Inflation and the Fall of Rome - Economic History DOCUMENTARY

[@InvictaHistory]

How big of a role do you think Inflation played in the fall of Rome? (You can Install Raid for Free on Mobile and PC: clik.cc/PoaTg and get a special starter pack. Available only for the next 30 days)

[@andredeketeleastutecomplex]

Raid gets you an unsub from me. 👎

[@LuisAldamiz]

Will watch later but I feel that the title (and content) should be rather "Diocletian's austericide, mass deflation, deficit in the luxury trade with India and China... and the fall of Rome". My understanding is that inflation (or more exactly: currency debasement as the Spanish and Dacian colonial silver and gold mines were exhauste), while real and somewhat problematic, is overrated. Diocletian's reforms are the real cause of, not just the fall of Rome, but of the Dark Ages altogether. He basically kickstarted the worst historical phase of Europe with those stupid austericidal reforms, incl. inheritance of profession, beginning of serfdom, partition of the Empire and not at all dealing with the real problem: exporting too much silver to Asia (in exchange of stupid useless luxuries like silk, clove and cinnamom).

[@generalaigullletes5830]

"The miracle came in Emperor Aurelian" Gallienus:

[@rizzmb3016]

I really like how you tried to keep the modern politics out of your video. There are a lot of parallels. Well done.

[@rizzmb3016]

@@andredeketeleastutecomplex IT IS IN FACT YA BOI, RAID SHADOW LEGENDS

[@animula6908]

Im not worried about inflation when I see it in the news. Im worried about it when I see it in the grocery store.

[@BLASTIC0]

It doesnt usually end up on the news untill after the grocery store… they try to keep a lid on that as long as possible.

[@Black-Sun_Kaiser]

@@BLASTIC0 what I was thinking lol

[@792slayer]

Same here. It's getting rough out there.

[@stomper2888]

Ur an id!ot

[@sanctionh2993]

Prices have been going up in small increments, and/or amount in the package is less, for a few years now.

[@khalidalali186]

@20:23 the Roman dude is not freaking out over inflation or the debasement of the currency. He’s freaking out over the existence of a 16th century Ottoman mosque from Bosnia right behind him.

[@mongolianfishingvillages1371]

😂😂😂

[@safatkarim630]

Gazi Husrev Bey Mosque Sarajevo

[@DummyAccount-xg7uu]

He was actually freaking out over the coming of Jesus.

[@HandsomeStranger1963]

im in australia there was an attack on a orthodox preist in his church. the headlines in the paper ''Quoted him'' as saying that he knew the risks when he took up the muslim faith. despite his church and himself wearing a cross.

[@MattMajcan]

its just crazy how many times rome kept doubling down without realizing that maybe a new strategy was needed. the crazy thing is that humans really havent learned anything since then, and many governments still use printing money aka debasing currency as a way of financing things. Maybe people do realize the damage that causes and just dont care, someone else can fix it later.

[@Njordin2010]

What would you have done? Especially if you face immeadiate problems and your predecessors 'made it work' by debasing? You could get killed in an instant if you can't pay the legions, the senate or food imports. Its easy for us to claim that nowadays.

[@BRTowe]

They didn't really have the concept of inflation as we do now. There had never been a truly large economy before them, so they really were learning as they went.

[@luispocho2283]

if you think about it, a dozen of inflation crisis in all that time is not so much. You could say that their economy moved so slowly that it actually didnt look l ike a disaster most of the time. Also going back to coinless trade was a legitimate option for most people during those times, which now would be seen like a total disaster. Imo the economy wasnt the biggest of the emperor´s worries.

[@b.j4348]

​@gormenfreeman499 look at the Federal Reserves printing since the pandemic. Went from 2,000 billion a year to 20,000 billion and did it hard for the past 3 years... The hyperinflation we see now is a direct result and imo it almost seems intentional. Some greedy fucks realised in times of crisis the rich get richer. Oxfam published in 2012 how 51% of the worlds assetts were owned by a VERY small portion. That number has risen to an almost unreasonable level. The disparity of wealth hasn't been this bad since the Gilded Age which is a period I think not many people ever want to replicate again.

[@SoaringSuccubus]

​@@BRTowe "They didn't really have the concept of inflation as we do now." Total BS. They had the exact same conception of inflation as we do. More money > higher prices. It's universal. And unless you've been living under a rock, we're sliding down the same drain as the Romans did. So get off your historical high horse and grasp the fact that we're in the exact same boat.

[@geordiejones5618]

Inflation being an indirect cause of the Second Punic War is super interesting and I've never heard that discussed as part of the tensions involved both internally and externally with Rome.

[@GeneralBlackNorway]

Just like inflation in Germany after WW1 created the environment for the rise of the nazis and subsequent WW2.

[@xanderunderwoods3363]

Yes same, but it makes sense

[@geordiejones5618]

​@@xanderunderwoods3363Yeah it makes the 2nd Punic War seem unavoidable. Rome and Carthage had nearly bankrupted each other by fighting for so long without any intersession. There wasn't enough silver for both empires to survive so one had to become subordinate.

[@CivilizedWasteland]

Not related to inflation but this guy kind of touches on the economic situation in the public wars and now I know where all the bronze for the ships came from after watching this video. Kind of interesting to think about. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4fRiXpmjteZpNUsi=-DCbK54YC4-jhRp-

[@shaynewheeler9249]

😢😢😢

[@celtofcanaanesurix2245]

this is what we call in the business "foreshadowing"

[@Irmarinen]

Cue the music!

