Manufacturing absorbed small numbers of workers who operated with little mechanical
assistance. Of these, a significant number must have been slaves, since no
free man worked for wages unless driven to it by poverty. It has been estimated
that only about 500 potters and painters were active in 5th century Athens
at a time when the city supplied most of the luxury tableware for the entire
Greek world. Manufacturing, transport and food production demanded a broad
range of skills. The stone, clay and metal trades needed quarrymen, masons,
sculptors, potters, painters and foundry workers; the clothing industry, weavers,
dyers and fullers; the leather trade, tanners and cobblers; construction,
stone cutters, carpenters and architects; maritime transport, ship-builders,
dock-loaders and sailors; food production, anything from farmers, herdsmen,
bee-keepers and fishermen to bakers and cooks.
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Bronze Tripod |
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North Syrian Bronze Repousse Bowl |
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