Book's Chapter by GILLES F BRANSBOURG
Colonial Geopolitics and Local Cultures in the Hellenistic and Roman East (3rd century BC-3rd century AD), 2021
Roman currency and imperialism 'For let none of them have currency or weights or measures of thei... more Roman currency and imperialism 'For let none of them have currency or weights or measures of their own; instead let them use ours.' (Dio 52.30.9). This is how in the 3rd century AD Cassius Dio described Maecenas supposedly advising Augustus to impose the Roman monetary system all over the Empire. However, The Roman conquest of the East did not lead to classic colonial alignment with the metropolis – Rome. The Greek-speaking East developed a peculiar synthesis, where local practice influenced and was influenced at the same time by the conqueror while retaining a high degree of diversity. Roman colonialism, if such concept is adapted to the complexity of the way Roman dominions grew, allowed for a rather large degree of political autonomy at a local level, very well reflected in the monetary sphere.
Money Rules! The Monetary Economy of Egypt, from Persians until the Beginning of Islam, 2019
Through a comparative and parallel use of papyrological and numismatic materials, the paper analy... more Through a comparative and parallel use of papyrological and numismatic materials, the paper analyses the processes and the monetary reforms at play behind the Roman "hyper-inflation" of the mid-4th century CE, a century during which prices rose by a factor of 50,000. The Fel Temp Reparatio coinages that marked the 1100th birthday of the Urbs in 348 brought inflation to its climax, with prices jumping about twenty-fold a in matter of two or three years in 351-354. A parallel increased supply of silver coinage was allowed by the removal of silver from the existing billon coinage. These mutations led ultimately to the bimetallic gold:bronze bullion-based price system that defines the later Byzantine period.
The Uncertain Past, 2022
This chapter presents a new estimate of the value of coinage in circulation in the mid-second cen... more This chapter presents a new estimate of the value of coinage in circulation in the mid-second century CE Roman empire. More than 25 years ago, Richard Duncan-Jones revolutionized ancient economic history by offering a first projection through numismatic and statistical methods. At more than 20 bn sesterces, his estimate implied an anomalously high monetization ratio given past and current estimates of Roman GDP, an issue that economic historians have had to deal with ever since. In the first half, a review of the numismatic evidence points to a much smaller role for gold than posited by Duncan-Jones. The second half presents a new model of the money supply. It uses Monte Carlo simulation to estimate the value of centrally-minted precious metal coins produced annually under Hadrian, and then the total coinage in circulation ca 160 CE. Allowance for various uncertainties and other, minor components of the coinage suggests a money supply of around 16 bn sesterces, with less gold and more silver than expected. However, this is not quite low enough to explain away the monetization ratio, implying a higher GDP and more trade-oriented economy than currently thought. Two appendices contain lengthy but essential technical discussions of the assumptions in the estimate.
DEBASEMENT: manipulation of coin standards in pre-modern monetary systems, 2020
he Roman world of the third and fourth centuries experienced inflation on a hitherto unknown scal... more he Roman world of the third and fourth centuries experienced inflation on a hitherto unknown scale. During the
early 270s, prices in Egypt increased about 20-fold. The
denarius, once a valuable silver coin, turned into a unit of
account of which tens and soon hundreds were needed to
express current prices. These orders of magnitude were,
however, dwarfed during the fourth-century process of
monetary debasement. Prior to Diocletian’s Currency Edict
of 301, a Roman pound of gold carried an official price of
60,000 denarii. By the end of the same century, it was worth 3
3 billion denarii. Most commodities followed a comparable path. This was equivalent to a 12.5% annual inflation rate over 90 years, considering that prices stabilised in the 390s. At the same time, the Roman coinage system went through considerable changes...
