Skilled Labour and Professionalism in Ancient Greece and Rome

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.