How Inflation Ruined the Roman Economy

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 มิ.ย. 2024
  • In the third century, the Roman emperors reduced the gold and silver content of their coins, inadvertently starting a cycle of inflation and debasement.
    The first 1,000 people to use this link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/toldinstone01221
    I’d like to thank Classical Numismatics for their contributions to this video. For much more on ancient Greek and Roman coins, check out their channel:
    / classicalnumismatics
    Please consider supporting toldinstone on Patreon:
    / toldinstone
    If you liked this video, you might also enjoy my book “Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants: Frequently Asked Questions about the Ancient Greeks and Romans.”
    www.amazon.com/Naked-Statues-...
    If you're so inclined, you can follow me elsewhere on the web:
    / toldinstone
    / toldinstone
    / 20993845.garrett_ryan
    Chapters:
    0:00 Introduction
    1:03 The revenues of the Roman emperors
    1:32 The imperial budget
    3:00 The currency and its stability
    4:25 Skillshare
    5:18 The Crisis and its consequences
    7:04 Debasing the currency
    10:35 Inflation in the second century
    11:11 Hyperinflation in the third century
    11:51 Ending the crisis
    12:25 The reforms of Aurelian and Diocletian
    13:15 Conclusion
    Thanks for watching!

ความคิดเห็น • 1.5K

  • @hythlodaeus1705
    @hythlodaeus1705 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1342

    On a mildly interesting side note, one of the Roman coins I own, a denarius minted under Hadrian, is clipped, which, if you are unaware, is a common practice throughout history wherein someone would snip off a small piece of a coin to melt down the precious metal and (hopefully) be able to pass on the rest of the coin at full value. I suppose that makes it less valuable to most collectors but personally I find it far more valuable to me, having that little connection to what was almost certainly a boring, everyday action for whoever did it.

    • @savagepeasantiv8805
      @savagepeasantiv8805 2 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      Interesting

    • @joellaz9836
      @joellaz9836 2 ปีที่แล้ว +38

      Isaac Newton fixed that clipping problem

    • @dinoraven6289
      @dinoraven6289 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Did the Roman’s reed the coins to discourage clipping?

    • @bodenplukt
      @bodenplukt 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@joellaz9836 clipping causes quartering.

    • @dongilleo9743
      @dongilleo9743 2 ปีที่แล้ว +110

      This why U.S. dimes and quarters have reeding around the edge, specifically to stop people from shaving or trimming a thin piece of silver off, and then passing the now underweight coin on to an unsuspecting person or merchant. With the reeding around the edge, anyone can see with a quick glance that the coin hasn't been shaved or trimmed. Even though dimes and quarters no longer are made from silver, they still retain their reed edging.

  • @jasonavant7470
    @jasonavant7470 2 ปีที่แล้ว +938

    His book delves into how much money the Romans made - good stuff. I love me some financial history. Money is at the root of most large historical events.

    • @petersack5074
      @petersack5074 2 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      YUP.....root of all evil AS W E L L .......covetousness, lust and thievery, for nearly 6000 continuous years, with only a few hundred years of PEACE , where no wars/murders, pillaging, raping, stealing taking place. WE HAVE A VIOLENT HISTORY,.. this end is near. GLOBALLY .

    • @dickfacepeterson
      @dickfacepeterson 2 ปีที่แล้ว +61

      @@petersack5074 money is just a tool. be like calling a screwdriver evil

    • @johnspizziri1919
      @johnspizziri1919 2 ปีที่แล้ว +59

      @@petersack5074 The LOVE of money is the root of all evil.

    • @petersack5074
      @petersack5074 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@dickfacepeterson ...wow. kinda like my name,....eh ?

    • @nigo-
      @nigo- 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@dickfacepeterson money is the most powerful tool. It splits families apart and has neighbors wage war on each other. You can comfortably have enough screwdrivers but some people will never be satisfied with their amount of money. People lust for money/valuables like nothing else

  • @kovona
    @kovona 2 ปีที่แล้ว +419

    Thought it'll be interesting to note that the US dollar at present is worth 25 times less than what it was a 100 years ago.

    • @KyleJPie10
      @KyleJPie10 2 ปีที่แล้ว +67

      Same for the british pound, and the canadian dollar, and the australian dollar, and just about every other currency on earth. Some worse, some not as bad, but there is significant inflation across the board and it isn't just a US issue.

    • @blahdyblah3387
      @blahdyblah3387 2 ปีที่แล้ว +33

      @@KyleJPie10 After WW2 most countries adopted lots of social programs. I would guess that led to balooning budgets.

    • @ehsoule
      @ehsoule 2 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      And the ignorant will continue to blame it on greedy capitalist for goods and services getting more expensive rather than the governments printing too much much money which debases the currency and makes debt easier to service.

    • @megja1812
      @megja1812 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      But there is more around

    • @kovona
      @kovona 2 ปีที่แล้ว +21

      @@megja1812 Yes, most of it in the hands of 1% of the population.

  • @ClassicalNumismatics
    @ClassicalNumismatics 2 ปีที่แล้ว +300

    This was a really fun video to make! Thanks for the opportunity for joining you in this presentation.
    The romans and the mistakes they've made with their coinage have much to teach us!