[@poetryflynn3712]

It should be known that no country on earth today has a currency based in metals - fiat and metal are two fundamentally different systems. The difference between today and the Roman empire is that money is based almost entirely on the government, and due to the way governments work, makes all currency transactions reciprocal between nations. In other words, inflation of the currency itself will almost never be an issue. What's happening now is an inflation of essential goods that has more to do with natural events than anything seen in the video. While war is driving the price of certain goods up, climate change and oil both are as well. Things like this mostly affect the lower classes and minorities -- arguably there's more parallels in the Irish Potato Famine than Ancient Rome.

[@sapare7838]

@@poetryflynn3712 We found the economists here, gl with that. Common sense does not care for fancy logic. Fiat just means that the value of currency is only held up by the authority of the gov, which is probably the least stable thing in the world to base a currency on.

[@GeneralBlackNorway]

@@poetryflynn3712 Current inflation is cause by two things: 1. Reduced supply: The pandemic led governments to shut down economies which stifled production of goods and service. 2. Increased demand: The central banks went on a printing spree increasing the monetary supply dramatically to loan to governments who used the money to compensate/cover up the effects of shutting down their economies. After reopening the economies the extra money put into existence is being spent to relieve pent up demand from the populace, but supply has not had time to catch up leading to increased prices due to both the shortages as well as the increased spending power. In the end supply and demand will stabilize, but everything will end up at a higher price than before the pandemic due to the currency being debased/money supply inflated. Central banks are trying hard to reverse, taking currency out of circulation which is pushing the world economies closer to recession and depression due to monetary scarcity and high debt leverage. In other words everyone are going bankrupt as the central banks are rug pulling the economies to meet their inflation targets. Biggest pump and dump in world history is going on as we speak!

[@poetryflynn3712]

@@GeneralBlackNorway ​ That''s an out-of-date perspective. Yes, we have a lack of supply, and yes we have central banks trying to "slow the flow", but the slow the flow is not because they printed too much money. The "slow the flow" is because the fluctuating prices of basic goods, again such as food and oil, are on the edge of causing a recession. The "slow the flow" is just a signal for large companies and banks to stop gathering government loans which is the main driver of the economy. The thing I'm getting at is that everyone likes to "blame the government", but the reality is in the vast majority of cases it's a lack-of-supply issue and not a government issue for the developed world. As long as the government does essentially the same thing as what other governments in the developed world do it's not a government issue because they all do borderline the same thing to manage the economy. Because they all do very similar things the prices of their currency in comparison stay relatively the same. OF course, it depends on where you live though. The US, for example, is privileged despite also having inflation because investors will all leap onto their dollar when the economy goes south. But, again, that's still not a government issue, that's an investor issue. My main point is to get people to stop blaming the government when they, for the vast majority of the time including this time, aren't the actual issue. People don't see this because they don't think in a global system which we are in, although, are slowly but surely diverging away from.

[@BornIn1142]

Alan Moore, the famous comic book writer, has a short story called "The Head of Diocletian," which is about a proud Roman official in Britannia having a crisis when he realizes how worthless their currency is.

[@hannibalburgers477]

@@taylorfusher2997 wut

[@paladro]

all currency is faith based, like some huge ball filled with hope, if it ever stops rolling, it collapses... so, train keeps a rolling.

[@reeyees50]

Guys in that time not only worried about fungiable and transactional money (buying power) ,but hard assests of value (farms, cattle, taxable lands, city taxes, ect)

[@narrowistheway77]

Alan Moore is demonically possessed

[@zm1786]

@@paladro precious metals will always be valuable always. It's why Roman's hoarded their own coins. It's why us coins before 1964 are all more valuable than their face value

[@TurboNerd6]

I really enjoy these economic dives into Rome

[@alexeysaphonov232]

Just to understand how deep it is: 1. Italian word for money is Soldi (Plural from solidus). 2. Russian word 'деньгі' (den'gi) from turik ten'ge, from Persian denge, from roman dinarius. 3. English word money, french monnaie, russian манета, italian maneda, deutsche Münze - all from roman word for mint, one of which was organizer in the temple of Iuno Moneda. 4. All forms of Grosch, Grosz, Грошы - middleage Grossus Dinarius.

[@robertmazurowski5974]

Grosz is the name of the Polish version of "Pennys". But it used to be a big unit 300 -400 years ago.

[@alexeysaphonov232]

@@robertmazurowski5974 Grosch is 10 Pfennings (old measure which pesists even today when Germans call 10 Euro Cents - Grosch.), Groši is a word for money in Belarus. But it is a bit different middleage system based on weight. Paund/Libra/Pfund (pieniendze), and smaller penny, pfennig.

[@alexeysaphonov232]

Also in spanish, money is 'el dinero'.

[@robertmazurowski5974]

@@alexeysaphonov232 Thanks, this is very cool stuff I didn't know.

[@makky6239]

Portuguese = dinheiro

[@RandomlyGeneratedUsername]

There's a small factual error in the video. Quadrigatus was introduced around 225 BC which was after the First Punic War. Didrachms were minted before this in Rome and Neapolis, but quadrigati specifically only came later. Later Rome also introduced their equivalent of the drachm, half a didrachm or quadrigatus, called the victoriatus. Both quadrigati and victoriati were also minted in a number of mints, not just Rome, and both saw debasement.

[@aa2339]

​The Arabs also have their 'Sword Dance'.

[@xanderunderwoods3363]

Are you sure that was historically proven about the Didrachms? So many archives have been lost over time, pinpoint accuracy can get a bit foggy.

[@RandomlyGeneratedUsername]

@@xanderunderwoods3363 We don't know with 100% accuracy the exact order in which some of the didrachm variants were minted and at which mints (Rome/Neapolis). We do, however, know about the introduction of the quadrigatus and have what is considered reliable dating for the introduction of this type. There is no widely accepted theory that supports quadrigati being introduced during the First Punic War.

