The recruitment and remuneration of construction workers in Classical Athens

The goal of this article is to ascertain through which legal instruments Athenian magistrates of the Classical Age recruited and remunerated construction workers for the completion of public building projects. Contrary to the traditional viewpoint, I demonstrate that in Athens there was not a preference for hiring workers directly rather than contracting out work. In reality, a close analysis of the epigraphic evidence (mostly building specifications and accounts) reveals that several systems of labor recruitment and remuneration, including direct hiring, contracts, and business partnerships, coexisted and overlapped in both the fifth and fourth centuries as a consequence of the fragmented and complex structure of the Athenian labor market and that public officials took advantage of all available instruments to achieve the completion of public building projects in the most effective and efficient manner.