Skilled Labour and Professionalism in Ancient Greece and Rome Hardback

This book is a history of ancient Greek and Roman professionals: doctors, seers, sculptors, teachers, musicians, actors, athletes and soldiers.

These individuals were specialist workers deemed to possess rare skills, for which they had undergone a period of training.

They operated in a competitive labour market in which proven expertise was a key commodity.

Success in the highest regarded professions was often rewarded with a significant income and social status.

Rivalries between competing practitioners could be fierce.

Yet on other occasions, skilled workers co-operated in developing associations that were intended to facilitate and promote the work of professionals.

The oldest collegial code of conduct, the Hippocratic Oath, a version of which is still taken by medical professionals today, was similarly the creation of a prominent ancient medical school.

This collection of articles reveals the crucial role of occupation and skill in determining the identity and status of workers in antiquity.