[@Lisa-ol1ih]

The guy flashing coins under his robe in the alley was by far the best animation in this entire video. Well done lols! I love these videos on different aspects of Rome like inflation and vacations.

[@alexandrejuliaomachado9547]

Excellent video! I'm Brazilian and between the late 80's and early 90's, my country went through a period of hyperinflation. Only those who have gone through it, know how destructive hyperinflation can be.

[@el_chico1313]

venezuelan

[@terakiei]

So don't support money printing

[@viniciusteixeiramelo8687]

Qual foi o nome do cara que emprestou o dinheiro para Roma? Eu não entendi

[@bavariancarenthusiast2722]

@@terakiei money printing is not the only reason for inflation - what leads to inflation are several factors over a longer period of time, often followed by wars or larger disasters

[@Q-154]

@@bavariancarenthusiast2722 Wow! Someone who actually understands how this works! You know you’ll get in trouble if you don’t follow the single reason narrative that each side puts out right? All kidding aside, I don’t understand how people can’t comprehend that there’s several factors to inflation. It’s not just a simple 1 line fix like the US political parties like to claim. You gotta appeal to your base though.

[@jtb6737]

I like how you made the comparison of how many days work is needed to buy something. It makes it more relatable across history.

[@xanderunderwoods3363]

Rome 286, Germany in 1929, or Russia in 1993, and so many other examples... For real, debasing currency needs to be taken as seriously as war crimes due to its catastrophic outcome, especially on the most vulnerable, and because it usually leads to the rise of warlords.

[@IsakSko]

Not sure about punishing it. It's usually the last resort of a country

[@perennialistperspective]

Just FYI: all of you people cause inflation by the way you vote. You blindly vote for the same incumbents who've been deficit spending, legislating stimulus packages, funding wars, creating laws for their cronies so they can evade taxes, etc. You can't be bothered to check up on the voting records of your two senators and one house rep that you get to vote for. Usually states and districts go for the same color, which means you had the chance to vote out these big spenders in the primaries and still get someone of your own party to replace the incumbent. But you can't be bothered. You blindly vote for your favorite color, even though both colors are causing inflation. Do you all think inflation is caused by magical powers or Putin's whims? By corporate greed perhaps? Learn about how the federal reserve and congress work together to inflate the currency, pleasing all their donors and special interests in exchange for votes. Learn about how you can vote out the incumbent in the primary so that you can still vote for your favorite color in the generals. Learn about why inflation is often so much more dramatic in some sectors, such as residential real estate, than others. Learn about what congress and the federal reserve could do, if they so chose, to bring prices down on everything, especially residential real estate.

[@thesecondsilvereich7828]

The thrid reich had inflation by 1936. Thus the debt got so big that it would take all the gold in Europe to pay off

[@thesecondsilvereich7828]

The population is to big to use gold or silver

[@jonpaulcox4954]

@@thesecondsilvereich7828 why do you say that?

[@randomlyentertaining8287]

Nero - *Explains his plan for more money.* Everyone who knows how economics work - "That's not how this works, that's not how any of this works."

[@laisphinto6372]

Nero- give me more Money or i give you more Iron

[@knowledgedesk1653]

Anyone who is professional on economics will know that government even now print more money to pay of debt and also to decrease the value of debt. This is the main cause of inflation even now.

[@legateelizabeth]

“That miracle came in the form of … Emperor Aurelian.” I love that even actual history channels are now on board with ‘Aurelian was a walking deus ex machina and literal gift from the heavens’. All you need to do now is only ever show him with the mask on.

[@jackalope07]

the fact that his life was an ex machina and death was an athenian tragedy proves we live in a simulation

[@Knoloaify]

Tell me about Aurelian, why does he wear the mask?

[@RexOedipus.]

@@Knoloaify nobody cared who he was until he put on the mask

[@MarktheRude]

@@RexOedipus. Crashing the economy with no survivors.

[@monetizedyay6827]

I'm not, I feel like it leads to his predecessors being overshadowed too often

[@mg4361]

20:15 the Romans built such lovely mosques and minarets, amazing 😅

[@truthinhistory6585]

this is exactly the kind of stuff I want to learn from history! Thank you for this awesome presentation.

[@uncletiggermclaren7592]

You are doing some really good work. I think you are a important historian, making a real contribution to the art.

[@hankrearden20]

"Watch me collapse an empire by changing a 1 into a zero." Rick Sanchez.

[@malleableconcrete]

Late Roman Emperors itching to debase the coinage just one more time man, this is the last one I swear I just need a little pick me up, I don't have a problem you have a problem.

[@knowledgedesk1653]

Many times Roman emperors were under debt. To pay of debt they printed more money. It also caused the value of debt to decrease. Which meant that emperors were often not at loss. If we look from emperors perspective it actually benefited them. Even now modern nations reduce the value of money to pay debt. Difference is that at that time debt was less meaning less inflation rate while now inflation us more because our economy is based on debt.

[@lupen_rein]

I really loved this episode. It looks like Rome didn't fail so much because of military failures, but because their economy was administered by incompetent emperors who didn't understand economics. After all, Rome was successful even in military defeat during their time of inflationary stability until the principate, but as soon as incompetent principates started to take the reign, Rome started to disintegrate and fail.

[@Sforschondetta]

That's vastly overstating things. And there's no reason to conclude its one or the other. The "fall" of Rome is a multifaceted phenomenon and no one thing is a singular cause.

[@williewonka6694]

Incompetent emperors came up because the competent persons realized the juice was not worth the squeeze.

[@cristhianramirez6939]

No society falls for military failures alone

[@Userhfdryjjgddf]

​@@SforschondettaI will say the plague really hurt Rome as well. But from studying alot of countries fall throughout history. Inflation is far the worst thing to happen to a country. Once poor feel they cannot afford life easily, the downfall starts. We are at a major crossroads in America. Global warming is not even close to what we need to be worrying about. Affording rent next month is far and above the scariest thing happening today.

