Akademie Neubeuern
87
Arbeitsgruppe 6
Wealth, debt, and despotism: Debating the relation
of private wealth and public power, Antiquity to
French Revolution
Leitung
Prof. Dr. Robert von Friedeburg
School of History, Culture and Communication,
Universiteit Rotterdam
Teilnehmer
Studierende der Geschichts- und Politikwissenschaft
Ever since the debates concerning the political influnce enjoyed by Crassus and Maece-
nas as a result of their money, the problematic impact of private wealth on public po-
wer has been one of the core issues of what might be considered ‘Western Thought’. In
this group, three historians – specialists in Ancient History, sevententh century Europe
and the French Revolution respectively – will lead discussions of sources pertaining to this
question, focusing in particular on the disintegration of the Roman Republic, on the 1630s
and 1660s in France and Germany, and on the French Revolution. Given that classical
examples still informed reflections on the subject until at least the seventeenth century, we
will use these as our starting point.
