19th century economics: monetary management in the Roman period

Even in the Roman period they knew how to subtract zeros from the coin

In the period that we are reviewing, many and varied funds are circulating in the markets, in the local and imperial maintenance, and this is due to several factors: first, the industry and craft are developing, including local marketing and exports; Second - with the development of the art, a kind of study workshops arose that involved payment, tuition fees for the trainees; Thirdly - silver and gold flowed into Israel as an integral part of Diaspora Judaism such as the "Presidential Tax" and more, and alongside this flowed money in the form of payments and donations, such as the purchase of grave plots at the state burial site in Beit Shaarim; Fourth - the Roman soldiers who stayed permanently in Israel demanded payments in hard currency; Fifth - the rise in the standard of living and living, and when with it the value of the currency decreased, which in turn caused the price of produce to rise, and this is how we will understand, against this background, the testimony of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi regarding the doubling of the workers' wages; Sixth - the monetary inflation that afflicted the Roman Empire towards the middle of the third century CE, the first signs of which were already seen during the presidency of Rabbi. And as evidence - it is said about Rabbi Hillel, son of Rabbi Wells, that in his possession was found a garment whose price was no less than "thirty rivua dinars", "and she gave it (and gave it) to the rabbi, and (the rabbi) found in it (an act of) hybrids, and they burned it" (Talmud Yerushalmi Klaim, chap. XNUMX Lev p. XNUMX); Seventh - the Presidency, like other wealthy entities in the country, circulates a lot of money, and it is said, for example, that the head of the household of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi was richer than the Persian king, let alone the president himself, and more of that kind.

In Sage literature there are countless testimonies about the circulation of coins that "circulated" in the "Middle Eastern cycle", which teaches first - about the region being an important junction of extensive economic activity, local and international; Second - on the knowledge of the members of the Sanhedrin about the economic taps; Thirdly - about the connection between being arbiters of halachic law and even judges and the dimensions of punishment that were sometimes imposed on the guilty; Fourthly - about the relationship forged between the leadership of the Land of Israel and the Roman authorities and below are examples: 1 - dinar, silver dinar and gold dinar - the aureus, the Mishnah established a measure of 200 zoz, that is, dinars or 100 zoz (dinars) for writing, and the Jerusalem Talmud, that In this case we are dealing with 20 dinars, with the difference depending on the changes in the currency's values ​​towards the middle of the third century CE.

2 - Mena, when in the days of the late Taniim and the beginning of the generation of the Amorites, its value reached about 100 dinars and at the beginning of the third century CE, the mana reached only one dinar. Then the value of the portion will come according to the price reform of the emperor Diocletian.

3 - Antoninius, who found his place in the basket of coins in the Roman cycle in light of the decision of the Roman emperor Caracalla in 215 AD, when his weight was less than one and a half of the dinar, and as a result of the imperial reform it replaced the old dinar. The dinar was re-minted and its value depreciated. That is, in the new currency the percentage of silver increased by 25% and its ratio to gold was 1:9, while the dinar was 1:12. And so the coin lacked 25% silver, which Caracalla could therefore increase the output.

In the Mishnah we read that "gold buys money (gold is considered here as a commodity and not as a coin) (which involved a change in the days of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi in 211 CE, when gold was taken out of circulation, and thereby became a commodity, and silver a currency) and money (coins) does not buy the gold The copper buys the silver, the silver does not buy the copper. The ugly ones (whose form was erased, or were disfigured) buy the beautiful ones (the coins that go in the markets), and the beautiful ones do not buy the bad ones. A token (coin that has no shape on it) buys the coin, and the coin does not buy the token. Movables buy the currency, and the currency does not buy the movables. This is the rule - all movable property will buy each other (in exchange)" (Mishnat Baba Metzia 1:XNUMX).
On the face of it, it sounds strange, but the meaning is that the gold, silver, copper, token, and more are defined as pure metal, that is, as goods, and goods cannot be bought from money, that is, money, but the other way around. And for example, a gold dinar is equal to 25 silver dinars, as the Tosefta instructed us, and therefore he buys the money wherever he is, and this is because the attraction of the gold is what he buys. In light of this, the Sages determined what is fraud and what is not fraud, detailing the cases in question, and even discussing the differences between an artisan and a layman.

