Reviewed by Frederic M. Stiner, Jr. University of Maryland
One might believe that after centuries of study, it would be difficult to say something new about the Golden Age of Greece, when there were sensational developments in every area of human expression. Costouros has overcome this formidable barrier. He shows classical Greece, particularly Athens, at its zenith, generally considered to be the fifth and fourth centuries, B.C. The purpose of this book is to show the interplay between socioeconomic factors and accounting, and to do this, he ranges over many other centuries to illustrate various points. The author is exceptionally well qualified to write this book. He is a native of Greece, with training in business received in both Greece and the United States.
The book is in four principal parts. The first briefly reviews Athenian history and economics until 404 B.C., when Athens surrendered in the Peloponnesian War. The second part shows the influence of the accounting on the socioeconomic environment of Athens. The two crucial developments were coined money and the development of writing so that transactions could be measured and recorded.
With these two parts as a foundation, the third part of the book, “Development and Evolution of the Accounting Systems,” achieves the author’s purpose. This third part interprets the Athenian concept of the accounting entity, and the evolution of a central bank from the Temple of Athena. The fiscal system was without a compre-hensive budget, but the Athenians controlled finances by restricting expenditures as the revenue was raised. There are exhibits (which Costouros draws from other scholarly sources) showing assessments and authorization for expenditures for various entities. The collection of the quotas assessed by cities is also shown. Loans and payments were recorded, as well as inventories made of state goods. (The partial inventory of the Parthenon for 422 B.C. would make any museum curator envious.) Drawing on Tod’s work,1 the statement of cash receipts and disbursements for the Delphi Temple in 377-374 B.C. (after the Athenian collapse, but before Philip of Macedon began uniting the Greeks) shows a list of interest received from cities and individuals, and receipts from lawsuits, pledges, and rentals. Expenditures were for salaries, freight, cows, golden petals, etc. Those interested in not-for-profit and governmental accounting should find this part of the text very rewarding.
The fourth and final part of the book, a meager six pages, has a succinct summary, and a few cautious conclusions as one might expect from work developed from a doctoral dissertation.
The author has so many tantalizing facts, he should not shrink from further work in applying Grecian insights to modern society. For example, why did the emergence of democracy not give a comprehensive budget for all entities of the entire state? Having begun with a religious base, what comparisons might be made with church accounting today? There were three boards of state accountants to audit magistrates: How does this compare to the attest function of today? Auditors in Greece at that time would make unannounced observations of mercenaries receiving their pay, to be sure that all on the payroll existed. What other audit techniques have existed for over 2,000 years? As the standard of living rises, must the state bureaucracy always expand, as it did in Athens?
A major flaw of the book is that there is no index, again perhaps a result of having been based upon a doctoral dissertation. The compression of history in the first part of the book does not allow for an elaboration of Athenian history, and I think the author should have emphasized that Athens was for many years an undisputed naval power. He is silent on the influence of trading ventures of the Athenians, and what effect this may have had on their accounting. For those completely unfamiliar with the period, I recommend Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War as a necessary prerequisite reading.
This is one of the critical periods of western civilization, and this book should be useful to historians studying this period. Unless one is able to read Greek, this book will become a primary source to those who do not read Greek. The reviewer can only hope that Costouros will continue to draw on his knowledge of Greece and ancient sources to continue to produce books as interesting as this one.