Argentum Romanorum sive Barbarorum. 2e rencontres internationales de numismatique (12-13 octobre 2017, Caen), 2020
After the Tetrarchic monetary reforms in 301, the combination of the depletion of silver through ... more After the Tetrarchic monetary reforms in 301, the combination of the depletion of silver through the coining of billon, together with a lack of public trust and a sustained period of civil wars between imperial pretenders in need of cash resources, led to the disappearance of pure silver coinage. A second attempt to introduce a gold / silver coinage system, complemented by pure copper, occurred from the mid-4th century. By the end of the century, that had failed as well. Rather than a sheer lack of metal, it seems more likely that the progressive phasing-out of silver coinage during that period resulted from conscious monetary policy choices. The new sources of gold in the second half of the 4th century provided the Empire with much higher metallic wealth. Gold was more suited to its needs, as the Empire had to handle higher military and tributary pressure from outside. This supported the implementation of a coinage system based on a single metal – gold –, and thus, as an additional advantage, precluding potential fluctuations of value ratios between silver and gold.
Rome et les provinces. Monnayage et Histoire. Mélanges offerts à Michel Amandry, 2017
Le monnayage de bronze dit “des préfets de la flotte” tient une part importante dans l’oeuvre de ... more Le monnayage de bronze dit “des préfets de la flotte” tient une part importante dans l’oeuvre de Michel Amandry, qui
a pris la suite de Max von Bahrfeldt sur ce sujet. En effet, ce ne sont pas moins de cinq catalogues raisonnés, avec leurs
révisions, qui ont été publiés par Michel entre 1986 et 2008. À ces articles, nous pouvons joindre plusieurs travaux de
réflexion ainsi que bien évidemment les sections correspondantes du Roman Provincial Coinage, dont Michel est l’un
des éminents contributeurs.
La reprise des frappes de bronze par des autorités romaines, interrompues depuis Sylla, n’avait certes pas attendu
Marc-Antoine : plusieurs séries sont émises sous l’autorité de Jules César et des fils de Pompée, Octave lui-même
produisant un monnayage abondant probablement de dupondii et d’asses à partir de 401. Mais les séries orientales de
Marc-Antoine, produites vraisemblablement entre 38 et 37 principalement en Grèce, échappent à l’ordinaire.
Outre la présence auprès
de Marc Antoine d’Octavie, deuxième femme romaine après Fulvia à être montrée de son vivant sur un monnayage
romain, le très large éventail des dénominations allant du sesterce au quadrans, l’introduction des unités monétaires
divisionnaires romaines en Orient, la résurrection du tressis et du dupondius, la symbolique utilisée pour rendre le
nouveau système intelligible, le bilinguisme et l’émission de très gros bronzes pour les sesterces, tous ces éléments
représentent autant d’innovations monétaires majeures.
NUMISMATICA LOVANIENSIA 21 ÉTALONS MONÉTAIRES ET MESURES PONDÉRALES ENTRE LA GRÈCE ET L'ITALIE, 2017
Il n’est pas douteux que la simultanéité dans le temps de la brève apparition de la marque XVI su... more Il n’est pas douteux que la simultanéité dans le temps de la brève apparition de la marque XVI sur des séries de denarii, de l’allègement des séries de bronze et du remplacement de l’as par le sestertius en tant qu’unité de compte implique une tentative de réforme monétaire autour de 141–140 av. J.-C. Il nous reste à analyser
les modalités et le pourquoi de cette réforme monétaire de longue durée, puisqu'à l'époque impériale il est clair que le denarius, qui avait été créé en tant qu'unité valant 10 asses de bronze, vaut désormais 16 asses de standard pondéral réduit.
Le Gouvernement des Citoyens, 2017
Contribution to Le Gouvernement des Citoyens, discussing the opportunities and conditions for the... more Contribution to Le Gouvernement des Citoyens, discussing the opportunities and conditions for the advancement of French bilingual education in France and abroad.