[@miguelsuarez-solis5027]

I always find it interesting when people controlling the economy think that they could just lessen the thing that makes their coin valuable and it's still going to retain the same value. Anybody with the slightest bit of common sense knows that's not how that works

[@px6883]

They know that it doesn't work in the long-term, but they still do it if it's the only way of not going bankrupt at the moment. After all, it did give them a small boost in their budget the moment they did it, it just ruined the economy in the long term.

[@VainerCactus0]

Printer go brrrrrrrrrr.

[@sicarii545]

a lot of this seems like the leaders had no choice. as the empire expanded and there were fluctuations in supply of silver and plagues it was a choice between debasing the money or letting ppl starve and revolt.

[@miguelsuarez-solis5027]

@@sicarii545 That's an interesting thought considering debasing the money tends to make people starve. I think it's more about making more money so that you can pay for more things in the short term before people realize the money has been debased, because they are over spending. It's a piss poor way to run an economy

[@The-Plaguefellow]

@@miguelsuarez-solis5027 Seems like it's always been a trend where leaders throughout history have tried to use debasement for far longer extents of time than what is actually viable; a short-term solution made long-term.

[@coltonkamper3693]

When i was a Freshman in college back in 2010 i was absolutely floored/heart broken when i saw that Wolf Brand chili went from $0.50 to like a $1.25 or something that was close or over like a 200% increase. It was my first time experiencing inflation and when i realized how fucked this world is

[@solaufein1374]

Really good episode (as allways). Finally i learned Sestertius/Denarius ratio.

[@natotomato4625]

Root of all inflation - government spending…

[@davepx1]

Hardly. Government spending remained a small proportion of the economy. The issue was mismanagement of the currency by successive imperial administrations. The problem was monetary rather than fiscal.

[@timothyjburton]

And why did the Caesars want to debase the currency?

[@davepx1]

@@timothyjburton For a fast buck, of course, except it didn't really work because neither producers nor traders nor consumers fell for it. But there wasn't any more real money than before, it just bore a different face value that nobody took seriously.

[@timothyjburton]

@@davepx1 of course it didn’t work. Gresham’s Law took effect.

[@davepx1]

@@timothyjburton It wasn't even that: good money was turned into bad money as an act of policy. I suppose it seemed a good idea to somebody at the time...

[@TheGuitologist]

Your definition of inflation is incorrect. Inflation is an increase in the supply or devaluation of the monetary medium or coinage. Great video though.

[@Mister_Pigeon]

Do you think the Romans also had a Raid Shadow Legends sponsorship for their own raids that could have contributed to the Roman inflations

[@sonofthebearking3335]

Almost can't believe he snuck that promo in there so well, 😂 until a while in I had to ask Wait a minute this isn't a Raid commercial is it? Well played. I normally hear 'Raid' and stop paying attention 😄

[@markvoelker6620]

The original (pre-2013) definition of inflation, is “an excessive increase in the amount of circulating currency and credit”. The definition has been changed to obscure the cause and effect relationship between currency debasement (reducing silver or gold content, or, printing too much paper) which expands the supply of currency and credit, and the *resulting* devaluation of “money” (actually, currency) and consequent increases in the prices of everything. The central banks do not want you to know it is their fault, so they changed the definition of “inflation” to hide the cause and effect relationship between their currency printing and your increased cost of living.

[@andrzejadamowicz3753]

Funny fact is that he keeps saying that throughout the video. Rome kept creating 'silver' coins which were not really silver thus increased currency supply (or amount of coins in their case). Don't you find it strange, Mark, that so few have guts to say it like it is in case of definition of inflation?

[@markvoelker6620]

@@andrzejadamowicz3753 I do find it strange, yes. For decades we have been lied to about the nature of money. We have been taught that pieces of paper, or electronic bookkeeping entries in bank ledgers, are money. These things are not money, they are merely currency. Money is gold and silver and even copper. Especially gold and silver. Currency is not money. The map is not the territory. A claim check for your shirt at the dry cleaner’s is not your shirt. A piece of paper is not gold.

Exactly. Inflation benefits the top at cost to the bottom. So the motive is there.

[@AnthroTsuneon]

I'm not sure if a video covered it already or no, but I'm curious about attrition in the legions-- Desertion is a given, but how did they prepare for climates unfamiliar to Rome? Did they try to send back the bodies if they can? And you got plenty of shows/games having some assassin going about ending some no name guard, but surely something like that would ring far more alarm, encampment or fort wide?

[@madmanmark08]

@ 1:58 the inflation definition is not the increase of prices but the expansion of the money supply

[@TheJam1192]

Can’t wait for the video on the Eastern Roman Empire!

[@game_boyd1644]

Good thing we've learnt our lesson now

[@sonofthebearking3335]

Dang I wasn't even tempted to be distracted/consider doing something else with my time until 9:15 minutes in; so well presented while conveying complicated subjects in a very simple and interesting way (about an economical thing I am not normally already interested in) that I was riveted and want to share this with friends who aren't even interested in just military history which normally is what catches my attention. Well done! Amazing work! 😂

[@joeirungu5288]

Exceptionally well done video.Keep up.Very informative

[@CssHDmonster]

18:55 typo alert, i think u meant to type there ''and an''

[@Franchisetyg]

How were the Roman’s able to tell the purity levels of the coins ? Especially the plebeians

[@kovona]

You'll notice that the debased coins have less shine or lustre, or starting changing colour/corroding in a way that a fine silver or gold coin shouldn't. In the case of late empire coins where a thin plating of precious metal is used to disguise the debased coin, the plating will literally start to rub off after extended handling. The coin can also be cut or dented to determine if it was plated. More expert money changers and merchants can weigh their coins on purpose-built scales or use a touchstone to assay the purity of coins. With the touchstone method, the precious metal object is rubbed across a flat piece of black basalt, creating streaks on it's surface. The streaks are then visually compare to streaks made by a control piece of gold and silver of known purity. Difference in colour, lustre, and other traits are used to determine the purity of the tested sample, and expert assayers can determine a fineness difference down to a few percents just by looking at these streaks.

