Venticinque published in journal Historia

Phil Venticinque, associate professor of classical studies at Cornell College, has an article in the latest issue of the journal Historia, a highly selective, well respected, and leading journal in the field of classics and ancient history.

The article, “Risk Management: Social Capital and Economic Strategies on Late Roman Estates in Oxyrhynchus,” looks at the role social capital played in the lives of non-elite Romans during the late stages of the Roman Empire.

Venticinque’s abstract says:

The workings of estates and the activities of their proprietors have dominated late Roman economic history. While a great deal is known about the economic activities and strategies employed by proprietors, the approach taken by individual leaseholders of estate lands remains largely un- examined. By analyzing the activities of non-elite tenants described in Apion estate accounts, in particular P. Oxy. LV 3804 (566 CE), this article seeks to offer new perspectives on the ways that non-elites managed economic risk and uncertainty, and the role that partnerships, collectives, and investment in social capital played in the lives of estate tenants.

He wrote the piece during his research leave, which was supported by the American Council of Learned Societies, the Loeb Foundation, and the Center for Hellenic Studies.