    • @toldinstone
      @toldinstone  2 ปีที่แล้ว +34

      Thanks for your contribution! It was a pleasure working with you.

    • @aka99
      @aka99 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

      @@toldinstone i hope you will continue working with classical numismatics!

    • @creationsxl2979
      @creationsxl2979 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      Love both of your channels and Classical helped me buy my first coin (Bronze Domitian) so i was quite upset when there was no mention of him even though I have been told he was very skilled economically and the only Roman emperor to fix inflation.

    • @fakeplaystore7991
      @fakeplaystore7991 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      I should have been sleeping, but now I'm watching videos about Roman coins.

    • @aka99
      @aka99 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@fakeplaystore7991 best what you can do!

  • @DiarrheaBubbles
    @DiarrheaBubbles 2 ปีที่แล้ว +724

    Last year's inflation rate is why I changed jobs.
    Changing jobs is easier than convincing your boss to give you an actual raise here in the USA.

    • @manolokonosko2868
      @manolokonosko2868 2 ปีที่แล้ว +31

      I'm about to find out in a month or two how MY company decides to address the inflation issue when our pay raises are rolled out.

    • @DiarrheaBubbles
      @DiarrheaBubbles 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@manolokonosko2868 Godspeed, brother.

    • @snakecat586
      @snakecat586 2 ปีที่แล้ว +22

      Welcome to the world of air conditioning in Florida… 8 year 4 year apprenticeship. Finally realized I need my contractors after changing companies 6 times for false promises. I’m always number 1 or 2 in revenue. Hardly any call backs. Customer satisfaction is an always. I’ve got the money put away and a couple good people I’ve met along the way. We’re hopefully starting this year. I should have my license by April

    • @NSRS1
      @NSRS1 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      100%

    • @ManoharRajanlalala
      @ManoharRajanlalala 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Why not make your own company?

  • @moonriseproductions
    @moonriseproductions 2 ปีที่แล้ว +58

    that was a super cool collaboration, seeing the real coins held in someones hand is more useful than you'd think.

    • @ClassicalNumismatics
      @ClassicalNumismatics 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      Glad you liked it! Ancient coins have very high relief, and are very impressive to hold

    • @aka99
      @aka99 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@ClassicalNumismatics amazing, how the ancient creators did the fine reliefs. tiny, but still detail. much to see. i like your zoom video aswell ❤

  • @paulkoza8652
    @paulkoza8652 2 ปีที่แล้ว +536

    Here is another topic suggestion - at what point in time did Latin cease being the spoken language of commoners? I suspect that it continued to be the official language for a while after the general population started using early Romance languages or the languages of invading tribes. I would restrict my question to only the western empire as I suspect Latin continued to be used widely in the east.

    • @pinchevulpes
      @pinchevulpes 2 ปีที่แล้ว +26

      Excellent query Paul

    • @cerberus6654
      @cerberus6654 2 ปีที่แล้ว +221

      Latin withered away by evolving into the romance languages - slowly - by at least 800. But Greek, not Latin, was the language of the Eastern Roman Empire from very early on.

    • @sudetenrider-pili6637
      @sudetenrider-pili6637 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      @@cerberus6654 exactly

    • @The_Wanderer_And_His_Shadow
      @The_Wanderer_And_His_Shadow 2 ปีที่แล้ว +79

      In the east the common people spoke Greek even when the empire was whole. Latin was the administrative language until 7th century and then was replaced by Greek as well

    • @slayjah2
      @slayjah2 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Yes, I would love a video discussing the written and oral languages of ancient Greece and Rome! I'm also interested in how and why Latin stopped being used by commoners, but was still used in the catholic liturgy for centuries after the collapse of Rome.

  • @delavalmilker
    @delavalmilker 2 ปีที่แล้ว +153

    Historian Norman F. Cantor in his "Medieval History" says that the Emperors were unaware that lowering the silver content of coinage would cause severe debasement of the currency. He remarks: "They [the Emperors] simply did not understand such things as inflation".
    That video clip insert is especially informative.

    • @michaeldunne338
      @michaeldunne338 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      So no Medieval predecessors to Gresham, with his law articulated in 1558 (bad money drives out good)? Have to think some others had observed such a phenomenon before Sir Thomas Gresham...
      Otherwise, I believe a few later Emperors did make an attempt improve the content of coinage, like Aurelian and Diocletian, but met mixed, little or no success (like Diocletian forced to back away from such reforms, and try instituting price controls instead).

    • @pimpintoads5871
      @pimpintoads5871 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

      @@michaeldunne338 Diogenes and his father were banned from Sinope for the debasement of currency.

    • @BobXTM
      @BobXTM 2 ปีที่แล้ว +28

      I think they understood it perfectly well but did not have other options.

    • @andrewternet8370
      @andrewternet8370 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      @@michaeldunne338 A better formulation of Gresham's law is that overvalued money drives out undervalued money. If a pence made of nickel is valued the same as a pence made of gold, nobody would spend a gold pence when a nickel pence would do.