[@adamwarlock1]

@@kovona Makes me think of old movies & cartoons where a merchant will bite down on a coin to test it, I assume to detect a difference in taste or hardness or both.

[@neilreynolds3858]

Probably touchstones are the easiest method. Coin dealers might still be using them.

[@alejandrosakai1744]

The Greek Drachmas, the Roman Denarii, the Persian darics, and other ancient coinages were interesting, I want a video about money in the Ancient World!

[@worndown8280]

They call come from the proto indo european word for ten, déḱm̥. Thats because all three came from those people on the step.

[@worndown8280]

@@Deepak_Dhakad No kidding the Yamnaya didnt use coins. The word Denarius comes from the Latin dēnī which means to contain ten. The Drachma comes from the Greek word to hold with tightly, which is sourced from to hold with ten, as in ten digits. Ten. That goes all the way back, as far as we can trace, to the word déḱm̥. Which means... ten. The word dime also comes to us via Latin but going back to that same word.

[@worndown8280]

@@Deepak_Dhakad it's not the coin itself. It's the value of the coin i believe. Their measurements were probably based on ten. But we can't prove that due to lack of historical record. This differs from say the source of our measurements of time and circles which come from the sumerian system based on 12.

[@neilreynolds3858]

Yeah, I got interested in ancient weights and standards about 25 years ago and have a file on the history of coinage. There were multiple standards working side by side even in nation states in modern times. People could tell you the ratios to use between local standards and national standards and international standards back to the first use of coins. The further east a silver coin went, the more it was worth. Rome was relatively rich in silver compared to the far east so silver kept moving east until it was worth about one quarter of the value of an equal weight of gold. The gold kept moving west. There was globalism even then but it worked slower. The effects of the looting of silver and gold in the New World by Spain is interesting. As the metals flooded in, they changed their values over time until Spain was borrowing money to spend on wars and going broke while it was flooding in. When the silver stopped, Spain had nothing to show for it except debts and became a poor country. Wars are expensive. Somewhere around here I have a couple of books on Greek and Roman coinage but they're in boxes so I can't give you names to look for. Greek and Roman is easy to find but Persian is harder.

[@Trashloot]

This video was amazing. I would totally watch a part 2 about the byzantine empire:D I found the insight in to the roman prices especially interesting.

[@OhioDan]

How did they measure the weight of the total value of silver in the coins without melting the coins down or somehow knowing their exact level of purity?

[@FerutElCampeador]

Bronze, copper and silver have different densities, the coins would be more or less heavy and could be weighted, and I remember that the greeks also used the sound of the coin, so I guess using a varied array of methods could approximate the value of silver quite well.

[@OhioDan]

@@FerutElCampeador Thanks, using the differences in weight makes sense.

[@Benjamin-zr4yw]

in another video a guy at a norse medieval festival showed off some kind of board. (their "money" were rings & other metal ornaments.) he would scratch a ring on the board and the color&shining of the marks on the board tells the contents of the metal

[@Cyberspine]

The color of the metal also changes based on purity. Small changes are hard to detect, though.

[@Callmecel]

Holding them, you can actually tell the difference sometimes! Other times, moneychangers would happily swap things in their own favour ;)

[@michaelmoran3372]

Actually, inflation is an increase in the supply of money whose effect is an increase in the bid costs of good and services. This is perfectly illustrated by the debasement of the silver quadriggatus, which is exactly the same as increasing the money supply.

[@GeneralBlackNorway]

Inflation of the money supply is called monetary inflation and inflation on the price of goods and services is called price inflation. Inflation itself means increase, while in economics the word inflation is generally used for price inflation, while in monetary circles they carefully avoid it's use for monetary inflation as they are dominated by Keynesian economic and modern monetary theory. Those who subscribe to the Austrian school of economics however love to use the term solely for monetary inflation. While the Austrian economists are right that monetary inflation is the biggest driver of price inflation long term, in the short term it is supply shortages of goods and services that have the biggest impact on prices.

[@RCx44]

@@GeneralBlackNorway price inflation always is and always will be a symptom of monetary inflation in any long term scenario.

[@RianMeier]

​@GeneralBlackNorway short term price changes are not inflation. Even if you differentiate between price and monetary inflation price inflation is still measured as a year on year moving average. In most countries it also only tracks a predetermined set of goods (which has also changed over the years). Price inflation merely tracks the effect of monetary inflation.

[@alexyoung3126]

Inflation hits people a lot harder than a crashing stock or housing market as it directly affects people's cost of living that people immediately feel the impact of. It's not surprising negative market sentiment is so high now. We really need help to survive in this Economy. The fin-Market;s have underperformed the U.S. economy as fear of inflation hammers the prices of stock;s and bonds. My portfoliio of $250k is down to $192k any recommendation;s to scale up my return;s during this crash will be highly appreciated.

[@checkforme234]

You have to get a financial-advisor to aid you diversify your portfolios to include commodities, inflation-indexed bonds and stocks of companies with solid cash flows, as opposed to growth stocks where valuations were based on future potential earnings.

[@erichkraetz2622]

I agree, my proffit have been quite consistent, regardless of market situation, I got in early 2019 and the constant downtrends and losses discouraged me so I sold off, got back in Dec 2020 this time with guidance from a brokerage-adviser. I found her on a CNBc interview where she was featured and reached out to her afterwards. long story short, its been two years now and I’ve gained over $850k following guidance from my inveestment adviser.

