This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Technological advancesTechnological advances• Smelting iron ore (Primarily for military)
• Chariots
• Battle ships
• Irrigation– Specifically in riverine empires– Requires large-scale organization
(government)
Trade: PhoeniciaTrade: Phoenicia• Early stage:
– High value goods only– From the Celts to the Indus valley
• Phoenicians:– Established by 3000BCE (recorded history)– Home ports: Sidon & Tyre in today’s Lebanon– Fully specialized sailors & merchants– Colonies around Mediterranean (Carthage)– Tin from England, circumnavigated Africa(?)
Trade: Greece (origins)Trade: Greece (origins)
Mycenaean civilization (14-12 c. BCE)• Knossos, Island of Crete
Trade: Greece (growth)Trade: Greece (growth)• Population pressure generates colonies
• Colonies generate food surplus
• Allowing:– “Old” cities (Aegean) specialize in wine & oil
• High value goods• High income for core cities• Economic interdependency
• Colonies tied to “Empire” by commercial relations & NOT political control
Golden Age of Athens (500BC)Golden Age of Athens (500BC)• Banking, insurance, etc.
• Coined money (1st in Lydia):– Reduces transaction costs– Established issuer reputation / credibility – Virtuous circle:
• Greeks distribute silver coins throughout colonies• Athens secures major silver source in Laurium• Athenians gain dominance with triremes
• Conflicts & doom: Persians & Sparta
Alexander the Great (300BC)Alexander the Great (300BC)• Hellenistic culture, language, & trade
• Greeks dominate civil-service & trading
• The Empire quickly collapses but the culture & commerce remain
• Alexandria:– 500000+ population– Library– Trade in staple goods & a large variety of
luxuries from as far as China
The Rise of Rome (500-200BC)The Rise of Rome (500-200BC)• Rome combined 2 imperial “paradigms”
– Maritime (Phoenicia, Greece):• Loosely connected colonies• Food assured through shipping• Ships can be held in reserve• Low costs; especially as size increases
– Land-based (Persia):• Direct political control of colonies• Need for standing army• High costs; especially as perimeter increases
Rome (500-200BC)Rome (500-200BC)• Society & culture: Small independent
farmers with high regard for property rights
• Legal system:– Freedom of enterprise – Commerce tolerated – Enforcement of contracts & property rights– Settlement of disputes– A uniform & coherent legal framework for
economic activity throughout the empire
Roman Empire (200BC-14AD)Roman Empire (200BC-14AD)• Food surplus is taken to a new level:
– Huge fleets:
wheat from Sicily, North Africa, & Egypt– 200,000 of the Roman plebeians got free food
• Pax Romana (The “Roman Dream”):– Road system used for military deployment– Legions “pacifying” the periphery– Piracy & brigandage very low
Roman Empire (14-114AD)Roman Empire (14-114AD)• Population rises to 100 million
• Roman free artisan’s real earnings
=
1850 British factory worker
=
1929 Italian worker.
• BUT: Slave labor fluctuates with military expansions (military business cycle)
Trouble in Paradise (Early 200s)Trouble in Paradise (Early 200s)
• Barbarian incursions & rising piracy– Increasing reliance on mercenaries
– Low moral & reduced effectiveness
• Problem:– Imperial economy must pool many
small-scale surpluses through taxation
– This depends on the flow of commerce
Trouble in Paradise (continued)Trouble in Paradise (continued)
• Localized labor shortages– Slaves were scarce & more prone to revolt– “problem spots” pacified with consumption
• Monetary inflation– Coin debasement due to budget deficits– Rising defense costs
• Internal corruption (private & public)
Trouble in Paradise (Late 200s)Trouble in Paradise (Late 200s)• Diocletian:
– Fixed wages & prices to fight inflation– Professions & offices become hereditary– Inflation prompted “levies in kind”
• Demonetizing the economy• Production for market & specialization declines• Undermining the basis for the imperial economy
– Taxes rise• Most nobles were excluded• Commoners seek protection (physical & fiscal) at
estates which start to resemble feudal castles
The Big PictureThe Big Picture• Technological advances are confined:
– Roads, aqueducts, architecture– No labor-saving technology
• No incentive for slaves/farmers/workers to innovate since they will not reap the benefits
• Small privileged classes devoted to:– War, government, arts & sciences, &
conspicuous consumption
• Surplus is almost only imperially based
Towards the Dark AgesTowards the Dark Ages• Barbarians shrink territory & commerce
• Split: East & West
like a corporation spinning off a failing subsidiary—the Western empire):– East: Byzantium (Constantinople) survives
until the Ottomans (15th c.)• Probably due to better management & less
parasitic nobility
– West: Holy Roman Empire (Rome) implodes under increasing barbarian pressure by 476