    • @bodenplukt
      @bodenplukt 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      not debasement but defacement, I think.@@pimpintoads5871

  • @patavinity1262
    @patavinity1262 2 ปีที่แล้ว +9

    An example of Gresham's Law in action: bad money drives out good money.

  • @sampetrie340
    @sampetrie340 2 ปีที่แล้ว +57

    Oh! The light bulb suddenly went on! I had always heard that debased Roman silver coins had a “wash” of silver over a mostly base metal core. I wondered how they did that without knowledge of electroplating. Aha! They didn’t add silver to the exterior of the coin! They removed copper from the exterior of the coin, leaving silver residue! Brilliant! Thank you for the edification!!!

    • @KK-xz4rk
      @KK-xz4rk 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      We do it still in jewellery. Just heat up the silver bullion and throw it in acid repeatedly. Heat+ acid will eat away copper and leave silver on surface.

    • @AndDiracisHisProphet
      @AndDiracisHisProphet 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@KK-xz4rk Ok, just to make sure I understood correctly. You have a copper-silver alloy, and the acidbaths and heating removes the copper from the alloy, so that only the silver remains?

    • @KK-xz4rk
      @KK-xz4rk 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      @@AndDiracisHisProphet No. Acid with the help of heat removes copper only from surface. Inside its the old copper mix but on surface the copper is dissolved and only silver remains so it looks like its made from pure silver. Because of it many viking age coins have small nicks in them. It was a custom to thrust coin with a knife point so trader could see if coin had different alloy inside.

  • @feywild1758
    @feywild1758 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    small note, but I always appreciate your ads. simple, clean, straight to the point. you always mention the ways whatever it is that you're advertising has helped you as well. i enjoy that!

  • @oleksiishekhovtsov1564
    @oleksiishekhovtsov1564 2 ปีที่แล้ว +128

    A cool side note: In the mid 3rd century CE, the Romans had a special coin called the double sestertius which was obviously twice the value of a normal sestertius and was meant to weigh twice as much. I've got Postumus' double sestertius overstruck on top of an old Antoninus Pius sestertius. In the 100 years between the two emperors the coin had lost so much value, that a Pius sestertius weighed as much as a Postumus double sestertius.

    • @danksmemington362
      @danksmemington362 2 ปีที่แล้ว +19

      AD*

    • @Perririri
      @Perririri 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

      @@danksmemington362 no, use CE!

    • @danksmemington362
      @danksmemington362 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@Perririri What makes the "common era" the "common era"?

    • @Quintinohthree
      @Quintinohthree 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@danksmemington362 That it is the era since the epoch that has become commonly used.

    • @histguy101
      @histguy101 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

      @@danksmemington362 They're interchangeable, and scholars use both depending on their preference, although the latter has an odor of political correctness, and is slightly more clumsy.

  • @TheMoneyInnovator
    @TheMoneyInnovator 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    Thanks for bringing on Classical Numismatics! He's a great creator and I only found you after I found him. So it's fun to see you collabing! Thanks to both of you for your channels!

    • @aka99
      @aka99 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      yes, cs is my personal fav youtube channel about ancient roman and greek coins

  • @subashchandra9557
    @subashchandra9557 2 ปีที่แล้ว +26

    "Prices continued to rise, and the economy limped on."
    History repeats itself.

    • @bobbylasley2612
      @bobbylasley2612 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

      Thank Biden for high prices

    • @subashchandra9557
      @subashchandra9557 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@bobbylasley2612 you dumb? what high prices did biden cause?

    • @slamyourheadin9449
      @slamyourheadin9449 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Didn’t know the Roman’s were from the usa? Poor usa still having cheaper gas then most countries and complaining about it.

    • @thesecondsilvereich7828
      @thesecondsilvereich7828 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@bobbylasley2612 don't worry about the cost your a dying breed white Americans are almost a minority

    • @boozecruiser
      @boozecruiser ปีที่แล้ว

      @@bobbylasley2612 Thank capitalists for low wages and high inflation

  • @india15428
    @india15428 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I am amazed how there are such rich and informative TH-cam channels like this one that are greatly not being noticed by the mass. You deserve more attention.

  • @jonathanjochem7289
    @jonathanjochem7289 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Fascinating and cautionary. I really enjoy the economics side of history. Thank you Dr Ryan!

  • @maxshiraz3447
    @maxshiraz3447 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    And 2,000 years later, government overspending remains the world's biggest problem

    • @endinessendiness7842
      @endinessendiness7842 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      And 80 years later nazis are still a bigger problem.

    • @brandonolson6299
      @brandonolson6299 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@endinessendiness7842 lol wut?

    • @mirroredvoid8394
      @mirroredvoid8394 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@endinessendiness7842 38 years later, Stanislav Petrov regrets not turning the key.

  • @dziban303
    @dziban303 2 ปีที่แล้ว +19

    This channel is great, I'm pleased I found it

  • @KainedbutAble123
    @KainedbutAble123 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    Love the team up with ‘Classical Numismatics’! Two of my favourite accounts together.

