Reviewed by Diana Flamholtz Loyola Marymount University

This small pamphlet attempts to describe the role of public ac-counting in the administrative and economic system of ancient Greece. It was written for the Exhibition of European Accounting History held in Edinburgh in September, 1963. The Archeologist of the National Archeological Museum of Athens, Mrs. Dina Delmou-zou-Peppa, prepared the treatise which is based on some inscriptions from the museum as well as texts of ancient Greek writers.

Due to lack of source material for other parts of Greece, the pamphlet concentrates solely on Athens. The author first describes the political democracy on ancient Greece, for it was this system which necessitated the development of procedures for accountability in the handling of public funds. She then deals with the three basic boards which audited the performance of magistrates, the Council Accountants, the Administration Accountants, and the Examiners. A short final section tries, on the basis of very limited evidence, to deduce what sort of men would have held these positions.

The basic source materials used are those found in most works on this area, namely the writings of Aeschines and The Constitution of Athens by Aristotle. Therefore, to the specialist in this area of accounting history the greatest interest of this treatise lies in its use of inscriptions from the National Archeological Museum of Athens. Although not numerous, the translated inscriptions do enrich the basic outline established through other source materials. In addi-tion, five black and white plates showing some of these inscriptions are of interest. The general reader, wanting to learn something about accounting in Ancient Greece, might use this pamphlet. However, the recent articles by George Costouros in this journal offer a clearer and more comprehensive treatment of the same topic.