Veni Vidi Credit Crunchi*
John Hawks, commenting news of the Roman credit crunch of 88 BC, and Cicero’s observations on the importance of kicking A on an upstart potentate located a little north of Iraq and Iran to resolve that, notes that the Romans came through OK for another half a millenium or so, more or less.
The glorious days of empire may still be before us!
UK Guardian with the latest finanical news from the first century before common era:
… Cicero, the Roman orator, gave a speech in 66BC in which he alluded to the credit crunch. Cicero was arguing that Pompey the Great should be given military command against Mithridates VI, king of Pontus on the Black sea coast of what is now Turkey. He reminded his audience of events in 88BC, when the same Mithridates invaded the Roman province of Asia, on the western coast of Turkey. Cicero claimed the invasion caused the loss of so much Roman money that credit was destroyed in Rome itself.
The orator told his audience: “Defend the republic from this danger and believe me when I tell you - what you see for yourselves - that this system of monies, which operates at Rome in the Forum, is bound up in, and is linked with, those Asian monies; the loss of one inevitably undermines the other and causes its collapse.”
Philip Kay in the cited Guardian article tries to draw comparisons between the ancient credit crunch and our own, but it’s a bit of a stretch beyond the fact that it happened and it was a global, or maybe for like a known-world phenomenon.
More to the point is that there is nothing new about trouble from upstart potentates in that part of the world, and Cicero advocates A-kickage for the benefit of the republic.
Suetonius, the Twelve Caesars, might be more useful to understanding the modern era, especially now that we’re heading into the reign of Barracus Obamus Caesar, with Hillaria Rodhama Clintonius and her lieutenants dangerously close to the throne. Beware the Ides of January plus V, Obamus.
More classical wisdom from Cicero. There’s something for everyone at the link. Have a party. I like this one:
No sane man will dance
* With apologies to both Gaius Julius Caesar and Cicero, who weren’t exactly pals. Cicero, for all his high-minded blather about honor, duty and freedom, etc., tended to weave and dodge a bit in practice when the going got rough, and was scared sh*tless of GJC, probably with good reason.
Topics: ancient mysteries, money
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 10:15 pm on Tuesday, December 2, 2008
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