of wealth", according to Plato, should be redistributed by the state in favor of the poor.

Aristotle

A huge contribution to the development of the economic thought of antiquity was made by Aristotle. Aristotle is often called the first economist in the history of science, because he was the first to analyze economic phenomena and attempt to identify patterns of social development.

The main provisions of the economic concept of Aristotle:

man is a social animal that can live only in society and the state;

the creation of the state is facilitated by the exchange between people;

neither production nor life can do without slaves, since the instruments of labor cannot work themselves;

slaves are a source of wealth;

there should be an average income (he proposed to strengthen “ middle class» to end the strife that arises on the basis of inequality);

private property is necessary (he found the roots of private property in animals);

the same thing can be used in different ways: for its intended purpose (use value) and not for its intended purpose (exchange value);

money is a means of comparing different goods, therefore they cannot be loaned at% (he claimed that money arose by agreement between people as a result of the inconvenience of transporting many things over long distances).

Of particular importance in the economic concept of Aristotle is the theoretical analysis of exchange and value. He was the first to raise the question of determining the proportion of exchange. This question has been and still is controversial for many centuries. The answer to this question divided all economists in the history of science into supporters of the labor theory of value and supporters of other theories that determine the value of a thing based on a subjective assessment of its utility.

Aristotle himself had several points of view on solving the problem of determining the proportion of exchange. Aristotle tried to look for the fairness of exchange in arithmetic proportion. In his writings, one can find the beginnings of the labor theory of value, and statements that the proportions of the exchange of goods are based on their utility, and the assertion that money, which is a common need for all, makes goods comparable.

Exploring the economic organization of contemporary society, Aristotle put forward an original concept of economy And chrematistics. According to this concept, he attributed all types of economy and human activities to one of two spheres - natural (economics) and unnatural (chrematistics). The first of these is represented by agriculture, handicrafts and petty trade and must be supported by the state, because. its links contribute to the satisfaction of the vital needs of the population. The second is based on dishonest large-scale trading, intermediary and usury operations carried out for the sake of achieving a selfish goal - to make a fortune. Aristotle believed that in the art of making a fortune there is never a limit in achieving the goal, since the goal itself is unlimited wealth and the possession of money. According to Aristotle, chrematistics inevitably grows out of economics. He associated the destruction of the economy and its transformation into chrematistics with the invention of money.

Introduction

About five thousand years ago, in the south of the Balkan Peninsula and the islands surrounding it in the eastern Mediterranean, a culture was born that was destined to play the greatest role in the history of mankind - the culture of the ancient Greeks (Hellenes). Greece never aspired to dominance in the world, its inhabitants took part in only a few historical battles, and few of the Greek generals managed to gain great fame. For more than the last two millennia, this people has been under the rule of foreign conquerors, and only a century and a half ago Greece regained its independence and appeared on the map as an independent state.

It would seem that Greece in the past was no different from its neighbors - neither a special political role, nor any exceptional natural conditions. However, it was here that two and a half millennia ago culture reached such a flourishing that for many centuries turned out to be inaccessible to other later states.

This country played a special role on the political and economic map of that time. Its internal economic system and external economic relations deserve detailed study and may be of interest from the point of view of modern economy.

The main purpose of this essay is to consider the models of economic development of Ancient Greece.

The objectives of this abstract:

· to characterize the state-political structure of Ancient Greece;

· indicate the features of the development of economic thought in Ancient Greece;

· to analyze the importance of the economic thought of Ancient Greece.

Economic views of ancient Greek thinkers

The greatest role in the history of the economic doctrines of Ancient Greece was played by the works of famous thinkers Xenophon, Plato and Aristotle.

The economic views of Xenophon (430-355 BC) - a student of the famous ancient Greek philosopher Socrates - are set out in the work Domostroy, prepared as a guide for running a slave economy. He characterized home economics as the science of managing and enriching the economy. Xenophon considered agriculture to be the main branch of the slave-owning economy, which he qualified as the most worthy occupation. He saw the main goal of economic activity in ensuring the production of useful things. Xenophon had a negative attitude towards crafts and trade, he considered them an occupation suitable only for slaves. At the same time, in the interests of the slave-owning economy, Xenophon allowed the use of commodity-money relations.