Auguste et l'Asie mineure, 2017
Coins themselves appear in Lydia at the end of the VIIth century BCE. But the monetary use of met... more Coins themselves appear in Lydia at the end of the VIIth century BCE. But the monetary use of metal is much older. Mesopotamian tablets, the weight units’ origins of the monetary vocabulary, the pictorial representations or archeological discoveries of fragments of diverse metals demonstrate the traditional use of gold, silver, copper, tin, bronze or iron in the exchanges of the Near East and the Mediterranean regions of the Bronze Age. The relative abundance of precious metals and the degree of wealth reached by various cultures then lead to the implementation of profoundly different monetary traditions. If Greece, Asia Minor and the economic space under Greek influence evolve towards coinages dominated by silver standards, using gold at the high end of the monetary scale, if gold and silver circulate in relative abundance in the Persian world, Gaul and Iberia even before coinage spreads, vast areas remain dedicated to uncoined bronze – like much of Italy except the Hellenized south. When Rome adopts finally silver coinage, bronze remains at the heart of its monetary thinking.
The Greek world finally shifts toward bronze coinage from the IVth BCE onward. But base metal is confined to the low end of its denominational range, very light coins implying a high fiduciary degree. While coinage is considered as a good in itself based on its metal value for Rome, it is considered as proceeding from the law in Greece, hence the ideal construction synthesized by Platon with the mintage of precious metal for the outside world and of a fiduciary currency for internal needs.
These two concepts of currency had to mutually influence each other. If Augustus became the head of a politically unified space covering the whole Greco-Roman world, the honor of having implemented a system deriving from both traditions belongs to the officials in charge of Marc Antony’s monetary policy. During this fascinating period bronze rises higher through the scale of monetary values, increases its fiduciary component and replaces silver as far as the archetypal Roman unit of account, the sestertius, is concerned. If Egypt influenced Marc Antony’s monneyers Marc-Antoine, the introduction of brass under Caesar and then Augustus proceeds from Asia Minor. Seemingly originating with some of Mithidates VI’s issues, this material occupies a status by many respects intermediate between precious and basic metal. Beside copper that dominates the lower divisional series, brass serves as basis to the sesterii and dupondii minted under Augustus shortly after Actium in Asia Minor. This experiment is then transposed in Rome, where this mintage will contribute to introduce a higher fiduciary component within the Roman monetary practice. In a sense, this reform lies at the core of a monetary thinking where nominalism competes against metallism as the legitimate source of value. This tension was promised to a bright future.
Late Antiquity in Contemporary Debate, 2017
Modern states mostly fund themselves through taxation. Although other resources, like royal or te... more Modern states mostly fund themselves through taxation. Although other resources, like royal or temple lands, plunder, tributary extraction from subject communities and hybrid private–public contributions from oligarchies, played a larger role with ancient states, regular direct or indirect taxation represented a significant source of funding.1 The Roman Empire––notably from the time of Diocletian’s reforms at the turn of the fourth century CE––brought tax mechanisms to a degree of sophistication unknown on such a grand scale. Income tax, inheritance tax, sales tax, customs dues, regular wealth assessments, and their corollary (litigation, corruption, deficits, coinage manipulations, and official moral justifications of all sorts)––most of the components displayed by modern tax regimes were alive and well.
We shall retrace from ancient sources the path that led a predatory entity––the Roman Republic––into becoming a complex, fully–fledged fiscal regime on an imperial scale. We shall compare imperial discourse with its actual practice. Finally, after a journey across eight centuries of Roman fiscal thinking, we shall settle in sixth–century Roman Egypt in order to assess how taxation was practically implemented–– at least, at that time in that region of the Empire.
Key quotes from ancient sources form the backbone of this work until its last section. The main reason behind that choice lies in the fact that we aim at a comparison between the principles and the realities of Roman tax doctrine. As later Roman Egypt is by far the best documented case, none of what preceded it had the prerequisite that could have led to solid numerical estimates of tax–extraction rates. Moreover, extensive qualitative studies of the Roman tax system are available and there was no need to reinvent the wheel.2 We shall follow the emergence and progressive assertion of Roman fiscal doctrine until it reaches its most fully achieved state of development during the later imperial period. These ancient testimonies will make evident the gradual shift that transformed a predatory process into the procedures of a state sharing common values and interests with all its free inhabitants.
