Distribution & Trade - Ancient Mediterranean History

invention and spread of coinage

invented 6th century BC, Enabled collection of taxes, revolutionary

Lydia

• Where coinage starts

  • Earliest intentional burials of coins filled with coins from Lydia

• Lydian coins made out of electrum

  • Mix of gold and silver

  • Replaced by coins being either gold or silver

• Persians adopt coins upon conquering them

  • Spread by Persians (Achaemenid Empire)

C. 500 BCE

spread of minting to Greece

Ancient coins have

intrinsic value

Base metal coinage

Ex: bronze, Allowed for market purchases (Silver and gold coins were worth too much)

Rome

211 BCE is introduction of denarius (silver), Roman gold coins (aureus) (High value coin)

Before coinage societies used different kinds of money

• Cattle, slaves, agricultural produce, raw metals

• Stored and measured value

• Rarely used as means of exchange

Money is absent from

linear b tablets and Homer

Old Assyrian Empire

• Assur begins to become a regional power around 2000 BCE

• First place to get big north of Sumer

• Trade is crucial to development of Assur

• Establishment of long-distance trade in Assur

  • Assur controls important trade route to east for tin

    • Lead to state motivation to do trade in Assur

    • Trading posts

  • Covers all of Turkey

    • Spreads tin west

Old Assyrian Empire kings

Head of the most powerful family, Not a traditional king, Government more similar to aristocracy with a leading family

Greek City-States

• Corinth

  • Sits and the isthmus of the gulf of Corinth and Saronicc Gulf

    • Corinth controls it

    • Becomes extremely wealthy due to trade here

    • Traded food, metals, minerals, etc

• Every polis has its own physical market

Agoranomoi

Managed the markets in Greece Made sure all goods met a certain standard, Managed systems of weights and measures to make sure payments are correct

Scale of output in Rome

In the first 2 centuries CE there is more mining and coinage, Implies more economic activity and trade (More trade items found in this era)

To what extent did the Roman empire generate economic growth in the Mediterranean world during the 1st and 2nd centuries CE?

• Pacification of mediterranean basin

• Defeat of enemies

• Suppression of piracy

• End of civil wars

• Establishment of unified currency

• Roman law protected commercial transactions

• Building of empire-wide road network

  • The things done above were done as strategies of imperial rule not for the purpose of economic activity

agriculture

Economy of Roman empire based on

Productive land owned and controlled by small number of super wealthy landowners

• Profit driven enterprises

  • With their profits they bought more land or they liquidated the money in conspicuous consumption or ostentatious display

    • Large monuments, grand gifts

    • Not used for capital accumulation or long-term investment

      • Prevents exponential economic growth