"Domostroy" contained numerous advice to slave owners in the field of economic activity. Their lot was the management of the economy, the exploitation of slaves. Xenophon expressed contempt for physical labor, qualifying it as an occupation suitable only for slaves, who must be treated like animals.

Xenophon was one of the first thinkers of antiquity who paid great attention to the division of labor, considering it as a natural phenomenon, as an important condition for increasing the production of use values. Xenophon first pointed out the relationship between the development of the division of labor and the market.

Economic ideas occupied a significant place in the writings of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato (427-347 BC). His most famous work is Politics or the State. The socio-economic concept of Plato received a concentrated expression in the project of an ideal state. Plato considered the state as a community of people generated by nature itself, for the first time expressing the idea of ​​the inevitability of dividing the state into two parts: the rich and the poor.

Plato paid great attention to the problem of the division of labor, considering it as a natural phenomenon. In his concept, the innate inequality of people was justified. He interpreted the division into free and slaves as a state given by nature itself. Slaves were seen as the main productive force, and their exploitation as a means of enriching the slave owners. Only Greeks could be free citizens.

Plato considered agriculture to be the main branch of the economy, but he also approved of handicrafts. He saw the economic basis of the state in a subsistence economy based on the exploitation of slaves. He allowed petty trade, which was designed to serve the division of labor. However, Plato was very negative about trading profits. In his opinion, trade should be mainly carried out by foreigners, slaves. In the ideal state of Plato, free people were divided into three classes: 1) philosophers, called to govern the state; 2) warriors; 3) landowners, artisans and small traders. Slaves were not included in any of these estates.

The greatest contribution to the development of the economic thought of Ancient Greece was made by the thinker of antiquity Aristotle (384-322 BC). As a student of Plato, he did not share Platonic idealism. Showing fluctuations between materialism and idealism, he moved towards materialism. His political views are set forth in the work "Politics" and other works. He is an opponent of the aristocratic system, oligarchic power, a supporter of slave-owning democracy. Aristotle justified the division of people into slaves and free, perceiving it as natural. In his opinion, freedom was the lot of only the Hellenes. As for foreigners (barbarians), by their nature they could only be slaves. He divided the citizens of Greece into five groups (classes): 1) the agricultural class, 2) the class of artisans, 3) the merchant class, 4) hired workers, 5) the military. Slaves constituted a separate group, not included in the civil community. Aristotle associated slavery with the natural division of labor, believing that slaves by their nature are such and are only capable of physical labor. The slave was equated with other things belonging to the free, included in their property.

The outstanding merit of Aristotle in the development of economic thought is his attempt to penetrate into the essence of economic phenomena, to reveal their patterns. He started economic analysis, which manifested itself in the approach to the definition of the subject economics, in the study of exchange, forms of value, etc.

Aristotle considered economic phenomena in terms of the greatest benefit. Everything that corresponded to the interests of strengthening the economy was accepted as natural and fair. Aristotle attributed natural phenomena to the economy, which revealed the sources of "true wealth", consisting of use values. The economy provided the study of ways to strengthen subsistence farming; the possibility of expanding the production of use values. This corresponded to the maintenance of a moderate amount of wealth, the supporter of which was Aristotle, who rejected the excessive accumulation of money, enrichment through speculative trading, usury, etc. He allowed barter and attributed it to the economy.

It is interesting how Aristotle considered the form of value. The monetary form of the commodity was taken as a development of the simple form of value. Although he could not scientifically explain the origin and essence of money, it is important that he connected them with the development of exchange, laid the foundation for considering the functions of money as a measure of value and a means of circulation.

2. Stages of economic development and the role of the state in the economy of Ancient Greece

2.1. Ancient Greece in the XI-VI centuries. BC.

If we analyze this period of time, we can say the following. It covers two stages in the history of ancient Greece: the so-called dark ages (XI-IX centuries BC) and the archaic period (VIII-VI centuries BC). The Dark Ages are often called the Homeric period, since, along with archaeological data, the main source for studying this time are the poems "Iliad" and "Odyssey", attributed to Homer.

Usually XI-IX centuries. BC e. is considered an intermediate stage at which, on the one hand, the level of development decreases compared to Achaean Greece, but, on the other hand, with the start of the production of iron tools, the prerequisites are created for the further flourishing of the Greek states.