Our final conclusions will challenge some assumptions often linked with Late Antiquity: an overall weakening of the state, an increasingly parasitic landed aristocracy, and a shrinking class of small landowners.
This chapter is a contribution to LIBERA CURIOSITAS MÉLANGES D'HISTOIRE ROMAINE ET D'ANTIQUITÉ TA... more This chapter is a contribution to LIBERA CURIOSITAS MÉLANGES D'HISTOIRE ROMAINE ET D'ANTIQUITÉ TARDIVE OFFERTS À JEAN-MICHEL CARRIÉ. It addresses the topic of the decline and fall of the western half of the Empire through close examination and attempt at quantifying the progressive dislocation of its fiscal structure. Its situation is assessed through a comparative analysis of the relative efficiency of the the eastern Roman Empire tax mechanisms.
Une lecture numérique de certains dossiers de financement issus des archives de la famille financ... more Une lecture numérique de certains dossiers de financement issus des archives de la famille financière des Sulpicii de Pouzzoles au Ier siècle p.C. nous permet de suggérer que le niveau de rémunération et de garanties exigé par les prêteurs d'argent pouvait s'adapter à l'évolution du risque représenté par un emprunteur. Ceci impliquerait l'existence de certains des mécanismes nécessaires au fonctionnement d'un marché du crédit au sein de cette région économiquement névralgique du monde romain.
A numerical reading of the financing files from the archives of the Sulpicii family of Pozzuoli from the 1st century AD allows us to suggest that the interest rate and the guarantee levels requested by money lenders could be adapted according to the risk of the borrower. This would imply that some of the necessary mechanisms for a fully-fledged credit market existed in this economically strategic region of the Roman Empire.
This contribution deals with the FX market mechanisms, participants and room for manoeuvre left t... more This contribution deals with the FX market mechanisms, participants and room for manoeuvre left to the ECB and the political authorities of the area since the Monetary Union started between the countries that ratified this Treaty.
Fides, Contributions to Numismatics in Honor of Richard B. Witschonke, New York, 2015., 2015
The collapse of the Roman heavy bronze coinage weight standards during the 3rd century BC is a we... more The collapse of the Roman heavy bronze coinage weight standards during the 3rd century BC is a well-known fact. Between the series following the Roman libra of 288 scruples’ standard (c. 323 g), assigned by M. Crawford to the years 280-270 BC, and some of the light series of the years 210-200 BC, the weight loss is over 90%. The Roman state initially experienced an obvious monetary panic as it lacked the means to fund its war effort after Trasimene and Cannae. In a matter of few years, its subsequent decisions affecting its coinage structure testify to a heightened awareness of what was at stake as far as the financial aspect of the war was concerned. Through the debasement of the bronze coinage, the recourse to a short-lived gold coinage and the establishment of a stable silver coinage, the Republic managed to raise additional resources and reduce its liabilities while improving its financial capacities. In doing so, it designed a monetary policy aimed at supporting a successful war economy.
Fiscal Regime and the Political Economy of Premodern States, Apr 15, 2015
The satisficing Roman Imperial fiscal regime of its first two centuries could operate as long as... more The satisficing Roman Imperial fiscal regime of its first two centuries could operate as long as the potential resources easily at its disposal significantly exceeded its needs. As the second century CE unfolded, several mechanisms at the core of the Imperial extraction structure became more and more problematic with, first and foremost, its essentially tributary nature. Diocletian’s conception of standardized taxable units of accounts enabling the state universally to assess the contributory potential of the land and of its workforce, human or animal, was unquestionably revolutionary. Even after the eventual fall of the Roman Empire in the West, it will deeply influence the way later European modern states will define their taxation powers once Europe started to emerge from its feudal fragmentation and rediscovered its Roman past.