Immediately afterwards, the Mishnah discusses a very important matter such as: "How much will the rock be missing (from its weight, when due to its wear and tear from much use, and it will not be able to recover from the deception?) and there will be no deception in it? Rabbi Meir says: Four isrin (meaning four aces - Roman coin, and then fraud exists), an isar to a dinar (namely 1:24, because the value of the rock is four dinars, and the value of the rock is 24 isarim = aces). Rabbi Yehuda says: Four pounds (for a rock) one pound for a dinar (ie 1:12). Rabbi Shimon says: eight pounds, two pounds to a dinar" (Mishnah, Baba Metzia 5:XNUMX).

Well, first - before us is proof beyond the archaeological-numismatic findings about the circulation of Roman coins in the Land of Israel; Second - the involvement of the sages of the Sanhedrin in the relationship between the values ​​of the coins; Thirdly - the Sanhedrin functioned to a certain extent as determining the value ratio between currencies, although the ones who ultimately determined the values ​​were the Romans on the one hand and market forces on the other. And in any case, the Sanhedrin requested to create a kind of financial silence in the markets in this way; Fourth - historical processes also have something to say about this. That is, the difference between the changing ratio and the other lies in the decrease in the value of gold in light of the takeover of the gold mines in Dacia by the Roman army during the reign of Emperor Trianus in 106 CE, and there are some scholars of the Talmud, such as Raba, who similarly determined the ratio between a silver dinar and a gold dinar in light of his personal approach.

In another case, a rabbi, the Babylonian Amora, said that he borrowed gold dinars from the daughter of Rabbi Haya, because the value of the coin had increased, and in his words: "At the end of the Ikor, the dinars (the dinars) became more expensive" (Talmud Babli, Med. p. XNUMX), which apparently proves the lack of The stability of gold. Rabbi Haya declared there that the gold is a "distortion" and not "fruits". That is, gold remained stable while the value of silver changed negatively.

All this is understandable against the background of the reform of the Roman emperor Caracalla in 215 CE which reduced the weight of the aureus and introduced the Antoninian under it into circulation as a double dinar. In other words, we are facing a devaluation of the dinar.
We saw above that officially the silver metal was valued in relation to gold according to the ratio of 1:9, and it was preceded by a ratio valuation of 1:12, but in truth this was an inflationary scam in order to slow down the pace of reducing the value of the silver coins. This policy was fully understood by the population who tended to see gold as the stable standard.

It is interesting to follow the following changes that took place in the currencies to stand for the nature and nature of the monetary problem. During the presidency of Rabbi Shimon ben Gamaliel (approximately 140 CE onwards) the penny was six of the isar (the Roman "s"), while in the days of Rabbi Haya, about sixty years later, the penny dropped to one eighth of the isar, which characterized the beginning of inflation in the Roman world from the second quarter of the third century CE onwards, and the Jerusalem Talmud clarifies: "And how much is a penny? One of eight in the Italian prison. Give: the Issar - one of twenty-four silver dinars. Silver dinar - Id from twenty-four to a gold dinar. Rabbi Haya gave: Silea (rock) - four dinars... one salkin of thirty-two above. Rabbi Zaira said: In the days of Rabbi Simai (it was) and our elders made them one of the twenty-four above..." (Yerushalmi Kiddoshin chapter XNUMX Noah p. XNUMX). How interesting, then, how the sages of the Sanhedrin acted in order to create an important relationship between the currencies, especially during the period of inflation mentioned above.

At the beginning of the third century CE, sages set a new value for the "penny", when the motivation for this was based on changes in the monetary system, and it is interesting that until now the penny was not used as a real monetary unit, that is, as a monetary unit, and its revival serves as a faithful mirror to the monetary reform of Caracalla in 215 per cent.

When sages sat and calculated the value of the penny, they continued to know the ratio between silver and gold at 1:12, and "Antoninus" at the ratio of 1:9 to gold. Therefore, for them the "Antoninus", who saw it as a new type of dinar, was actually worth the 32nd part of the gold dinar (the aureus), and as a result, as a piece of paper, the value of the "penny" was the 192nd part of the dinar ( or the 32nd part of the ma'ah), was its contemporary, real value, the 144th part of the dinar (or the 24th part of the ma'ah). This was their perception when they announced that the penny was one-sixth of the Italian Isar and not one-eighth of the Isar as it had been until now, or the 24th part of the maa, and not the 32nd part).
Such calculations indicate a declaration of disbelief in the official overvaluation of money and reliance on a fixed ratio between copper, silver and gold. This definitely indicates the stability of gold. That is, we have before us, again and again, the direct and poignant involvement of the Sages who tried to reach an ideal state in the economic economy of the Land of Israel, and even to the point of a complete refusal to recognize the principle of the silver metal as a monetary base and distinguishing it as a stumbling block to the economy of the Land of Israel in the Roman era. And so they thought and set a new value of about a quarter of a drop in the value of the bold silver dinar, which is the "Antoninus".