The archaic period is characterized by two main processes that had a decisive influence on the development of Greek civilization:

Great colonization - the development by the Greeks of the coasts of the Mediterranean, Black, Azov Seas;

Registration of the policy as a special type of community.

There are two main types of policies:

Agrarian - the absolute predominance of agriculture, the poor development of crafts, trade, a large proportion of dependent workers, as a rule, with an oligarchic structure;

Trade and craft - with a large share of trade and crafts, commodity-money relations, the introduction of slavery into the means of production, a democratic structure.

In the XI-IX centuries. BC. in the Greek economy, the subsistence type of economy dominated, the craft was not separated from agriculture. There was some improvement in tools, in particular, a plow with a metal coulter appeared. Animal husbandry also played an important role in agriculture, livestock was considered one of the main types of wealth. In the craft of the XI-IX centuries. BC e. there was some differentiation, weaving, metallurgy, ceramics were especially developed, but production was focused only on meeting the urgent needs of people. In this regard, trade developed very slowly and was mainly of an exchange nature.

In the VIII-VI centuries. BC e. The economic situation in ancient Greece has changed significantly. During this period, the craft separated from agriculture, which remains the leading branch of the economy. The weak development of agricultural production at the previous stage, the inability to provide food for the growing population of policies became one of the main reasons for Greek colonization. The most important function of the colonies located in the Black Sea basin was the supply of bread to the metropolises. The main attention is paid to crops, the cultivation of which is more appropriate natural conditions Greece: grapes, olives, all kinds of garden and horticultural crops; as a result, agriculture is becoming increasingly market-oriented.

The legislators and reformers of Ancient Greece were Solon, Peisistrat, Pericles. Solon (c. 559 BC) carried out reforms that contributed to the acceleration of the elimination of remnants of the tribal system: the abolition of land debt, the prohibition of debt slavery, the introduction of a land maximum, etc. All citizens were divided into four categories in accordance with the property qualification. Ancient legends ranked Solon among the seven Greek sages. The reforms of the Athenian ruler Peisistratus (c. 560 BC) served the interests of farmers and trade and craft strata (distribution of confiscated lands to the rural poor, the minting of state coins, etc.). Pericles (c. 490 BC) - Athenian strategist. His legislative measures (the abolition of the property qualification, the replacement of voting by lot when granting positions, the introduction of payment for officials, etc.) contributed to the flourishing of the Athenian slave-owning democracy.

In the writings of the ancient Greek thinkers Xenophon, Plato, and especially Aristotle, the first attempts were made to theoretically comprehend the economic structure of society.

To characterize their economic views, the work of Xenophon (430-354 BC) “Economy”, which was widely used not only in Ancient Greece, but also in Ancient Rome, and later in feudal Western Europe, is of the greatest interest.

Economy, according to Xenophon's definition, is the science of enriching one's economy, which should teach the slave owner to skillfully enrich his economy, which will increase the production of useful things. Trade as a profession was considered worthy for a Greek. Xenophon approved only the grain trade of the landed aristocracy and petty trade serving agriculture. He had a negative attitude towards large-scale merchant trade and usury, at the same time he highly appreciated money as concentrated wealth and a means of enrichment.

The concept of value in Xenophon is associated with use value, he believed that value is only that from which one can benefit. Xenophon substantiated the division of labor, came close to understanding the degree of dependence of the division of labor on the size of the market. In the countryside, he pointed out, the division of labor is less developed, in the city - more, since trade and the production of goods are more widespread here.

A prominent representative of ancient Greek philosophy is the ideologist of the Athenian aristocracy Plato (427-347 BC). "Dialogues", "State", "Laws" are famous works of Plato. In them, he, like Xenophon, adhered to the natural-economic concept. Plato saw in the division of the pile the basis for the stratification of society into classes. The state of Plato consists of three estates: rulers (philosophers); warriors, artisans, farmers, small traders belonging to the free; not free, i.e. slaves (a talking tool that does not belong to any class). Considering private property as a source of contradictions and disagreements in the state, he proposed to deprive philosophers and warriors of property and families, so that they would only care about the state. Plato reflected the interests of the slave-owning aristocracy, striving to create a stable state in which its dominance would be combined with the further development of the economy on the basis of public division labor. Such ideas had a prototype in the structure of the Egyptian state, where the division of labor within the framework of the caste system reached a high level in its time.

