How much of an impact did the Roman emperors' civil wars have on their decision to debase the coinage?
Upvote:-1
Nobody knows for sure since there was no annual budget or even centralized government accounting.
However, it seems that the necessity to pay soldiers in the context of usurpation and civil wars was the deciding factor. During the late IInd century, it had become standard practice to pay a bonus to (loyal) troops on the accession of a new emperor; the so-called donativum. Initially, these payments were relatively modest and also quite infrequent as the regins were relatively long. But as the pace of usurpation started to pick up, these bonuses became nearly yearly events and the amounts also went up as usurpers tried to outbid each other.
In my view, the practice of the donativum and the endless civil wars were part of the process which nearly drove the Roman Empire into the ground: the transformation of the Principate into a Military Dictatorship gone mad. With every general in the Empire being a potential emperor, but also at the same time a potential victim of summary execution within the next 6 months if he chose the wrong side, it is a small wonder that financial discipline collapsed entirely.
Upvote:1
Look into the "Crisis of the Third Century." You'll note that the date given in the Perden lecture is towards the end of this period.
The best answer is probably "both" and "neither."
During the ~ 50 years of the Crisis Rome had 26 Emperors: most of them were generals who established their rule through force. Thus your answer is civil war.
But while the various Emperors killed each other, they neglected the borders, and raids from Sassinads, Goths, Vandals, etc were frequent. The Emperors then needed even more troops to defend the borders. Thus your answer is war for empire.
But the reality is the two are related to each other. Foreign powers raided the Empire because they believed they could get away with it: the Empire appeared divided and distracted. But if an Emperor cannot protect his people from outside forces, he loses the respect of his people and his soldiers, and the likelihood of a coup increases.
So the two effects re-enforce each other - internal discord leads to external attacks leads to internal discord. A simple answer - such as '[Civil or Foreign] Wars forced the Emperors to devalue the currency' is almost certain to be incomplete.
More post
- 📝 How did the Allies deliver the Moscow Declaration to the Nazis?
- 📝 Why didn't Turkish become an official language in former Ottoman colonies in the Middle-East and North Africa?
- 📝 Did ancient Romans anticipate the fall of Rome?
- 📝 Can anyone identify this possibly Czechoslovak uniform?
- 📝 Is there any proof that Robin Hood existed?
- 📝 Did Britain briefly recognize Mahmud Barzanji as King of Kurdistan?
- 📝 Is this excerpt from an AI-generated answer re Portugal in WWII based on any real events?
- 📝 What happened in Calcutta in 1961?
- 📝 What was the role of Scotland during the Hundred Years War?
- 📝 What household servants would a Tudor gentleman have had?
- 📝 Easter Islands: were the Islanders starving when found?
- 📝 What was the "concession territory" the IPC lost to Qasim's 1961 Public Law 80?
- 📝 Did the Ottoman Empire lose some control over Egypt during the Crimean War?
- 📝 When were confederate veterans barred from office and voting after the civil war?
- 📝 Does the T-34 tank engine use different strokes in the banks of the pistons?
- 📝 Adapting clothes, weapons, tools and customs from other nations in the middle ages - judging plausability
- 📝 How did militaries dispose of their rubbish in WWII?
- 📝 How do vetoes affect re-votes in US Congress?
- 📝 How objective are books like "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind"? How are they "proven"?
- 📝 Historically, have African nations had a higher proportion of coups than nations on other continents?
- 📝 Was the symbol post-classical Mayans used to represent zero really derived from a depiction of a turtle shell?
- 📝 Why were P-39/P-400 sent to Henderson Field?
- 📝 What is the origin of the subdivisions of Heaven and Hell?
- 📝 What race were the invading Turkish armies of Anatolia?
- 📝 Is Japanese democracy an isolated example?
- 📝 Why did human and civil rights gain a foothold at the time they did?
- 📝 What were the factors that caused the world to move away from the Gold Standard in the 20th century?
- 📝 Was lighter or darker skin pigment valued higher in ancient Greek civilization?
- 📝 Where is Havillah, the land of gold, described in Genesis?
- 📝 Did a British civilian row across the channel and shoot 6 Luftwaffe pilots?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How much of an impact did the Roman emperors' civil wars have on their decision to debase the coinage?
- 📝 How did the American Civil War help the U.S economy recover from the Panic of 1857 given that civil wars are extremely destructive?
- 📝 How much did it cost to attend events at the ancient Roman colosseum?
- 📝 How quickly could the Roman legions march? How did it compare to their cavalry?
- 📝 How much authority did a traveling lord have in England in the late 16th century?
- 📝 How much contact did Sub-Saharan Africa actually have with the rest of the world since the beginning of civilization?
- 📝 How much did the culture of Anatolian Gallic settlers differ from their kin in Gaul?
- 📝 How did the Dutch East India Company (VOC) have so much revenue when they only control small part of Indonesia?
- 📝 What impact did Trotsky's armoured train have on the Russian civil war?
- 📝 How many troops would the White Armies have had at their peak during the Russian Civil War?
- 📝 How much time did people have to take shelter during the Blitz in 1940-41?
- 📝 How did member states of the Holy Roman Empire justify only including part of their land inside it?
- 📝 Did any nation have a demonstrable qualitative advantage in their soldiers of the 18th century, and how did they achieve this?
- 📝 How many troops did the Confederate and Union army have in each year of the Civil War?
- 📝 Did people from the cities of Uruk, Ur and Sumer have knowledge/recollection of how old their cities were (say, recollection after 2000 BCE)?
- 📝 How did the Roman state verify citizenship?
- 📝 How did the ancient Romans count with their fingers?
- 📝 Did Roman unmarried men have a preferred hand and finger for wearing their seal ring?
- 📝 How did early adopters of the automobile fill up their cars?
- 📝 How much did J. Robert Oppenheimer get paid while overseeing the Manhattan Project?
- 📝 How did people have access to ice in warm areas before the industrial revolution?
- 📝 How did Roman armies survive in the desert?
- 📝 How did the Bolsheviks fund their government?
- 📝 How did the existence of the Alps impact the development of Switzerland?
- 📝 In Edwardian England, did poor families arrange to have their children buried in the graves of unrelated adults?
- 📝 Did the Roman Empire have penal colonies?
- 📝 How much did it cost to buy a ticket on the Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul in 1914?
- 📝 Did courtiers of antiquity hold in their pee or did they have common commodes available in the king/queen's court?
- 📝 If salt was scarce and expensive, how did people "salt the earth" to ensure their enemies would stay defeated?
- 📝 After the fall of the Roman Empire, where did their armor go? Was it used by any dark ages forces?