Gift Exchange and Charity in Ancient China and the Roman Empire

2009
Author(s)
Walter Scheidel
Book Chapter - Mark Lewis

Transcending ethnic, linguistic, and religious boundaries, early empires shaped thousands of years of world history. Yet despite the global prominence of empire, individual cases are often studied in isolation. This series seeks to change the terms of the debate by promoting cross-cultural, comparative, and transdisciplinary perspectives on imperial state formation prior to the European colonial expansion.