Books, Edited Volumes, Dissertation by GILLES F BRANSBOURG
Préface
Au moment de rédiger ces lignes, je m’aperçois que quatre années presque jour pour jou... more Préface
Au moment de rédiger ces lignes, je m’aperçois que quatre années presque jour pour jour se sont
écoulées depuis la soutenance de « Fiscalité et enjeux de pouvoir dans le monde romain », le 15
novembre 2010. Roger Bagnall, membre du jury et éminent savant auquel je dois tant, m’avait
encouragé à publier ce travail au plus vite. Avec la réserve amicale qui lui est propre, mon maître
Jean-Michel Carrié me demandait régulièrement ce qu’il en était, sans oublier Monsieur Jean
Andreau tout à ses Affaires, autre grand savant au contact si précieux. Que je n’aie pas été en
mesure de le faire ne surprendra aucun ancien doctorant : dès la thèse achevée, la pression est très
forte en vue de publier articles et résultats de recherches, d’enseigner ou de participer à colloques
et conférences, eux-mêmes demandeurs d’actes écrits. Cela est peut-être encore plus vrai dans le
monde anglo-saxon, où l’indice individuel de respectabilité académique se mesure souvent au
nombre des travaux publiés. Dans mon cas, ces obstacles ont été accrus par un facteur
spécifique : ma thèse traitait largement de l’impact du circuit monétaire au sein de l’équilibre
économique de Rome, mais je ne m’étais pas encore physiquement confronté au matériel, à
savoir aux monnaies elles-mêmes. Mon rôle à l’American Numismatic Society depuis 2011, en
parallèle d’une affiliation à l’Institute for the Study of the Ancient World depuis 2009, allait
nécessairement placer mes travaux dans une perspective renouvelée.
Il était donc tentant de remettre toujours à plus tard une révision du travail initial. Mais à ce jeu
rien ne sort jamais. A chaque nouvelle publication portant sur un sujet plus ou moins connexe,
paragraphes et chapitres peuvent être indéfiniment amendés afin de refléter le nouvel état
provisoire de la recherche.
Aujourd’hui, je rédigerais ainsi certains passages de cette thèse manière parfois différente, alors
que des erreurs ou inexactitudes me sont apparues, pendant que les méthodes suivies devraient
parfois être améliorées ou plutôt affinées. La section B, « La faim de monnaie », demanderait
ainsi à s’appuyer davantage sur l’évolution et la diversité du véhicule monétaire lui-même. Dans
la section C, « La tentation de l’unité », notamment au sein de son deuxième chapitre,
« Fiscalité : conflits et répartition », certaines interprétations récentes et convaincantes du
matériel papyrologique m’avaient partiellement échappé et mériteraient une exploitation plus
complète.
Néanmoins, je ne remets pas en cause la logique d’ensemble, la finalité et l’essentiel des résultats
et pistes de recherches suggérés par l’édifice. J’espère ainsi que la communauté scientifique
trouvera avantage à ce que ce travail devienne disponible dès maintenant, sans attendre des
révisions qui, pour être limitées, pourraient se faire attendre encore longtemps. Certains collègues
m’ont d’ailleurs poussé dans cette voie en demandant que le texte leur soit envoyé à titre privé
puis en en faisant usage dans le cadre de leurs propres recherches. Je les en remercie.
L’Atelier National de Reproduction des Thèses m’offre l’opportunité de franchir le pas, à la
condition de maintenir le texte sous sa version originelle. Je lui en suis profondément
reconnaissant.
New York, le 18 novembre 2014.