  • @ericthehalfmexican9187
    @ericthehalfmexican9187 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    In the debates of the coinage act of 1965 that took the silver out of our coinage, a congressman brought up the Roman debasement of currency.

  • @dieyoung8259
    @dieyoung8259 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Great job! This video really allows the viewer to take this information and compare it to our economic situation today.

  • @gegalvezge
    @gegalvezge 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I just want to say that this chanel got me hooked on the Roman Empire. Best Chanel on TH-cam and best Narrator. Keep up the good work👍

  • @rickb3078
    @rickb3078 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    You’re adding subs and views like mad. Awesome! Thank you for the video and insights.

  • @raskolnikov9067
    @raskolnikov9067 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Hello Doc. I was hoping that your book would arrive from the shop before christmas, but i got it a couple of days ago after all the holidays. So now i can inform you that a copy has found its way to a bookshelf in the Swedish countryside.

  • @Stoneworks
    @Stoneworks 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Congrats on 200k!!!!

  • @napoleonkill
    @napoleonkill 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Very timely video! Thanks, really enjoy your work!

  • @ziksy6460
    @ziksy6460 2 ปีที่แล้ว +42

    I'm currently reading The Changing World Order by Ray Dalio. It's amazing how throughout history empires rise and fall for reasons that are quite similar. I love how the laws of economics are consistent throughout time.

    • @rickterrance4981
      @rickterrance4981 2 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      Because they are based on human nature /psychology which never changes and repeats itself.

    • @MozTS
      @MozTS 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Marx figured this out btw.
      TRPF theory

    • @moreplease394
      @moreplease394 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Well if you believe in simulation theory then essentially the Romans are running a simulation currently and we are just about 40 years past the collapse of Rome

    • @microchrist6122
      @microchrist6122 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@MozTS get outta here commie! 😂

  • @gabrielpapasideropavan
    @gabrielpapasideropavan 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Great video as always! The high point of my day!

  • @Dionaea_floridensis
    @Dionaea_floridensis 2 ปีที่แล้ว +18

    This is one of the most fascinating videos you've made yet! Thanks so much for your dedication to this channel

  • @Jesse_Dawg
    @Jesse_Dawg 2 ปีที่แล้ว +13

    Please make more videos about economics of rome and more about coins. I wish this video went on longer. Would love a part 2 or 3 or 4 of something like this. pls more

    • @aka99
      @aka99 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      check out the channel classical numismatics. link in the discription of this video.

  • @CaraTheStrange
    @CaraTheStrange 2 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    I recently bindged your entire channel and am looking forward to buying your book! Thank you for all of your work 🙏

  • @thatoneguy7191
    @thatoneguy7191 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Nice collab! I really enjoy both of your channels :)

  • @jeffreylevin1266
    @jeffreylevin1266 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Really good video. I never understood how their currency worked. Very interesting 👍.

  • @stevejohnson3357
    @stevejohnson3357 2 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    On a similar topic, I read that in the years after the death of Alexander, a half talent would support 1 soldier in the field for a year and Ptolemy stole hundreds of thousands from Cleomenes. At the time if you knew how much money Ptolemy had, you know what he was capable of doing.

  • @jamess5179
    @jamess5179 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Just found this channel a few days ago and really enjoy the Content. Keep up the good work

  • @milosstrela
    @milosstrela 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Hi, your channel is great, and this video is exceptional, I enjoyed watching it, history with a lot of information, thank you.

  • @lucatesonepique3433
    @lucatesonepique3433 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    excellent video!
    your collaboration with classical numismatics is great, hope you make more videos together! :)

    • @ClassicalNumismatics
      @ClassicalNumismatics 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Hi there! Glad you liked it. There's more to come :)

    • @aka99
      @aka99 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@ClassicalNumismatics good news! i have been a fan of you both channel for a while.

    • @jacktweddell6882
      @jacktweddell6882 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@ClassicalNumismatics 🥵🥵

  • @pelicanus2197
    @pelicanus2197 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Wish my dad was alive to watch these. He would've loved them. Thanks for all you do!

  • @TheJELvlogs
    @TheJELvlogs 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Great video! I just learned about the Pyramid of Cestius. That could be a cool topic for you to cover!

  • @ravensthatflywiththenightm7319
    @ravensthatflywiththenightm7319 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Hey, thanks for marking the Skillshare chapter. I much appreciate it.

  • @P13N5
    @P13N5 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Great video, amazing channel

  • @daver8521
    @daver8521 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Very good video! At one point the situation got so bad that the Roman government refused to accept its own coins, and demanded that taxes be paid in bullion.

    • @whtapp3347
      @whtapp3347 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Couldn't get any worse than this 😂😂

  • @red4life848
    @red4life848 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Wow only found your channel its brilliant thanks so much for your efforts 👍❤️

  • @successfulusername
    @successfulusername 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Roman inflation was only transitory. Their inflation was a good thing.

  • @pattyeverett2826
    @pattyeverett2826 2 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    Good video as usual. Have you ever done a video on the Roman mines in Spain? I have read some material on these, but not a lot.

    • @toldinstone
      @toldinstone  2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

      I plan to do a video on Roman mining - with a special focus on Spain - in the relatively near future.

