Greece history of entrepreneurship

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2 nd Lykeion of Arta “Τκαιρῴἐκείνῳἒν…” The history of entrepreneurship in Greece

Transcript of Greece history of entrepreneurship

2nd Lykeion of Arta

“Τῴ καιρῴ ἐκείνῳ ἒν…”

The history of entrepreneurship in Greece

Entrepreneurship is not a modern activity

Greek mythology

Prometheus

Hermes, the God of Gain

Very old times –

The Bronze Age (3000-1100 BC)Economy in the counties that were entepreneurially active parallelly to

the Greek civilisations of the time

The Bronze Age in Mesopotamia trading was really developed, basically of private initiative

in Egypt trading was basically ruled by the Pharaohs

the Phoenicians were distinct for their entrepreneurial and navigation skills

Greek civilizations (3000-1100 BC)

the Cycladic civilization, that was developed in the islands of the Aegean Sea,

was based on sea trading

In the island of Crete we have the powerful Minoan civilization

the Mycenaean, a mainland civilization

Greek civilizations (3000-1100 BC)

Ancient Greece (1100-323 BC)

Homeric period (1100-750 BC): a strict agricultural system whose unit was the “oikos”- the home.

Archaic period (750-480 BC): better structured communities, called city-states. Economy now is based on agriculture, small industry and commerce. Money appears as a means for transactions.

Classic Era (480-323 BC) Greek city-states and especially Athens got to their highest peak of prime. The culmination of this progress is the Golden Age of Pericles

Classic Era State revenue

Delian League

Money penalties from trials

“metoikoi”

Sponsours

Imported product duties

Classic Era - Highlights of the time

Piraeus became an important harbor

Pericles paid salaries to the state archons (leaders)

The state issued pensions

Land owners who cultivated their land were still venerable members of

society

Craftsmen usually taught their sons the secrets of their trade

The Macedonian Kingdom

Played a tremendously serious role for the future of both Greece and the

whole world. Philip II and his son Alexander the Great definitely changed the

course of history.

Had a different economical system resembling more to the old, mighty oikoi

of the Archaic period (like Sparta, Athens’ enemy, or the Molossian kingdom

where the people of Arta are supposed to descend from)

The Macedonian Kingdom

Farming and agriculture were the solid ground of their economy

Philip invested in improving agriculture by following a policy of reformations

and restructuring (he drained marshy areas, stopped river flooding and used

the river waters to improve the micro climate of areas)

He was interested in the development of animal farming (he encouraged

nomads to have permanent settlements by making use of royal land)

He cut golden coins or double-mineral coins (golden and silver) that would be

found in the most important trade centres of the known world

Alexander the Great

Alexander continued his father’s agricultural policy

He founded new greek cities from Egypt to India and contributed to the

blooming of commerce. He brought tremendous changes to global economy

He improved land roads (constructed bridges, ferries, canals, they installed

signposts, stations and outposts)

Alexandria of Egypt

Roman Time (1-3c AD)

Travelling and trading got even greater dimensions:

People would go beyond the boundaries of the empire to what they called terra incognita.

To the north they got as far as Scotland, to the west to the Canary Islands. As for the east

merchants reached China and India.

Gradually, they sailed out in the sea

and got as far as Malaysia, Sumatra

and Java. Africa was also

approached and they got to

Zanzibar, Ethiopia and Sudan.

Byzantine period (330-1453 AD) The Roman Empire little by little started to weaken and finally was divided in

the eastern and western part. The roman emperor Constantine decided to

transfer the capital from Rome to the east, on the site of the ancient greek

city of Byzantium which was renamed Constantinople.

The greek element, philosophy and culture were prominent

The Byzantine Empire

City life and country life were intertwined, social status was measured by the size of land property (feudalism)

Byzantium was actually a natural bridge between Asia and Europe, so it controlled all forms of trading

The state had a very strict intervention in all forms of economy (imposed monopolies, determined prices, salaries etc)

They achieved very high value of their currency

It was not degrading for noblemen, even emperors to have mercantile activities

Appearance of trade fairs for people to sell their products

Enterprising activities were organized in guilds (from the saxon verb gildanthat means pay)

In 1453 Constantinople falls in the hands of the Turks and gradually all the

territories of the empire get enslaved. Obviously, the previous splendor

vanishes.

The Ottoman Occupation (1453-1821 AD)

The Ottoman Empire

The financial situation was downgraded and life became mostly agricultural

Taxation was heavy

With the decline of the Ottoman Empire, the Turks granted a substantial part

of commerce to the Greeks and the Jews by allowing them some privileges

All trades people, merchants and craftspeople were united in sectional

corporations (guilds) that were now called fraternities. They had very strict

rules.

Trade fairs, an institution of the previous era, revived and even evolved.

Revolution against the Turks (1821)

During the war there was a very busy commercial activity of some prosperous

Greeks abroad aiming at sponsouring the fight against the Turks. So did some

ship owners who used their ships for the same purpose. Sometimes even

piracy (against the Turkish ships) was used to offer income for the cause.

Conclusion

We can see that in the depth of centuries the entrepreneurial past of

Greece was strongly related to the cultivation of land and sea trading. We

can’t say that this has changed much in modern times. Each time the

historical, political and social conditions, the neighbouring peoples and the

prevailing tendencies of the time would configure the exact manifestations of

economical activities.

Globalisation of economy, automatization and technological advancement

make it more difficult for a people to stand out on the arena of

entrepreneurial innovation. Yet, men will always attempt to advance further,

to excel and to make the difference even outside the boundaries of their

homeland.