Mandel Center for the Humanities

Professor Michael McGlin

Brandeis Classics and Early Mediterranean Studies

This project investigates the intersection of Greek religion and the ancient economy through a case study of the temple of Apollo on the Aegean island of Delos which extended personal loans to individuals during the Hellenistic period (314-167 BCE). Professor McGlin's work analyzes the collection of hundreds of loans that are preserved as documents carved onto marble slabs that were erected for display around this temple of Apollo. 

The project contributes to the greater knowledge of the ancient Greek economy by arguing that religious institutions were a viable pathway for individuals to access financing. This temple’s lending practices allowed all individuals to receive loans regardless of sex, social standing, or citizenship; such practices circumvented traditional restrictions on access to wealth such as personal or familial holdings, proximity to networks to powerful individuals, or civic status. Because Apollo granted a high-volume of small loans, this project challenges the dominant narrative of the driving economic forces in antiquity as great, wealthy families and landowners as opposed to non-elites, foreigners, women, and the impoverished. 

Reading on Stone

This project has entered a critical juncture where personal reading and inspection of these documents is necessary: the published versions of many of these texts could not be read with absolute certainty at the time of publication, and many texts have not received new editions since their initial publication over a century ago. 

Professor McGlin will therefore travel to Delos to read directly from stone tablets. Writing about his experience, Professor McGlin notes, "Reading these documents on stone takes on even greater importance because the focus of my work is to secure precise readings of loan amounts which directly impact the understanding of the size, scale, and reach of the temple’s lending operations."