    • @pattyeverett2826
      @pattyeverett2826 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@toldinstone Thanks, from what I have read, it does appear that Roman mining could be very destructive, just like modern mining.

  • @dharmapersona2084
    @dharmapersona2084 2 ปีที่แล้ว +11

    How Inflation Destroyed Everything

    • @hanshazlitt4535
      @hanshazlitt4535 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Exactly. Empires fail when their money fails

    • @BobXTM
      @BobXTM 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      The direction of causation is hardly clear cut. It would be more accurate to say that when everything is being destroyed a monetary system is not likely to remain stable either.

    • @r-gart
      @r-gart 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@BobXTM except there are a few that remain relatively stable for thousands of years :) central banks still use gold for a reason

    • @BobXTM
      @BobXTM 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@r-gart There are no monetary systems that have remained stable for thousands of years.

  • @franciscobahamondefranco7321
    @franciscobahamondefranco7321 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I have a 500 billion dinar note from Yugoslavia, it still gives me nightmares.

  • @shastasilverchairsg
    @shastasilverchairsg 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Am reading your Naked Statues book right now. Found it in the library in Singapore hahaha.

  • @johnspizziri1919
    @johnspizziri1919 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Now THIS is History! Truly massive. Thank you!
    BUY THE BOOK!!
    WRITE ANOTHER!!!

  • @Carlton-B
    @Carlton-B 2 ปีที่แล้ว +71

    Greek silver coins were always pure silver, and it was scandalous when a polis debased the silver. Other cities wouldn't accept the coins or discounted them. Rome picked up the practice of pure silver coins from the Greeks.
    The Roman coin system was extremely sophisticated. In the first century, they noticed that older silver coins wore down and became lighter, so they made new coins slightly lighter to make all coins weigh the same. Silver, however, is a soft metal, and wears out quickly. It needs to be alloyed with copper or bronze to be hard.
    The emperor Nero debased silver ten percent during his reign. Afterwards, they returned to the original nearly pure silver, but discovered that Nero's coins wore down more slowly than pure silver coins, so they returned to the Neronian standard of ninety percent pure coins. This practice has continued to this day, and "coin silver" was used right up until everyone stopped using silver coins (except for the UK, which used the Sterling standard).
    Inflation reached its worst during the reign of Aurelian, when prices increased by a factor of ten in one year. There is some debate whether the five percent silver double denarius was minted in response to or the cause of the year of inflation.
    Someone did a study of prices during about 75 years from the mid-third century to ca. 325, and concluded that inflation for the period ran, on average, about twenty percent a year.
    The visual difference between the denarius and the double denarius is that the emperor was either bare-headed, or had a crown of laurel leaves, for the denarius, while the emperor always wore a radiate crown on the double denarius (meaning that the crown looked like the rays of the sun). The double denarius is sometimes called a "radiate", or an "Ant", short for Antoninianus (the official name). They are usually not called Ants after the five percent reform.

    • @felipecasas5852
      @felipecasas5852 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Awesome data, very interesting informations to add and complement the video one.

  • @smokeyp7565
    @smokeyp7565 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Your videos are devine! TY

  • @aaron6178
    @aaron6178 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Brilliant. Thanks Doc Garrett!

  • @adizmal
    @adizmal 2 ปีที่แล้ว +162

    Part of the issue with the Roman Empire's economy is that it required, essentially, conquest and slavery to grow and sustain - and this includes precious metals. Once they hit the proverbial high water mark and weren't conquering everyone else around them, a lot of economic problems logically followed. This isn't to suggest that conquest and enslaving everyone else is a good solution or anything, just... it is what it is.

    • @histguy101
      @histguy101 2 ปีที่แล้ว +34

      The Roman empire didn't do much conquering after Augustus at all. That couldn't have been a great source of income long term, not to mention how expensive military adventures were. The great conquests of the late Republic were conducted more out of strategic concerns by the Senate, or individual wealth and political accolades of the commander.
      Imo

    • @cerberus6654
      @cerberus6654 2 ปีที่แล้ว +27

      And what a parallel to America...

    • @adizmal
      @adizmal 2 ปีที่แล้ว +20

      @@histguy101 First off, yeah it did a lot of conquering after Augustus.
      Second, I'm not saying it was a huge part, but it was indeed a reality - free labor and free wealth via looting subjugated peoples and areas was a thing. When they hit peak size and the momentum started to roll back a bit, things got a bit tighter for Rome obviously.
      And finally the other thing that comes to mind is, giving citizenship to all Romans in all the provinces meant, essentially, less cheap labor to exploit for the wealthy, and this meant more bureaucracy to obtain taxes from its free people, a process which eats into revenue. This also lines up with the fresh Christianity on the scene which basically meant now-Christian Romans couldn't other Christians, which cut off more cheap labor paths. Plus plagues, so labor was getting more expensive and/or harder to come by.
      So on top of coin debasement and inflation, there were labor shortages, food shortages, lack of exploitable cheap manpower, people pulling out of the urban areas and taking their wealth/labor to country estates (making them harder to tax). It's a big soup of things, and logically the decline of unimpeded military conquest did *not* help the situation, from Rome's economic standpoint.

