Customer Reviews

Banking and Business in the Roman World (Key Themes in Ancient History)

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The nuts and bolts of money lending and banking in the Roman empire are explained here. But beyond that, this book is almost a sociology of how people dealt with money in the Roman era.

Three major themes emerge, largely in comparison with how banking systems have developed in the modern era. First, the government had no large banks to resort to when funding deficit spending, and where there were no bills of exchange (i.e., money was metal, although there might have been a secondary market in personal notes of moderate sums of indebtedness). Second, there was a prevalent attitude that, with the exception of a small number of professionals (who are described very well), money was seen as a secondary asset (ascribed presumptively simply to attitude, rather than with any better explanation). Third, unlike modern governments, the largess of Emperor and senate is a suprisingly large economic factor.

If there are two criticisms, then the first is that, at times, the assertion of opinion and the potshots taken at other writers, both being often without supporting evidence, can create skepticism; perhaps this reflects the Gallic academic background of the author. Second, in the absence of any separate treatment elsewhere, the opportunity to compare Roman 'maritime' loans with modern marine insurance systems has been missed.

If you want to understand how monetary systems worked during the Roman empire, then this is your book. And the current liquidity crisis in the modern international banking system (late summer 2007) generates even more to reflect upon within these fascinating pages.

Tony Fox