Are the quantities of gold that the Roman Empire looted and mined known?
score:7
I'll only provide some data about the mined gold:
- 9 t p.a. "Production in Asturia, Callaecia, and Lusitania (all Iberian Peninsula) alone." (Pliny: Naturalis Historia, 33.21.78, in: Wilson 2002, p. 27)
- 190t during whole "Roman Time" in Northwest Spain (I didn't see a specific time range in the paper) (http://www.academia.edu/2105961/Tertiary_and_Quaternary_alluvial_gold_deposits_of_Northwest_Spain_and_Roman_mining_NW_of_Duero_and_Bierzo_Basins_)
- Duerna 3t p.a. (http://www.constantinethegreatcoins.com/articles/Edmondson_Mining_in_the_Later_Roman_Empire.pdf quotes Mines d'Or romaines d'Espange)
I wasn't able to find a ranking list or data about the now Balkans (though many references to it, there should be data about tat).
Upvote:1
The answer to your question is that these respective quantities are not known.
Modern post-colonial historians routinely speak of how Britain, France, Belgium and other colonial powers looted their colonies by extracting their mineral resources. From this perspective the border between "looting" and "mining" does actually become rather fluid.
Upvote:4
The gold of Tolosa was a treasure in a lake where the celts offered many of their warprizes.
However, in 105 BC, the proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul, Quintus Servilius Caepio, reported the discovery of the gold at Tolosa to the Senate, and was charged with sending the treasure back to Rome. Over 50,000 15 lb. bars of gold and 10,000 15 lb. bars of silver were found. The gold disappeared en route, with Strabo mentioning that "it was on account of laying hands on them that Caepio ended his life in misfortunes...". It was reported that the gold was stolen by a band of marauders, with many contemporaries and modern historians believing that Caepio himself had hired them.
that makes 750 000 roman pounds of gold *0.328.9= 246 675 kg or ~ 250 tons of gold!
EDIT
But however, the account of Poseidonius is more plausible: for he says that the treasure that was found in Tolosa amounted to about fifteen thousand talents (part of it in sacred lakes), unwrought, that is, merely gold and silver bullion
not sure how much that is in kg.
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