The idea of a 'gift economy' has a long tradition in social, economic and cultural studies, since Marcel Mauss' seminal work. But in the latest years, anthropol

Gift and Gain: How Money Transformed Ancient Rome shows how, over the course of Rome's classical era, a vibrant commercial culture progressively displaced tradi

Using modern literary and anthropological theory, Bowditch investigates the relationship between Roman poets and patrons, based on a detailed study of selected

Mainstream economics offers a perspective on the gift which is constructed around exchange, axioms of self-interest, instrumental rationality and utility-maximi

On the whole, this book presents gift-giving as an intuitive path toward a viable economy, society, and culture here on Earth, and even toward an amiable engage