[@joesphcu8975]

@@erichkraetz2622 Please can you leave the info of your invstment adviser here? I overheard someone talking about how a couple made $200k during this red season. I need such luck lol

[@erichkraetz2622]

@@joesphcu8975 INGRID CECILIA RAAD is the brokerage-adviser. She has been of great help and her tutelage has brought me to a higher understanding of proffit generation. You can look up her name on the net for her page and reach out. Understands the job perfectly.

[@kjullthedemon]

I swear, these bots are everywhere, when will KZbin do something about this. this is a video on a historical event, go away please!

[@igor_pavlovich]

Great video! One thing i was always interested is how Caesar managed his debt before and after civil war. Could you mention it in any of future videos?

[@guyfawkes8384]

Perfect timing seeing as we are following in the same footsteps as ancient Romans did!

[@sarysa]

20:15 - A new animation hall of fame contender appears! [edit: and 25:06, I wonder if he'll come back flashing other seedy wares...]

[@MrNobodyAttn]

4:46 how do’s determine what’s one hundred percent silver?

[@Constantine_Bush]

How did Constantine manage to fix this problem with solidus?Granted,we are talking about a coin that did not lost it's value,until after 8 centuries,which is quite a lot.

[@ideclaredwaronyourfrenchas4123]

Probably consolidated all the gold coins that are in circulation then issued a new coin. Basically resetting everything

[@pauls6425]

He didn't. Solidus is in used by the middle and upper class, but the silver and copper coins are still worthless. The Romans still use barter and the Legions are paid in kind, rather than in salary

[@kevinelruler]

You upload a video, I comment. Simple as. Now to sit back and enjoy.

[@leemarty2765]

As we get deeper into this recession more people will lose their jobs which will expand the inventory along with homebuilders delivering their massive backlog .In my opinion Inventory could keep building for a few years .The more inventory that builds up , the more desperate sellers are going to feel and will be cutting prices . Fear drove it up and fear is going to drive it down.This is what the beginning of a crash feels like.I would rather buy at a cheaper price and a higher interest rate. I can always refi when rates come down but I don't want to buy a depreciating asset. Thanks again for a great show with facts backed by real data.

[@donaldbrain5996]

May be an opportunity to purchase investment properties. I’m licensed. Considering purchasing a new primary if the prices drop low enough. Flip my current property to a rental. Also, creative financing and FHA Loan assumptions should be on the rise. I have a listing now with those options. Buyer can get 2.99% interest rate.

[@stricklandpilman2123]

Why people talk like housing price goes down as a bad thing. Housing price goes down is a GOOD thing. Less money locked in housing, that frees up spending on other essential items.

[@justingregory2965]

@@stricklandpilman2123 You are right! I diversified my $550K portfolio across various market with the aid of an investment advisor, I have been able to generate a little bit above $870k in net profit across high dividend yield stocks, ETF and bonds during this red season.

[@justingregory2965]

Building wealth involves developing good habits like regularly putting money away in intervals for solid investments. The crpto market has plenty of opportunities to earn which I myself took advantage of.. I made my first million from going diverse, mainly stocks, ETFs and bonds. It’s a long term plan for me so I invest and re-invest credits to my Finacial Advis0r Karen Marie Emma.

[@philipparker9893]

@@justingregory2965 Ive read different comment sections where this name was mentioned but was skeptical, would love to work with her.

[@thesecondsilvereich7828]

Greeks: I hope to be remembered as a warrior culture and not a mismatch economy Rome: I hope to be remembered for spreading culture and not getting invaded by germanic tribes and inflation economy

[@andreascovano7742]

You should do a video on Diocletians edict of prices in detail. It's interesting to note what stuff was valued in an idealistic sense in the 4th century

[@ComradeArthur]

Just read "Atlas Shrugged." - the parts covering directive 10-289. That seems to copy much of what Diocletian tried.

[@cozygung]

22:34 When you said “successive emperors began to be tempted by the trap of debasement”, I was laughing by their idiocy after Aurelian turned things around for the better.

[@pyropulseIXXI]

Inflation is a symptom of a greater problem so 'battling inflation' is always a fool's errand. Instead of clamping off a cut artery, 'battling inflation' is putting a Band-Aid on that open wound rather than clamping off/cauterizing the cut artery

[@SPQRxUSAxNUSA]

This is a wonderful video but could you add a timeline at the bottom with the date so we can follow it over time...?

[@vilena5308]

Me: I don't remember these Diocletian's monetary reforms? Some of the largest in human history...??? "It ultimately failed." That would explain it...

[@Flavorful_Chunt]

As a man, I am required to watch anything about the fall of Rome.

[@stackerusargentius9152]

If you describe inflation as the increase in the price of goods and services over time, then you are putting the cart before the horse. So many people have this very common misconception. I personally believe that this alternate definition is a tool of misdirection in order to obscure causality. Inflation is the expansion of the money supply. Only a government has the so-called "legitimate" power to create currency, so inflation is directly caused by government, not by the increase of prices in the private sector. The most important part to understand is that the increase in the price of goods in an economy is a natural consequence of inflation and is not the inflation itself. This distinction is crucial to understand especially in today’s age.

[@craigbrison4241]

And with that you've sailed over the heads of 99% of the current population. It's sick.

[@nedyah151]

This is true but sadly if you try to talk to anyone about this issue their eyes glaze over and they mumble something about greedy corporations before moving on to the latest pop culture discourse.

[@craigbrison4241]

@@nedyah151 it's true ignorance in action.

[@crisper1614]

Say it with me now. The natural state of a free market is deflation.