The enthusiastic response to the Festschrift for Richard Beyer Witschonke, “Rick” to most all who... more The enthusiastic response to the Festschrift for Richard Beyer Witschonke, “Rick” to most all who knew him, proved the value of the man and the project. Sadly, he did not live to see it completed, although he took great pleasure in reading early drafts of many of the papers. His decade-long battle
with cancer, in which he displayed his typical good cheer and immense fortitude, came to an end on 24 February 2015. Now as a Gedenkschrift, we hope that this volume will serve as a fitting tribute to an exceptional individual.
Papers published in peer-reviewed journals by GILLES F BRANSBOURG
Numismatica e Antichità Classiche. Quaderni Ticinesi, 2025
In the second half of the second century CE, Egypt experienced significant inflation, with prices... more In the second half of the second century CE, Egypt experienced significant inflation, with prices roughly doubling by the 90s of that century.
Numismatic scholarship has hitherto attributed this to the Antonine Plague, which is held to have triggered currency debasement, as rising mortality reduced imperial revenues and necessitated a lower silver content in coins. However, debasement is unattested outside Egypt for this period, and coin analysis places the Egyptian phenomenon before the plague's arrival. What the evidence suggests instead is a period of poor harvests caused by adverse climatic conditions. Rome's requisitioning of Egyptian grain to supply Italy, combined with reduced local agricultural output, contracted market supply and drove up prices. Faced with declining grain supplies, the Roman state purchased Egyptian grain using billon coinage and debased it to minimize silver expenditure. They alternated issues struck at standard and debased fineness — following Neronian precedent — to obscure the actual silver content from end users, trying to avoid the wider inflationary pressures that would have been contrary to state interests.
Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 2021
P.Col. 7.141 col. iv testifies to a rare tax-related payment of bronze, as already highlighted by... more P.Col. 7.141 col. iv testifies to a rare tax-related payment of bronze, as already highlighted by Roger Bagnall in the seventh volume of Columbia papyri. This proves an explicit levy of bronze as raw metal was taking place. Bronze could be levied, these levies could be translated into a cash payment, and official prices undervalued bronze.
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Book's Chapter by GILLES F BRANSBOURG
early 270s, prices in Egypt increased about 20-fold. The
denarius, once a valuable silver coin, turned into a unit of
account of which tens and soon hundreds were needed to
express current prices. These orders of magnitude were,
however, dwarfed during the fourth-century process of
monetary debasement. Prior to Diocletian’s Currency Edict
of 301, a Roman pound of gold carried an official price of
60,000 denarii. By the end of the same century, it was worth 3
3 billion denarii. Most commodities followed a comparable path. This was equivalent to a 12.5% annual inflation rate over 90 years, considering that prices stabilised in the 390s. At the same time, the Roman coinage system went through considerable changes...
a pris la suite de Max von Bahrfeldt sur ce sujet. En effet, ce ne sont pas moins de cinq catalogues raisonnés, avec leurs
révisions, qui ont été publiés par Michel entre 1986 et 2008. À ces articles, nous pouvons joindre plusieurs travaux de
réflexion ainsi que bien évidemment les sections correspondantes du Roman Provincial Coinage, dont Michel est l’un
des éminents contributeurs.
La reprise des frappes de bronze par des autorités romaines, interrompues depuis Sylla, n’avait certes pas attendu
Marc-Antoine : plusieurs séries sont émises sous l’autorité de Jules César et des fils de Pompée, Octave lui-même
produisant un monnayage abondant probablement de dupondii et d’asses à partir de 401. Mais les séries orientales de
Marc-Antoine, produites vraisemblablement entre 38 et 37 principalement en Grèce, échappent à l’ordinaire.
Outre la présence auprès
de Marc Antoine d’Octavie, deuxième femme romaine après Fulvia à être montrée de son vivant sur un monnayage
romain, le très large éventail des dénominations allant du sesterce au quadrans, l’introduction des unités monétaires
divisionnaires romaines en Orient, la résurrection du tressis et du dupondius, la symbolique utilisée pour rendre le
nouveau système intelligible, le bilinguisme et l’émission de très gros bronzes pour les sesterces, tous ces éléments
représentent autant d’innovations monétaires majeures.
les modalités et le pourquoi de cette réforme monétaire de longue durée, puisqu'à l'époque impériale il est clair que le denarius, qui avait été créé en tant qu'unité valant 10 asses de bronze, vaut désormais 16 asses de standard pondéral réduit.