    • @sting-e4494
      @sting-e4494 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@cerberus6654 there's always planets and meteors to conquer

    • @jt4369
      @jt4369 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      I’m reminded of Joseph Tainter.

  • @purifiedh2027
    @purifiedh2027 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    feels like a video my teacher would show me. this is awesome

    • @aka99
      @aka99 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      maybe this video is better than the average video your teacher woulf show you 😉😎

  • @bumblebeeeoptimus
    @bumblebeeeoptimus 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The title is kind of self-explanatory, but I really love your videos!

  • @fleischer236
    @fleischer236 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Love your vids my dude

  • @catonpillow
    @catonpillow 2 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    The resemblance between the late Roman Empire and today's U$ is striking.

    • @MrMilliron
      @MrMilliron 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      price control part had me thinking of current government rhetoric, “these companies are price gauging… we may set price limits..” scary

    • @outsidechambaz
      @outsidechambaz 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Because we have internet the US is much worse than the roman empire ever was. In the next couple decades we will probably see things unfold and further degrade until the US splits into multiple countries doing their own thing. The left/right ideological differences are too much to get past , not to mention the difference in culture of the many people who live in America

    • @histguy101
      @histguy101 ปีที่แล้ว

      The late Roman empire was not covered in this video, where the narration ends at Diocletian. From Diocletian onward, the empire experienced a century of relative peace and prosperity, and about 3 centuries in the eastern provinces.

  • @acolyte1951
    @acolyte1951 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I like how your thumbnails usually are

  • @BigzeeeN
    @BigzeeeN 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    This has been my favorite channel for some time now

    • @aka99
      @aka99 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      same here. i like both channels much.

  • @niirceollae2
    @niirceollae2 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    So interesting 😗... I Will definitely get the book 😊👍

  • @JoshInvests
    @JoshInvests 2 ปีที่แล้ว +17

    It's interesting how the less pure coins have much poorer legibility. I wonder if that has to do with the metallurgic properties of impure metal, the greater volume these coins were made in (presumably less time is spent to make each coin), or degradation due to history.

    • @EroticOnion23
      @EroticOnion23 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Every money metal other than gold will "rust", or "tarnish" in the case for silver. Gold-plated items will last forever until the thin layer of gold flakes off.

    • @histguy101
      @histguy101 ปีที่แล้ว

      Ignoring any issues of preservation, there are poorly crafted and well crafted coins from every era of the Roman empire. It probably comes down to which mint, who was working, which craftsman sculpted the design, and how much time he had.

  • @wormius7350
    @wormius7350 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    12:27 I actually own this exact antoninianus! It is a beautiful coin and much larger compared to previous antoninianii. It still has its silvering on it it too!

    • @ClassicalNumismatics
      @ClassicalNumismatics 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Late antoninianii that retain its original silvering look marvelous on hand!

  • @undeada-man1920
    @undeada-man1920 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thanks for the video big dawg

  • @fredazcrate4362
    @fredazcrate4362 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Great and accurate presentation. 👍👊

  • @johnmonkus4600
    @johnmonkus4600 2 ปีที่แล้ว +22

    There used to be no such things as exchange rates and foreign coins were accepted everywhere. People had tiny portable scales to weigh coins to determine the value. In fact, the US silver dollar was based on a Spanish coin, which was chosen for it made commerce easy for the little guy, and yet was a good store of value.

  • @TheGuitologist
    @TheGuitologist 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    A cautionary tale which has been told repeatedly throughout history.

  • @savagelee6973
    @savagelee6973 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Thank you. I have a Denarius from 205 AD. It's a cool addition to my coin collection.

  • @spacemonk26
    @spacemonk26 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    This is very important content to understand. It would be easier to digest if some kinds of graphs and charts were provided to illustrate how the situations progressed because it is hard to follow

  • @DrumToTheBassWoop
    @DrumToTheBassWoop 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    *Romans 2,000 years ago*
    "These bankers, taking away our silver"
    *Today*
    "These bankers, adding more zeros to our money"

  • @digitalmoon777
    @digitalmoon777 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    “Spend 70% on the army” aka America

  • @btetschner
    @btetschner 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Very interesting, thank you for the video.

  • @Gorvinhagen
    @Gorvinhagen 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    These videos are fantastic. Thank you.

  • @Etymon-jt3zw
    @Etymon-jt3zw 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    40% of all US currency that ever existed has been created in the last year.
    But somehow I still have none of it.

  • @dmitryk2058
    @dmitryk2058 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    This should be forcefully shown to Federal Reserve ( which is neither Federal or a Reserve )

  • @nERVEcenter117
    @nERVEcenter117 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I would love to see you continue this thread with a video covering Anastasius I's monetary reforms in the East.

  • @Dave.S.TT600
    @Dave.S.TT600 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    very succinct video. If you start messing with the currency, your Empire wanes at best and collapses at worst. Hmmmm....we should be worried.

  • @monkeykiss1988
    @monkeykiss1988 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    A few years ago, we were all worried about deflation when bonds where being issued with negative real interest rates.