[@DoodleHats]

@@craigbrison4241no it didn’t. You can have inflation without increasing the money supply so it’s important those are distinct definitions. This is like middle school level stuff, guys

[@blueguy5588]

The XXI on nummi is sometimes said to represent a 20:1 ratio of base metal to silver (since they were 5% purity).

[@benoitlabrecque4513]

The XXI mark is indicating the 5% purity. 1 part silver for 20 part bronze. (That is what most numismatic books say about it)

[@Jaunyus]

Great video. Can you do one on Byzantine currency? Thank you

[@BigMackWitSauce]

Anyone know if any modern economist have looked back and Roman system and discovered what the Romans actually should have done to save their currency?

[@kakyoin9688]

Eh it’s super hard to say, economy still could’ve been destroyed with stuff like the plague that hit the empire leading into the crisis of the third century.

[@jeffhurtson5211]

There is alot the Romans could have done to save their currency, but could they survive as a nation without debasement? Debasement was used to finance its military, with out it, the nation could have collapsed much sooner or lasted a lot longer.

[@johnbehneman1546]

THANK YOU SO MUCH. A GREAT HISTORY LESSON.

[@maximfunfstuck5741]

you know the economy is in trouble when everybody starts to accept the raid shadow legends ads

[@Т1000-м1и]

This is a very different but a great type of video

[@YFNYC]

$5 is the new $1

[@jonkayl9416]

Very good Video, well presented!!

[@petersclafani4370]

Besides inflation, military problems on the frontiers major plagues cripple the army as well as civilian life.

[@thebandofbastards4934]

Alongside the multiple civil wars.

[@petersclafani4370]

@@thebandofbastards4934 absolutely.

[@antoniomiguelcabrileslocci7862]

Thanks so much for this video!

[@tiggergolah]

Inflating money supply leads to price inflation. Inflating money supply by 30% in less than two years, leads to a LOT of price inflation.

[@-RONNIE]

Thanks for the video it was interesting

[@nERVEcenter117]

Inflation is the increase in the supply of money or currency. Increases in the prices of arbitrary baskets of goods are first- and second-order effects, but are not themselves the definition of inflation.

[@veramae4098]

Wonderful fun book: "Lest darkness fall" Saving the Roman Empire.

[@neilreynolds3858]

The Romans were thugs: Good engineers but thugs. It is a good book though.

[@pyropulseIXXI]

Aurelian is one of my *top faves* of _Roman Emperors,_ with my *first fave* being the _primary Augustus_ himself!

[@costasvrettakos]

What about this minaret at 20:18 😛

[@NomeDeArte]

Lately? I live in Argentina, in here is strong that anything, like 100 points this year, 8 points every month, you don't even know how much cost things.

[@neilreynolds3858]

8% a month rise in food prices is probably about the same as here in CA but the worst part is that the value of assets is going down at the same rate. That eats up more money than prices.

[@oleopathic]

Good video. Thank you so much!

[@Diogenes_43]

Inflation is an expansion of the monetary supply, higher prices are a side effect. More monetary units chasing the same amount of resources makes prices go up. Lowering the silver content in the dinarius made a lot more coins possible but it didn’t increase the amount of wheat that was grown, therefore it took more dinariuses to get the same amount of wheat, etc.

[@FirstLast_Nba]

It's almost like THEY lied deliberately in the video!!!

[@alberto6169]

@@FirstLast_Nba They didn't tho?

[@anarchopupgirl]

@@FirstLast_Nba who's the capital "THEY" you're referring to, mate?

[@Т1000-м1и]

This will be incredible

[@shelbynamels7948]

Someone could do hours and hours of content on how the outcome of wars was influenced by the (in)ability of the contestants to pay for it, and even when the war was over, it had lingering effects in a country's economy.

[@neilreynolds3858]

Inflation tends to lead a country to try to have a successful war to pay their debts by looting another country. War is expensive so it hardly ever works and it makes the situation worse.

[@shelbynamels7948]

@@neilreynolds3858 I was thinking more in terms of a successful economy suddenly having to spend a ton of money on the four Bs: bombs and bullets, beans and boots. A graphic way of looking at it is on Yourube: a running counter of everything a Navy ship fires, from a few bucks from a 50 cal machine gun to a million dollars to launch one cruise missile.

[@Afrologist]

Flooding of silver causing inflation would happen later in Spain too. The Federal Reserve is using interest on debt to prop up an entire industry that makes people destitute while causing consistent inflation of the USD for over a century. Inflation isn't "going away", & I don't think people realize that.

[@reeyees50]

Dont forget the USA goverment is in debt to many nations and vice versa, many nations hold debts to the USA. Capitalism doing what is supposed to, making everyone lose

[@neilreynolds3858]

Didn't you hear? Inflation is transitory. The economic theory that best appeals to politicians is the one that claims that government spending can't cause inflation. I think it's the same theory the Romans used.

[@turnipsociety706]

3:15 what is the evidence for a barter system ? I don't think a barter system has ever been recorded in history within a society. Barter systems normally exist between distant polities, and on a very limited type of goods

[@Makrangoncias]

Inflation isn't the rise in prices, it's the rise of available means of exchange. Thus the name, the inflation of the currency base. Rise of prices is the consequence of inflation.

[@theprofessional1375]

I tend to disagree. To quote „A Treatise on Political Economy“ (1821) by the economist Say: „The experience of English commerce has, however, proved, that a casual *inflation of the price* of domestic, and depression of that of external products, may be the basis of permanent commerce.”

[@luciusirving5926]

Inflation is bad anyway.

[@mrmeowmeow710]

from a history nut damm good video 2 big thumbs up

[@CactusJackIV]

Love the channel, keep up the awesome work!!

[@MrDelgrigorov]

You should put time stamps on that maps you are telling stories on.