The Greek world finally shifts toward bronze coinage from the IVth BCE onward. But base metal is confined to the low end of its denominational range, very light coins implying a high fiduciary degree. While coinage is considered as a good in itself based on its metal value for Rome, it is considered as proceeding from the law in Greece, hence the ideal construction synthesized by Platon with the mintage of precious metal for the outside world and of a fiduciary currency for internal needs.
These two concepts of currency had to mutually influence each other. If Augustus became the head of a politically unified space covering the whole Greco-Roman world, the honor of having implemented a system deriving from both traditions belongs to the officials in charge of Marc Antony’s monetary policy. During this fascinating period bronze rises higher through the scale of monetary values, increases its fiduciary component and replaces silver as far as the archetypal Roman unit of account, the sestertius, is concerned. If Egypt influenced Marc Antony’s monneyers Marc-Antoine, the introduction of brass under Caesar and then Augustus proceeds from Asia Minor. Seemingly originating with some of Mithidates VI’s issues, this material occupies a status by many respects intermediate between precious and basic metal. Beside copper that dominates the lower divisional series, brass serves as basis to the sesterii and dupondii minted under Augustus shortly after Actium in Asia Minor. This experiment is then transposed in Rome, where this mintage will contribute to introduce a higher fiduciary component within the Roman monetary practice. In a sense, this reform lies at the core of a monetary thinking where nominalism competes against metallism as the legitimate source of value. This tension was promised to a bright future.
We shall retrace from ancient sources the path that led a predatory entity––the Roman Republic––into becoming a complex, fully–fledged fiscal regime on an imperial scale. We shall compare imperial discourse with its actual practice. Finally, after a journey across eight centuries of Roman fiscal thinking, we shall settle in sixth–century Roman Egypt in order to assess how taxation was practically implemented–– at least, at that time in that region of the Empire.
Key quotes from ancient sources form the backbone of this work until its last section. The main reason behind that choice lies in the fact that we aim at a comparison between the principles and the realities of Roman tax doctrine. As later Roman Egypt is by far the best documented case, none of what preceded it had the prerequisite that could have led to solid numerical estimates of tax–extraction rates. Moreover, extensive qualitative studies of the Roman tax system are available and there was no need to reinvent the wheel.2 We shall follow the emergence and progressive assertion of Roman fiscal doctrine until it reaches its most fully achieved state of development during the later imperial period. These ancient testimonies will make evident the gradual shift that transformed a predatory process into the procedures of a state sharing common values and interests with all its free inhabitants.
Our final conclusions will challenge some assumptions often linked with Late Antiquity: an overall weakening of the state, an increasingly parasitic landed aristocracy, and a shrinking class of small landowners.
A numerical reading of the financing files from the archives of the Sulpicii family of Pozzuoli from the 1st century AD allows us to suggest that the interest rate and the guarantee levels requested by money lenders could be adapted according to the risk of the borrower. This would imply that some of the necessary mechanisms for a fully-fledged credit market existed in this economically strategic region of the Roman Empire.