One of the first in the history of ancient economic thought, Plato raised the question of the basis and level of prices. He understood that money not only plays the role of a means of circulation and accumulation of wealth, but also performs the function of a measure of value. According to Plato, prices should be regulated by the government, and the basis should be such a price that would ensure a moderate profit.

A significant step in the development of the economic thought of ancient Greece was the teaching of the outstanding thinker of antiquity, Aristotle (384-322 BC). In the works "Nicomachean Ethics", "Politics", "Great Ethics", "Metaphysics", "On the Soul" and other works, Aristotle subjected Plato's philosophical idealism to a comprehensive criticism, but did not switch to the position of materialism. It is characterized by constant fluctuations between materialism and idealism.

Aristotle believed that the economy deals with the household, the estate of the slave owner, and politics - with the state system, while Plato's politics includes the economy. Aristotle put forward a project of an ideal state that would smooth out the contradictions between classes and would have its own social basis middle class. The population of such a state should consist of landowners, pastoralists, artisans, merchants, hired workers and slaves. Agriculture was recognized as an important and stable area of ​​activity. Despising the physical heap, Aristotle scorned the craft. Free citizens should perform only the functions of management, supervision and control, and hard work in agriculture remained the lot of slaves. Slavery seemed to him natural and logical, and he considered the slave a talking tool.

The merit of Aristotle the economist is that he was the first to establish certain categories of political economy and, to a certain extent, showed their interrelation. If we compare fragments economic system” Adam Smith with the initial sections of the first volume of Capital by K. Marx, then you can find a striking continuity of thought. Aristotle establishes two sides of the commodity - use and exchange value - and analyzes the process of exchange. He poses the very question that will worry political economy, namely: what determines the ratio of exchange, or exchange values ​​(or, finally, price - their monetary expression). Aristotle does not find an answer to this question, but in general he correctly expresses reasonable considerations about the origin and functions of money; in its own way expresses the idea of ​​their transformation into capital (into money that generates new money).

Aristotle did not create a complete theory of value. He saw in exchange the equation of commodity values ​​and persistently searched for some general basis for the equation. This was already a manifestation of the exceptional depth of thought and served as a starting point for further analysis many centuries after Aristotle.

Aristotle makes the very first attempt in the history of economic science to analyze capital, opposing economics and chrematistics. He believed that the economy is natural economic activity associated with the production of products, use values. It also includes exchange, however, again, only within the framework necessary to satisfy personal needs. The limits of this activity are also natural: this is the reasonable personal consumption of a person. Chrematistics, on the other hand, is “the art of making a fortune”, i.e. activities aimed at making a profit, at the accumulation of wealth, especially in the form of money. In other words, chrematistics is the "art" of investing and accumulating capital. Aristotle considered all this unnatural, but he was realistic enough to see the impossibility of a pure "economy": unfortunately, chrematistics constantly grows out of economics. Referring the use of money for profit to the field of chrematistics, Aristotle condemned this kind of activity. Proving that money itself cannot bring money, he considered usury to be unnatural. This view was established after several centuries in the European medieval religious ideology.

Ancient Rome is characterized by more developed than in ancient Greece, slaveholding industrial relations. The territorial expansion of Rome led to the creation of a huge empire, the enslavement of many tribes and peoples. Unlike ancient Greece, in which slaves were mainly exploited in the field of crafts and trade, in ancient Rome, agriculture was the main area of ​​application of slave labor. All this left an imprint on the nature of the economic thought of ancient Rome, which primarily solved agrarian problems, including the problems of the rational organization of slave-owning villas and latifundia.

The book of the economic thinker of Ancient Rome, Cato the Elder (234-149 BC), “On Agriculture”, reflects a longer experience in running a slave economy, therefore, it elaborates the questions posed in Xenophon’s “Economy” in much more detail. Cato gave advice to slave owners on how to extract more income from a rural estate, guided by the rule: "it is a pleasure for the owner to sell, not to buy." The responsibilities of managing the estate were defined in detail.

