J. Geoffrey Kron
Position
Contact
Credentials
PhD (Toronto)
Area of expertise
Greek and Roman social, economic, and political history, most notably democracy and oligarchy; economic development, particularly agriculture, living standards, nutrition, housing, and trade; social inequality, social welfare, slavery and labour exploitation; and ideologies of social inequality, most notably capitalism, racism, and colonialism
Interests and Areas of Graduate Supervision:
My research focuses on Greek and Roman social, economic, and political history, most notably democracy and oligarchy; economic development, particularly agriculture, living standards, nutrition, housing, and trade; social inequality, social welfare, slavery and labour exploitation; and ideologies of social inequality, most notably capitalism, racism, and colonialism. I pursue and encourage inter-disciplinary and comparative approaches, with my economic and social research into Greco-Roman antiquity carefully informed by evidence from other, better documented societies, most notably Medieval and Early Modern Europe and the Mediterranean, and, most recently, the United States.
Noteworthy M.A. theses, which I have supervised, include a book length account of Roman veterinarians, and a study entitled “Athenian and American Slaving Ideologies and Slave Stereotypes in Comparative Perspective.”
Recent publications:
“Anthropometry, Physical Anthropology, and the Reconstruction of Ancient Health, Nutrition, and Living Standards,” Historia 54 (2005), 68-83.
“The Augustan Census and the Population of Italy,” Athenaeum 92 (2005), 441-95.
“The Much Maligned Peasant. Comparative Perspectives on the Productivity of the Small Farmer in Classical Antiquity,” in L. De Ligt, S. Northwood (edd.), People, Land and Politics. Demographic Developments and the Transformation of Roman Italy, 300 BC-AD14, 71-119. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2008.
“The Distribution of Wealth at Athens in Comparative Perspective,” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 179 (2011), 129-38.
“Food Production,” in W. Scheidel (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Economic History of the Roman World, 156-174. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012.
“Nutrition, hygiene, and mortality. Setting parameters for Roman health and life expectancy consistent with our comparative evidence,” in E. Lo Cascio (ed.), L’impatto della “peste antonina,” 193-252. Bari: Edipuglia, 2012.
“Fleshing out the demography of Etruria,” in J. M. Turfa (ed.), The Etruscan World, 56-78. London: Routledge, 2013.
“Comparative evidence and the reconstruction of the ancient economy: Greco-Roman housing and the level and distribution of wealth and income,” in F. de Callataÿ (ed.), Quantifying the Greco-Roman Economy and Beyond, 123-46. Bari: Edipuglia, 2014.
“Classical Athenian trade in comparative perspective: Literary and archaeological evidence,” in E.M. Harris, D. Lewis (eds.), The Ancient Greek Economy: Markets, Households, and City-states, 356-80. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
Forthcoming Publications:
“The Diversification and intensification of Roman agriculture: the complementary roles of the small and wealthy farmer,” in T. de Haas, G. Tol (eds.), Rural communities in a globalizing economy: new perspectives on the economic integration of Roman Italy. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
“Comparative Perspectives on Nutrition and Social Inequality in the Roman World,” in P. Erdkamp, C. Holleran, (eds.), Diet and Nutrition in the Roman World. Oxford: Ashgate.
“The population of Northern Italy and the debate over the Augustan census figures: weighing the documentary, literary, and archaeological evidence,” in Elio Lo Cascio, Marco Maiuro (eds.), Popolazione e risorse nell’Italia settentrionale dall’età preromana ai Longobardi. Bari: Edipuglia.
“Palladius and the Achievements of Roman Agronomy in late Antiquity,” review of Marco Johannes Bartoldus, Palladius Rutilius Taurus Aemilianus. Welt und Wert spätrömischer Landwirtschaft (Wißner Verlag, Augsburg, 2012), Journal of Roman Archaeology 29 (2016) (in press) 17 pages.
“Alleged anti-trade prejudice and Roman society: The evidence of recent prosopographical research and a comparison with the European ancien régime,” Greece and Rome (accepted) 13 pages.