We have already drawn a number of conclusions in this regard: first - no monetary move could but come in coordination with the Roman government; Secondly - these moves point to basic knowledge and of course to quite a bit of courage among sages; Thirdly - it is not at all clear whether and to what extent the instructions and guidelines of Sages, as well as in many other areas, have caught on among the Jewish public as a whole in the Land of Israel.

So far we have seen that in the definition of the "ma'at" they considered being a currency that passes to the merchant and is traded in the markets in general, or in relation to the degree of their stability. However, in light of the Tosefta from the time of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi and Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar, Sages observed that "fruits" can be replaced with "ma'ot", and in light of this it can be seen that the value of copper coins decreases much faster than other metals, and those who accumulate them can convert them into gold , and for Rabbi Yehuda the President the principle of the stability of the currency lies much more than its being common in the markets in terms of transfer to the merchant. There is no doubt that the President acted in part according to imperial Roman interests.

In the second century CE, we saw that silver is a "distortion" and gold - "fruits", and if Rabbi Haya, Rabbi, Rabbi Yochanan, the president himself and Rish Lakish, claimed that "money buys gold", that is, despite the fact that silver continued to be used as a measure with The monetary reform of the emperor Diocletianus, the Sages suggested, that gold is a "distortion". That is, before us is a change of position in light of the loss of trust in money even before the days of anarchy in the Roman Empire, in the third century AD.
In this framework, debt and loan rates were calculated according to the "denarius" and paid according to the "uraeus" and guarantees were given according to the value of the "uraeus" or even the value of gold jewelry.

Over the years, the use of gold tokens (worn coins) increased and it became clear that hoards and hoards of gold were uncovered and opened and different types of gold coins re-entered a certain type of circulation, including the "Uraeus" of the beginning of the second century CE.
A radical price increase was not recorded until 270 CE, and when gold and silver were not at hand, the population had to purchase products in "reduced" silver or copper, or whatever was in circulation at the time. So even if the prices did not change radically, in terms of gold, she had to pay in a larger amount of coins, as long as of course the exchangers agreed to convert silver and gold with an appropriate amount of "missing" coins at the market prices. Until the days of Emperor Galen, the ratio between the "Antoninianus" and the "Oreus" remained more or less stable and stood at a ratio of 1:25. At the beginning of the third century AD, there was a strong need for a stable money circulation rich in large quantities of coins. And this actually means prosperity in the production of copper coins in local mines, and these prospered more and more with the decline in the value of the Antoninianus.

Until the middle of the third century CE, alongside the "missing" official circulation, there were earlier dinars that were purchased by the authorities in approximately 250 CE, and which the following addition, as unsurprising as it may be, serves as a faithful specular for this situation: "... (if) there were If he has false oaths (of the days of Ben Khosba's rebellion) and Jerusalem oaths (of the days of the Great Rebellion), there is no blasphemer (converting them, redeeming them and concealing their exchange to Jerusalem) on them, and if he blasphemed he did not buy tithes. But the coin issued there by the first kings (emperors such as Marcus Antonius or Augustus), which are still issued in the market (in circulation)" (Tosefta Meshar Shani 6:XNUMX). Beyond the political aspect (relation to rebellions), the Sage source discusses in general the subject of money exchange and adapts itself to the monetary changes in the Roman Empire.

And the Jerusalem Talmud states in this context that "(Din) is a currency that is disqualified (for use) and the kingdom (the Roman Empire) accepts it, Rabbi Yossi in the name of Rabbi Yonatan (claims that its value is) as a token (as worthless or as having the lowest value, according to law). Rabbi Haya in the name of Rabbi Yonatan - as a coin of the first kings (which went out of circulation, but is still considered silver (and therefore convertible)" (Yerushalmi Masher Shani, beginning of chapter XNUMX).