Books, Edited Volumes, Dissertation by GILLES F BRANSBOURG
Au moment de rédiger ces lignes, je m’aperçois que quatre années presque jour pour jour se sont
écoulées depuis la soutenance de « Fiscalité et enjeux de pouvoir dans le monde romain », le 15
novembre 2010. Roger Bagnall, membre du jury et éminent savant auquel je dois tant, m’avait
encouragé à publier ce travail au plus vite. Avec la réserve amicale qui lui est propre, mon maître
Jean-Michel Carrié me demandait régulièrement ce qu’il en était, sans oublier Monsieur Jean
Andreau tout à ses Affaires, autre grand savant au contact si précieux. Que je n’aie pas été en
mesure de le faire ne surprendra aucun ancien doctorant : dès la thèse achevée, la pression est très
forte en vue de publier articles et résultats de recherches, d’enseigner ou de participer à colloques
et conférences, eux-mêmes demandeurs d’actes écrits. Cela est peut-être encore plus vrai dans le
monde anglo-saxon, où l’indice individuel de respectabilité académique se mesure souvent au
nombre des travaux publiés. Dans mon cas, ces obstacles ont été accrus par un facteur
spécifique : ma thèse traitait largement de l’impact du circuit monétaire au sein de l’équilibre
économique de Rome, mais je ne m’étais pas encore physiquement confronté au matériel, à
savoir aux monnaies elles-mêmes. Mon rôle à l’American Numismatic Society depuis 2011, en
parallèle d’une affiliation à l’Institute for the Study of the Ancient World depuis 2009, allait
nécessairement placer mes travaux dans une perspective renouvelée.
Il était donc tentant de remettre toujours à plus tard une révision du travail initial. Mais à ce jeu
rien ne sort jamais. A chaque nouvelle publication portant sur un sujet plus ou moins connexe,
paragraphes et chapitres peuvent être indéfiniment amendés afin de refléter le nouvel état
provisoire de la recherche.
Aujourd’hui, je rédigerais ainsi certains passages de cette thèse manière parfois différente, alors
que des erreurs ou inexactitudes me sont apparues, pendant que les méthodes suivies devraient
parfois être améliorées ou plutôt affinées. La section B, « La faim de monnaie », demanderait
ainsi à s’appuyer davantage sur l’évolution et la diversité du véhicule monétaire lui-même. Dans
la section C, « La tentation de l’unité », notamment au sein de son deuxième chapitre,
« Fiscalité : conflits et répartition », certaines interprétations récentes et convaincantes du
matériel papyrologique m’avaient partiellement échappé et mériteraient une exploitation plus
complète.
Néanmoins, je ne remets pas en cause la logique d’ensemble, la finalité et l’essentiel des résultats
et pistes de recherches suggérés par l’édifice. J’espère ainsi que la communauté scientifique
trouvera avantage à ce que ce travail devienne disponible dès maintenant, sans attendre des
révisions qui, pour être limitées, pourraient se faire attendre encore longtemps. Certains collègues
m’ont d’ailleurs poussé dans cette voie en demandant que le texte leur soit envoyé à titre privé
puis en en faisant usage dans le cadre de leurs propres recherches. Je les en remercie.
L’Atelier National de Reproduction des Thèses m’offre l’opportunité de franchir le pas, à la
condition de maintenir le texte sous sa version originelle. Je lui en suis profondément
reconnaissant.
New York, le 18 novembre 2014.
with cancer, in which he displayed his typical good cheer and immense fortitude, came to an end on 24 February 2015. Now as a Gedenkschrift, we hope that this volume will serve as a fitting tribute to an exceptional individual.
Papers published in peer-reviewed journals by GILLES F BRANSBOURG
Numismatic scholarship has hitherto attributed this to the Antonine Plague, which is held to have triggered currency debasement, as rising mortality reduced imperial revenues and necessitated a lower silver content in coins. However, debasement is unattested outside Egypt for this period, and coin analysis places the Egyptian phenomenon before the plague's arrival. What the evidence suggests instead is a period of poor harvests caused by adverse climatic conditions. Rome's requisitioning of Egyptian grain to supply Italy, combined with reduced local agricultural output, contracted market supply and drove up prices. Faced with declining grain supplies, the Roman state purchased Egyptian grain using billon coinage and debased it to minimize silver expenditure. They alternated issues struck at standard and debased fineness — following Neronian precedent — to obscure the actual silver content from end users, trying to avoid the wider inflationary pressures that would have been contrary to state interests.