[German version]

I. Greece

Although the terms μονοπωλία/monopōlía and μονοπώλιον/monopṓlion are documented only since the late 4th cent. BC (Aristot. Pol. 1259a 21-23; Hyp. fr. 43 Jensen), monopolies existed much earlier. According to Aristotle, the poleis set up monopolies for certain goods, especially in times of financial difficulty; such measures belonged to the art of acquiring ( chrēmatistikḗ ). We know of monopolies on sales and exports: private individuals, cities or rulers controlled the trade in certain goods in …