    • @michaeldunne338
      @michaeldunne338 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@tripplefives1402 theoretically - not so clear by how much in the aftermath of the Financial Crisis and time of the Great Recession from 2007 to 2010.

    • @BobXTM
      @BobXTM 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@tripplefives1402 But deflation causes zero or even negative interest rates

    • @jeffmacdonald9863
      @jeffmacdonald9863 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@tripplefives1402 We had boom and bust cycles long before we switched off the gold standard. "Panics" every 20-30 years throughout US history up until the Great Depression. More often if we count lesser recessions.
      Deflation causes inflation is a hell of a take though.

  • @112steinway
    @112steinway 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    It certainly gives deeper meaning to "give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar" doesn't it?

  • @canis9178
    @canis9178 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Fascinating and well produced

  • @Gainn
    @Gainn 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I've not been getting notifications from your channel for a while. Tis many frustration.

  • @telescopicS627
    @telescopicS627 2 ปีที่แล้ว +47

    Great job, you nailed the most salient points.
    The conclusion was a bit abrupt though: "and the economy limped on..."
    Could've talked about the consequences of all this: Roman middle class decimated, taxes raised through the roof, tyrannical tax collectors became more feared than barbarians, and peasants started selling their own children into slavery.

    • @allangibson2408
      @allangibson2408 2 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Roman citizens (those who ACTUALLY lived in Rome) didn’t pay any taxes.
      They were given a “dole” from the state.
      Only the Roman provinces distant from Rome paid taxes.

    • @Gongall
      @Gongall 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @nuovissimi Same reason politicians today make bad decisions or rather decisions bad for the bigger picture, public image. Keeping the citizens happy and trusting in you to lead is extremely important i imagine.

    • @jameslowen6715
      @jameslowen6715 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      I think you just added a lot to this

    • @jameslowen6715
      @jameslowen6715 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Seems like the better plan would have been to cut the provinces loose to be their own "states" and thus force Italy to be financially solvent on its own. Of course the states would likely be sympathetic and therefore easily reconquered later on.

  • @CommonSenz
    @CommonSenz 2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I love history and am an economist. While listening to History of Rome podcast I realized somethin. When I was daydreaming about time travelling back to Imperial Rome, I thought I could not show any fancy stuff to them, except maybe a world map and basic astronomy stuff, because I am no engineer, or metallurgist, or physicist, or doctor, or.. you get it. I am just an economist. And after a while I realized that Rome had no concept of inflation. Like.. at all. I could've saved them single handedly :D

    • @captainotto
      @captainotto 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      Just to completely ruin your fun thought train there. Remember that today we know a whole heck of a lot about inflation despite the many sophists in economics preaching otherwise (read Keynesians/MMT-ers). Yet here we are. Opening stages of a proper global currency collapse that will make Rome's look like a children's experiment.
      You can try to rationalise with someone all you want, but when it comes down to feel good now and suffer badly in the future vs suffer a bit now to feel ok later, which one will 100% of all politicians take?

    • @CommonSenz
      @CommonSenz 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@captainotto *most people, hence all politicians.

    • @captainotto
      @captainotto 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@CommonSenz Our clothes and tools are quite different, but our wetware remains largely unchanged!

  • @hlonidikweni1343
    @hlonidikweni1343 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    AWESOME VIDEO DAMN.

  • @emilhartmann6518
    @emilhartmann6518 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Inflation is ruining me too,wage is same and price of coins go up.

  • @DowntownPaco
    @DowntownPaco 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Phenomenal video Dr. Ryan. How history repeats itself over and over and over again. The only thing that changes is the technology.

  • @jamiedyercville
    @jamiedyercville 2 ปีที่แล้ว +20

    Excellent video with one correction: In the US, money isn't issued by government. It's issued by the Federal Reserve, which the US Supreme Court in 1928 said was a private corporation.
    (Emergency Fleet Corp. v. Western Union Tel. Co., 275 U.S. 415 (1928))
    "Instrumentalities like the national banks or the Federal Reserve banks, in which there are private interests, are not departments of the government. They are private corporations in which the government has an interest."

    • @David13ushey
      @David13ushey 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      Incorrect. Every check issued by the government for any authorized contract is money issued by the government. No bank would ever refuse to cash a check issued by the US treasury. The Federal reserve regulates the amount of liquid money in the economy, dollars and cents, but it can't regulate the vast majority of the actual money in the economy, which is recorded and transacted electronically. It can only manipulate the exchange interest rate and use its repository to buy and sell debt in the form of bonds. The reserve actually can't issue money directly either. It has to request money from the treasury, and then distributes money to the banks. Because our money is fiat, it is infinitely flexible, able to be created by adding numbers to a check, and dumping excess money into treasury bonds.

    • @jamiedyercville
      @jamiedyercville 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@David13ushey I'm merely stating what the Supreme Court said in 1928: The Federal Reserve is a private corporation in which the government has an interest.

    • @theotherohlourdespadua1131
      @theotherohlourdespadua1131 2 ปีที่แล้ว

      So, a GOCC which is practically a part of the government but has characteristics of a private enterprise. So, no...