In the writings of another Roman thinker - Varro (116-127 BC), his books "On Agriculture" already show concern for the fate of the slave-owning order. Varro condemned the resettlement of the Romans in the "city walls", where they prefer "to work with their hands in the theater and the circus, and not in the field and not in the vineyard", completely entrusting the care of the estates to the managers. He shows all the advantages of agriculture and recommends combining the development of agriculture, coupled with animal husbandry, noting that "the foundation of every fortune is livestock." Varro sees the rise of agriculture not only in the increased exploitation of the slave pile. Listing agricultural tools, he divides them into three types: talking tools (slaves); tools that make inhuman sounds (oxen); dumb tools (sickles, plows, etc.).

Varro considered possible uprisings of slaves, so he recommended buying slaves of different nationalities.

The work of the ancient Roman thinker Columella “On Agriculture” (I century BC) indicates the beginning of the decline of agriculture in Ancient Rome and the emergence of a transition to a new, feudal mode of production, although they were written long before the death of the Roman Empire. Columella sought to restore the former position of agriculture in Rome. He recommended buying estates in the neighborhood of cities so that the owner could directly observe the management of the economy. Columella raised the issue of abandoning slave labor and transferring the management of the economy to free clones, recognizing the greater profitability of their labor than the labor of slaves.

Legal and economic justification of slavery in the I-II centuries. AD became more and more difficult. In this time, the idea was formed that people become slaves not by their origin, as Aristotle taught, but by force of circumstances. This conclusion was made by Lucius Annei Seneca (3 BC - 65 AD), a representative of the Stoic school of philosophy, who understood the political danger of slavery and urged the Romans to treat slaves more gently, almost like free people.

The interests of the ruined small landowners were defended by the brothers Tiberius (126-133 BC) and Guy (153-121 BC) Gracchi, who tried to carry out agrarian reform. Tiberius Gracchus proposed a law that allowed Roman citizens to lease no more than 500 jugers (125 ha) of state arable land, with one family not being able to occupy more than 1,000 jugers. All surpluses were subject to return to the state and distribution among the needy but 30 yugers on the terms of hereditary possession and payment of a small tax.

This project has been partially implemented. Several tens of thousands of peasants received land. In addition, a law was passed on the sale of bread from state stores to the urban poor but low prices. The results of the agrarian reform proved to be quite strong, and even after the death of Tiberius and Gaius, the conservatives were unable to repeal the laws on the allocation of land to the needy.

The economic demands of the slaves were most expressed during their revolt under the leadership of Spartacus (74-71 BC). The main demands of the rebels were the destruction of slave owners and their latifundia, liberation from slavery, and the provision of land to the peasants. The uprising was brutally suppressed, but it contributed to the undermining of the former power of Rome.

Unresolved economic problems Ancient Rome became the cause of fierce political struggle. After the suppression of the uprising of Spartacus, a conspiracy of Catiline (63-62 BC) arose, which was anti-usurious in nature, associated with the cancellation of debts and the expropriation of the rich, which also failed.

Mark Tullius Cicero (106-44 BC), an ideologue of the ruling class, played an important role in the fight against the Catiline conspiracy. Oi considered agriculture a noble occupation, was a supporter of private property, large land ownership, increased exploitation of the colonies, approved of large-scale trade, and advocated a fair treatment of usurers.

The protest against the ruling class of slave owners was reflected by Christianity - a new religion that took shape in Rome in the 1st century. AD The first Christians belonged to the lower strata of the people. Previously, Christianity acted as a religion of slaves, the poor, the peoples conquered and scattered by Rome. The most vivid idea of ​​the economic views of the ideologists of early Christianity is provided by the works of Augustine the Blessed (353-430). Augustine considered farming an honorable occupation; condemned trade; he recognized physical labor as honorable as mental labor; did not insist on the release of slaves, the main task of the church was to promote their moral improvement.

The economic thought of the ancient world gave a number of ideas on which the subsequent economic theory. In this regard, the economic views of the thinkers of the ancient world should be recognized as starting points in the development of economic science.