[@accreditedbythenicemaninth6495]

Your definition of inflation in the video bothers me. It is the increase in supply of currency, which follows the law of supply and demand. This is what devalues the currency which requires more for the exchange of goods. This is what causes the higher prices over time. It doesn’t just happen. The entity that controls the currency production makes inflation.

[@fetus2280]

Great video mate ...I would be interested to watch more about it :)

[@nick3175]

inflation does not work like that. Debasement is a result, but not a cause. The cause is disbalance in supply and demand. In that particular cases - outflow of capital due wars, and the structure of the Roman Republic and later Empire - center/periphery. Often crisis in the center would lead to outflow of the capital to the periphery and vice versa. Capital, contrary to common knowledge, is not money. Capital are the things and workforce you can buy or hire with money. Money and other financial instruments are financial capital, but in general it follows the events. When the state faces inflation, that means the cost of supply rises. So the state needs more money to cover that cost and prints them, and in this case due the lack of precious metals debase the coins. In modern states the inflation is countered with rising of interest rates. There are certain consequences - the higher rates make the return from investments higher, so attract capital into economy. Also higher rates slow the capital flow, and the demand. Then we measure all that with money.

[@Secretsofsociety]

One possible benefit of the Aes Rude is in the early time when Romes security was not so good it was hard to loot the cities wealth considering it was A. Heavy and B. Just chunks of bronze to everyone else.

[@timlist1178]

That’s crazy that Carthage spent 37x that of Rome monetarily

[@EroticOnion23]

They hired a lot of mercenaries, they are much more expensive

[@Callmecel]

it's wild what a difference "having the ability to mine silver" makes

[@ogzombieblunt4626]

by mining so much silver they inflated their money supply and as a consequence had to pay soldiers more as cost of living rose. This would happen with gold today if we somehow managed to mine an asteroid made out of gold or something. The influx of gold would make it less valuable per oz, and if you relied on a gold standard you would need to pay workers more gold because everything costs more gold now.

[@ogzombieblunt4626]

@@pain5835 Yeah i think you're right, wrote this when i had a lesser understanding of econ... never heard of that effect thanks, thats interesting. I also now know that if you look at wage growth in 2021 it was at an all time high of 5 or 6%, which does mean that influxes of currency (inflation) don't just raise prices, people also get paid more, but usually not enough to compensate for inflation entirely. Which I guess is the cantillion effect misallocating scarce resources.

[@felipefspb]

This was a very interesting video!

[@workingrageaholic]

Gresham's Law - "bad money drives out good" This is name for the phenomenon of people hoarding the quality money, and spending the debased money.

[@LuisAldamiz]

It was not really hoarded that much, it was exported to Asia in exchange of luxury goods (silk, cinnamon, clove, etc.)

[@neilreynolds3858]

@@LuisAldamiz There's a piece of information that few people know. I don't remember where I read it so long ago. Braudel?

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@neilreynolds3858 - No idea. I got it from joining the dots of History and especially trying to understand what happened in the 3rd century leading the inauguration of the Middle Ages by Diocletian the Austericidal. For some reason (read: buying exotic luxuries via Persia and the Ptolemaic route to India), Rome had run out of silver and gold in spite of exploiting the best mines available in Hispania and Dacia. They had almost no other export but silver, they should have closed the port of Berenice, an open wound that drained the precious metals in exchange for perishables, but it was too profittable in terms of taxes or whatever. It's quite ironic that the same "spice madness" made Europe "great again" since the 15th century, although it must be said that they were first driven by "thirst" of precious metals, notably the fabled "gold of Sudan". Mali was too strong for the Portuguese to invade however but they exploited mines in the aptly named Gold Coast and savagely looted Zimbabwe (much like the Moroccans would later loot Songhay, the partial "succesor" of Mali). Later the USA would shift from gold/silver to oil-backed currency and there's where we happen to live.

[@CrazedGamer117]

isn't there a silver mine in Sardinia, or was that later?

[@lucastark1784]

You forgot about the effect of the Germanian fur trade on the Roman economy. For those interested, look up fur inflation to learn more!

[@OldSkoolSP]

Fascinating topic I had no awareness of! We're all out here just scritching out a living, while those big-bellied beasts didn't know how good they had it.

[@evanrudibaugh8772]

One thing to add: you're directly observing Gresham's Law multiple times. This is stated as "bad money drives out good." That is, when supposedly equivalent coins of high and low quality are present, people hoard the first while using the second.

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

Most informative, important &interested Video ...allot Thanks (invicta) channel

[@TheIntoRix]

I see Rome I love

[@justchilling704]

Wasn’t Nero the AntiChrist? As in the beast?

[@kilpatrickkirksimmons5016]

@@justchilling704 Clearly not. Our boy only lasted 4 years

[@elifern889]

@@justchilling704 There's multiple Anti-Christ according to the Bible. Nero is just one of them.

[@billybob7653]

Once again I’m reminded why Aurelian was the best

[@Ishkur23]

I've always been fascinated by ancient economies and how they worked. Who minted the coins? How did the coins get out into circulation? How do you get the people to accept such a radical new standard in the first place? Were there banks that borrowed from the "state treasury" and helped with the distribution of the coins? Who gets to be a bank? If the state controls all coin production, what were taxes for? How did they prevent fraudulent/counterfeit currency? If the mineral deposits dried up, where did they go for more? How did they control inflation? How did they control the money supply AT ALL? Did they even know how much was out there? Did they even have a concept of GDP, employment, interest rates, consumer price index, public debt, etc.... So many questions, sorry. It just seems like the transition from barter to monetary economies requires a whole bunch of things to come into being all at once beyond simple mass adoption of coins. A sudden shock like that usually doesn't happen overnight.

[@allyssontube]

Can you provide evidence for the barter system?