    • @David13ushey
      @David13ushey 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@jamiedyercville fair enough.

    • @David13ushey
      @David13ushey 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@theotherohlourdespadua1131 No. Not quite. The fed is a private partner the government has contracted with to manage inflation and unemployment by giving it the right to serve as a monopoly reserve bank. Theoretically, we could end that relationship and create a new fed or multiple feds or get rid of the fed all together. This would be profoundly dangerous because the fed holds on to trillions of dollars in treasury bonds and would no longer have reason to hold on to those bonds. By liquidating those bonds, those trillions would leak back into the economy over the next 1-20 years. The government would then have to sop up that excess money via taxation or by a new entity buying up treasury bonds.

  • @the1abstrakt
    @the1abstrakt 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I did not know I was interested in this sort of thing but here I am.

  • @BobbyReborn
    @BobbyReborn 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    This vid had me shaking in my boots... Nice work!!

  • @robertYoutub
    @robertYoutub 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Very interesting, always focused my view of history on economic, it tells the true reason for wars and conflicts. Antic is not my focus, I recommend to look at another critical time, the 16th century, where the stock exchange market crushed and silver mining became obsolete do to gold from the Inkas. Focus on the family history of the riches bankers ever, the Fugger, it leads directly to the problems later.

  • @rickb3078
    @rickb3078 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

    I’m wondering, how much counterfeiting was going on? It won’t have been a significant contribution, but with gold and silver content plummeting, faking a coin should be getting easier and easier?

    • @ClassicalNumismatics
      @ClassicalNumismatics 2 ปีที่แล้ว +8

      It was incredibly common. Many many counterfeit plated coins reached our days.

  • @caligulapontifex5759
    @caligulapontifex5759 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    People forget that even in recent history, up until the late 60s, modern coins were also mostly silver.

    • @Perririri
      @Perririri 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      In USA, the last silver coin intended for public circulation was the 1970 half dollar

    • @allangibson2408
      @allangibson2408 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Until the face value became less than the metal value - and they were melted down into silver bars (illegally under US law).
      The same thing happened to the Italian copper centime (1/100th of a Lira) - the Mafia filled a ship with them and shipped them to Japan.
      A copper alloy US cent has more than a cents worth of copper in it now (which is why the current ones are zinc or steel with a copper wash).

  • @TheLiquid765
    @TheLiquid765 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Awesome video, this feels very relevant to the world today.

  • @nathanielscreativecollecti6392
    @nathanielscreativecollecti6392 2 ปีที่แล้ว +46

    Lessons: Uncontrolled government spending, uncontrolled creation of money, and their resulting inflation are all bad news and price controls don't work.

    • @emmapeel8163
      @emmapeel8163 2 ปีที่แล้ว +17

      lesson learned many times over ..
      yet ... here we are again (USA)

    • @lisa5249
      @lisa5249 2 ปีที่แล้ว +4

      Uncontrolled govt spending on themselves and their greed, uncontrolled creation of money, and lack of price controls that help the public doesn’t work

    • @erstwhilegrubstake
      @erstwhilegrubstake 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@lisa5249 TRVTH.

    • @IsAcRafT
      @IsAcRafT 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@lisa5249 price controls never worked since the Babylonian times and certainly won't gonna work now.

    • @AussieFlavio
      @AussieFlavio 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      @@lisa5249 All price control schemes "help the public" according to the blokes devising them.
      That they have never worked and have always caused further damage to the people they ostensibly tried to help is, by now, an undeniable fact of life. What cannot quite be scientifically explained yet is why some people are convinced price control schemes "will totally work this time".

  • @chrisper94
    @chrisper94 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    If only the emperors have thought of fiat currency pegged to "faith and credit".🤣

  • @IanM-rl1pu
    @IanM-rl1pu 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Good content no crap. Thank you.

  • @christopheryoung2874
    @christopheryoung2874 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    excellent video!

  • @tonyl3762
    @tonyl3762 2 ปีที่แล้ว +15

    If all this doesn't sound scarily familiar to you, you either haven't been paying enough attention to politics or you are part of problem and partially to blame for the next civilizational breakdown and dark ages.

    • @KyleJPie10
      @KyleJPie10 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Except now it's on the scale of the entire world's economy and not just one country in particular.

    • @aka99
      @aka99 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@KyleJPie10 well back then rome was the leading power, to some extent the world power in the known world back then.

  • @bluequirk5384
    @bluequirk5384 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Corruption and Greed
    Mmmmmm

    • @rickb3078
      @rickb3078 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      What could possibly go wrong right? Every story with a. Happy ending starts with: “once upon a time there was a corrupt and greedy all powerful elite” 😂😂

  • @emmapeel8163
    @emmapeel8163 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    thank you!

  • @TheHammeredCorner
    @TheHammeredCorner 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Great video and insight into an area I have started to learn! Great choice in with CN, he’s fantastic in this area. Let me know if you ever need any help with any coins from the English hammered and early milled period 🤓

    • @toldinstone
      @toldinstone  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Glad you enjoyed the video! I'll be sure to contact you if I ever foray into the world of medieval numismatics.