Imagine a world where Europe is united under a common banner, has shared interests, open markets and... a single currency. A currency that has such an impact on the continent that its mass inflation threatens the very existence of the union itself!
Believe it or not, this all played out long before the Draghis and Legardes of the world arrived on the stage. We are actually talking about an event that happened over 1,500 years ago, back in ancient Rome.
Then, as now, there were only so many methods by which emperors could raise funds. While finding a convenient traitor and confiscating his lands was a good one, the two most popular ways to do it were by a) expanding the empire through military expansion and b) debasing the
denarius, the preferred Roman currency.
Although the former was easier said than done, it was nevertheless done with aplomb.
The problem, however, was that after an initial boon to the coffers and a swelling of the slave class, not every province was an automatic money-spinner. Indeed, some required a great deal of maintenance, both in terms of infrastructure and the military personnel needed to keep the peace.
The best way to deal with these problems? Expand even further, of course!
The empire reached the height of its imperial power relatively early on, under Trajan in fact (A.D. 98-117). Thus a great deal of time, effort and, crucially, money was spent maintaining the great, straining behemoth.
Many emperors saw debasing the silver
denarius as a much simpler and swifter way to swell the treasuries and afford the embattled government some pecuniary respite... however brief.
The advantage was that, although the market would eventually adjust to the devalued coin, the imperial court would have a jump on such information and could spend its heart out. By the time the now weaker currency reached the hands of the common people, its lesser worth had already been revealed.
If the emperor were lucky enough to die soon after this devaluation, the mess would belong to his successor. If he had the poor fortune to survive, he'd have to deal with the fallout himself.
But how much damage could shaving a sliver of silver off the coin actually do?
Well, perhaps not that much, but this was no measly fraction. The
denarius in the first century had a silver content of above 90%. After 100 years, it dropped to 60%. By the time the empire had split into east and west, it was down to a paltry 5%.
But this wasn't a simple, direct, one-way trajectory... indeed, the western empire did manage to regain some of its financial bearings before its eventual fall.
One such rebound was due to the economic reforms of Constantine the Great, who used his newfound Christianity as an excuse to melt down offending iconography and
re-base the currency in one fell swoop.
But it was all a case of too little, too late. There were other, larger forces at play.
For instance, the army, which many saw as an inevitable expense, was hemorrhaging
denarii, not least because of Rome's ever-increasing reliance on mercenaries. The use of these was a double-edged sword, as they were not merely of fickle loyalty, but often broke out in open revolt against their paymasters.
The origin of problems such as this are often traced back to Emperor Commodus, the sinister figure portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix in the movie
Gladiator.
Although he did bankrupt the state, Commodus was probably no more culpable than many of his successors. His own reign, following on the back of the "five good emperors," appeared a stark failure by comparison.
In addition to financial decay, the collapse and dissolution of the western empire has been attributed to many causes: a lack of cooperation from the eastern empire, diminishing trade routes, a rise in piracy, mass lead poisoning and even Christianity eroding traditional values!
However, none of these could compete with the effect left behind by the Huns.
As they drove into northern Europe in the fourth century, not only did they make incursions into Roman territory themselves, but they also forced numerous Germanic barbarian tribes to flee southward.
Inevitably, the reason the empire fell was not just because of silver, but also because of iron and steel.
Its defeat by the Goths at the battle of Adrianople in 378 was not merely a crushing military blow, but one that made the barbarian hordes realize Rome was not all it once was.
The next 70 years saw defeat after defeat as the various tribes chipped away at Rome's mighty empire.
When the end finally came, it was with a whimper rather than a scream.
The last emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed with such little fuss that it's rumored his conqueror, Odoacer, may have let him live a quiet retirement rather than put him to the sword.
Broke, swollen, gouty and infected by its own success... in retrospect, Rome's decline seems inevitable. In the words of the preeminent historian on the topic, Edward Gibbon:
The decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the causes of destruction multiplied with the extent of conquest; and as soon as time or accident had removed the artificial supports, the stupendous fabric yielded to the pressure of its own weight.
Roma invicta? Not quite.
Regards,
Ben Potter,
Contributing Editor,
Classical Wisdom Weekly 
Back in November of 1943, this B-17 had just leveled a top-secret energy plant that produced 60% of Germany's fuel.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep a civil tongue.