Introduction and Acknowledgements

Abstract

The introduction deals with the research questions, the underlying assumptions and the problems concerning Greek Church Fathers’ views on the management of financial resources in urban environments in the Eastern Mediterranean from the late first to the fifth century. Hoarding and saving are phenomena endemic to human economic behaviour. Recent studies approach these practices through the distinct lenses of economic psychology, economic history, economic theory and numismatics. The introduction examines an indicative bibliography that highlights the acquisitive nature of hoarding, as well as the function of saving as a response to the unpredictability of the future.