Numbers and numeracy in the Greek polis / / edited by Robert Sing, Tazuko van Berkel, and Robin Osborne.

• Superior document: Mnemosyne, Supplements, history and archaeology of classical antiquity ; volume 446
• TeilnehmendeR: Berkel, Tazuko Angela van, 1979-; Sing, Robert,; Osborne, Robin, 1957-
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, Netherlands ;, Boston, Massachusetts : : Brill,, [2021]; ©2021
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Series: Mnemosyne, bibliotheca classica Batava. Supplementum. History and archaeology of classical antiquity ; 446.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (297 pages) :; illustrations (some color)
• Notes: Includes index.

"We tend to think of numbers as inherently objective and precise. Yet the diverse ways in which ancient Greeks used numbers illustrates that counting is actually shaped by context-specific and culturally-dependent choices: what should be counted and how, who should count, and how should the results be shared? This volume is the first to focus on the generation and use of numbers in the polis to quantify, communicate and persuade. Its papers demonstrate the rich insights that can be gained into ancient Greek societies by reappraising seemingly straightforward examples of quantification as reflections of daily life and cultural understanding"-- Provided by publisher.

Table of Contents

A counting people : valuing numeracy in democratic Athens / Lisa Kallet -- The appearance of numbers / Robin Osborne -- Punishing and valuing / Steve Johnstone -- Ten thousand : fines, numbers and institutional change in fifth-century Athens / Josine Blok -- Numeric communication in the Greek historians : quantification and qualification / Catherine Rubincam -- Creative accounting? Strategies of enumeration in Epinician texts / Daniel Mahendra Jan Sicka -- Hidden judgments and failing figures : Nicias' number rhetoric / Tazuko Angela van Berkel -- Performing numbers in the Attic orator / Robert Sing -- Numbers, ontologically speaking : Plato on numerosity / George Florin Calian -- Doing geometry without numbers : re-reading Euclid's Elements / Eunsoo Lee.