Services in ancient Greek and Roman cities: current perspectives

Other conference contribution, 2022

The purpose here is to analyse occupational specialization within services in cities of classical Greece and the Roman Empire, compared with the current European pattern, and to review the urban distribution of service activities in antiquity. Occupations are traced in literary and epigraphical sources, sorted according to ISCO-08; service activities, classified according to NACE Rev. 2, primarily identified from remains of buildings. There were much fewer professionals in antiquity and many services and sales workers. Few office buildings, no hospitals, but heavy Roman investment in facilities for entertainment and well-being; many services were produced at home and in other multi-purpose buildings.