Economic thought in ancient Greece

Ancient philosophers dealt with the problems that are the subject of the study of economics, in the context of a broader discussion of issues of social order. Greek thinkers discussed what an ideal state should be like, how to manage the economy in the most rational way, how to manage slaves, etc. Among the works that have come down to us, the most important from the point of view of the development of economic thought are the works Xenophon(c. 430 - c. 354 BC), Plato(c. 427 - c. 347 BC) and Aristotle(384-322 BC)

One of the first works devoted to the analysis economic issues, was " Domostroy", written by Xenophon. "Domostroy" is the Russian translation of the word "Oikonomia" (Greek. oikos- house, nomos- law), which literally means "housekeeping". The name of Xenophon's treatise formed the basis of the term "economics" used today.

Xenophon has one of the first discussions of such an important economic concept as a value. Explaining the equilibrium value towards which the market price of a good tends has always been one of the central tasks of economics. According to Xenophon, the thing that is useful is valuable, so it can be argued that Xenophon identified value and utility. Thus, utility theory of value, according to which value is determined by utility, is historically the earliest approach to explaining the equilibrium price phenomenon and originates in the works of ancient thinkers.

An important idea of ​​ancient Greek philosophy, which later had a great influence on the development of economic thought, is the conclusion about the priority role of agriculture in comparison with handicraft work. Xenophon wrote that agriculture is the mother and nurse of all crafts. If agriculture flourishes, then all other crafts are successful, and in those places where the land is empty, almost all activity fades away. This idea stemmed from such socio-economic features of Ancient Greece as the natural nature of farming and the military-aggressive model of state development. Xenophon explained the honor of agriculture by the fact that, firstly, people get all the things necessary for life in agriculture, and secondly, agriculture teaches them to work and the ability to endure cold and heat, physically develops a person, preparing him for military service, and also allows you to keep the horses needed in the war. The idea of ​​the predominant importance of agriculture for National economy will be used by many economists of the pre-industrial era and will play a special role in the formation of the French school of physiocrats in the middle of the 18th century.

A significant contribution of ancient Greek philosophers to the development of economic thought was the consideration of the role of the division of labor. Xenophon in " Cyropedia"and Plato in" State"They formulated the idea that the division of labor contributes to the growth of productivity. According to Plato, the division of labor is set by the natural inclinations of a person. He believed that people are initially different, therefore everyone is assigned their own type of work. According to Plato, any product can be produced in larger quantities, better and easier if you perform one job according to your natural inclinations, and moreover, on time, without being distracted by other work. Subsequently, most economists of the preclassical and classical period mentioned the role of the division of labor.

In the works of Aristotle, ancient economic thought reaches its highest development. Aristotle develops the utility theory of value. He argues that society consists of heterogeneous quantities united into one whole, since social relationships, for example, expressed in exchange, arise not when there are two doctors, but when there are, say, a doctor and a farmer, and in general different and unequal sides that need to be compared. Everything that participates in the exchange must be comparable in some way. And such a measure of comparison, according to Aristotle, is a need, the strength of which can be measured by money. It is through the use of need as a measure of goods that the proportions of the exchange of various things can be found.

The significance of Aristotle's works also lies in the fact that he came close to the analysis of the most important categories of the economy - price, money, property. So, Aristotle was close to distinguishing such categories as use and exchange value, saying that each item can be used for its intended purpose (for example, shoes can be worn) and not for its intended purpose (shoes can be exchanged). But some objects are more suitable for use in the process of exchange, therefore, as commodity-money relations developed, monetary functions began to be performed by metals. Money got its status thanks to the mutual agreement of people - this is the formulation of the so-called nominalist theory of money in which it is assumed that the source of the value of money is an agreement between people.

Aristotle also formulates some functions of money. Money performs, first, reversal function, since the coin mediates the exchange, and, secondly, cost measure function, for there must be some unit of measure, based on convention, which makes everything commensurable.

Considers Aristotle and the problem of capital accumulation. He adheres to the view typical of ancient Greek philosophers, according to which the accumulation of capital is not a virtue. His argument is based on the thesis that the accumulation of capital is unnatural, since moneylenders use money for other than its intended purpose. Money appeared in the process of exchange as a means of facilitating the buying and selling of commodities, but moneylenders do not accumulate money in order to buy commodities, but for the very fact of accumulation. Aristotle contrasts the art of increasing wealth with the art of housekeeping. Here the same tools - money - are used in different ways, as the goals differ. The purpose of accumulating wealth is evil, while the purpose of housekeeping is good.