Why was ancient rome government low in money?

Answer 1

Rome was poor because invasions of other clans. Rome also grew poor because the high taxes and when Rome didn't have enough money to pay their army, they had the people's earned money and used it to pay taxes and to pay the army.! yepp that's it because I'm almost done with Rome.! Thnx please use this answer on anything that you can , thanks again! ^.^ ////////// :]

Answer 2

The Romans learned the use of coins from the Greeks, and established their first mint, around 290bc. The introduction of money was made much simpler.

Potraits of Emperors on Roman coins promoted acceptance of the coinage throughout the empire, although utimatley a combination of the rising prices and increasing numbers of forgeries persuaded many Romans to go back to a system of bartering.

Answer 3

A major cause of poverty which existed throughout Roman history was the appropriation of most of the agricultural land by rich landowners who had very large landed estates (latifundia). This left insufficient land for middling and small farmers whose plots of land were enough to sustain their families. many of them became landless and eked out a living through odd jobs, begging or becoming the client of a rich man. An alternative to this was to join the army when it was made professional and serve for a pay for 16 years (later 20) and receive a plot of land in the provinces on retirement.

Another factor was that rich people were deterred from helping the poor through philanthropy because they would be accused to try to harness popular support for their political ends. This could get the person in question subject to political persecution. In the early republic you would be accused of trying to become a king, which was seen as the greatest political 'sin'.

Answer 4

The decline of the Roman economy started in what had been called the crisis of the 3rd century, during which:

a) There were constant invasions across the frontiers of the empire which massively overstretched the army.

b) There was runaway inflation.

Hyperinflation was caused by many years of debasement of the Roman coins. The precious metal content of coins had been continually decreased by emperors to have more coins to finance their expenses and to increase the size and the pay of the army. This devalued the coins. The coins eventually came to have virtually no value, leading to inflation. The effects of hyperinflation were:

1) A breakdown in trade. It became difficult to exchange goods with a worthless currency.

2) Agricultural production on the large landed estates became localised. These estates stopped selling crops to the cities. They concentrated on production for local barter.

3) The urban economy collapsed. Manufacturing in cities shrunk because goods could not be traded.

4) Many people migrated from the cities to the countryside and the population of the cites also shrunk.

5) The owners of the large estates employed the migrants from the cities as servile labour. These people lost their rights and became tied to their landlords.

6) Distresses peasants, who were leaseholders on the large estates, were leaving their land in search for better opportunities. They were tied to the land and turned into servile labour as well.

6) The tax revenue of the state decreased, while expenditure increased as the size of the army increased. The mentioned invasions also led to greater reliance on a much expanded cavalry, which was even more expensive.

7) Taxation was increased and was raised in the form of demanding goods, which did not help the economy. Emperor Diocletian resorted to confiscating goods. Taxation remained a big burden on the people for the rest of the empire.

Answer 5

The ancient city of Rome was by no means poor. It was the center of the empire and the wealth from the provinces flowed in. Remember though, that the wealth mainly flowed into the elite. The lower classes received very little and this was generally in the form of "bread and circuses". Modern Rome is a mixture of both rich and poor, just as are all major cities.

Answer 6

The Romans originally did not have a weak economy they established thriving networks around the four corners of the empire and with China, India, Persia, Arabia and Ethiopia.

The decline of the Roman economy started in what has been called the Crisis of the Third Century, during which:

a) There were constant invasions across the frontiers of the empire which massively overstretched the army

b) There was a string of military rebellions and usurpations with as many as 35 usurper emperors. Two parts of the empire broke away for a short time.

c) There was runaway inflation.

Hyperinflation was caused by many years of debasement of the Roman coins. The silver and gold content of silver and gold coins had been continually decreased by many emperors to make more coins to finance their expenses and to increase the size and the pay of the army. This devalued the coins. The coins eventually came to have virtually no value. They had as little as only 5 % of precious metal. This led to runaway inflation. The usurper emperors made this worse by issuing their own coins, which further increased the supply of money. The effects of out of control inflation were:

1) A breakdown in trade. It became difficult to exchange goods with a worthless currency.

2) The urban economy collapsed. Manufacturing in cities shrunk because their goods, which were for long-distance trade, could not be traded.

3) Agricultural production on the large landed estates became localised. Sales of crops for the cities decreased and these estates concentrated on production for local barter.

4) Many people migrated from the cities to the countryside and the population of the cities shrunk.

5) The owners of the large estates employed the migrants from the cities as servile labour. These people lost their rights and became tied to their landlords.

6) Distressed peasants who were leaseholders on the large estates were leaving their land in search for better opportunities. They were often turned into servile labour in the large estates as well.

6) The tax revenue of the state decreased, while expenditure increased as the size of the army increased. The mentioned invasions also led to greater reliance on a much expanded cavalry, which was expensive.

7) Taxation was increased and was raised in the form of demanding goods, which did not help the economy. Emperor Diocletian resorted to confiscating goods. These were ended by Constantine, but taxation remained a burden on the people for the rest of the history of the empire.

Constantine managed to bring inflation under control by scrapping the silver coins and amassing large quantities of gold to create a viable gold coinage. However, this benefitted only those who could afford gold coins. The masses had to make do with copper token money (the follis) which had been created because the previous coins had collapsed. The follis was very vulnerable to inflation. The overall result of the crisis was a decline of the economy of the empire which became fragmented and localised. Trade did not regain its previous levels, the economy remained less based on money and the gap between the rich and the poor

Answer 7

yes they were