The Slow-Motion Financial Suicide of the Roman Empire

[Peter1469]

The Slow-Motion Financial Suicide of the Roman Empire

Free food, land, houses, farm equipment- welfare programs broke the Empire. An interesting read.

ore than 2,000 years before America’s bailouts and entitlement programs, the ancient Romans experimented with similar schemes. The Roman government rescued failing institutions, canceled personal debts, and spent huge sums on welfare programs. The result wasn’t pretty.

Roman politicians picked winners and losers, generally favoring the politically well connected — a practice that’s central to the welfare state of modern times, too. As numerous writers have noted, these expensive rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul efforts were major factors in bankrupting Roman society. They inevitably led to even more destructive interventions. Rome wasn’t built in a day, as the old saying goes — and it took a while to tear it down as well. Eventually, when the republic faded into an imperial autocracy, the emperors attempted to control the entire economy.


Debt forgiveness in ancient Rome was a contentious issue that was enacted multiple times. One of the earliest Roman populist reformers, the tribune Licinius Stolo, passed a bill that was essentially a moratorium on debt around 367 BC, a time of economic uncertainty. The legislation enabled debtors to subtract the interest paid from the principal owed if the remainder was paid off within a three-year window. By 352 BC, the financial situation in Rome was still bleak, and the state treasury paid many defaulted private debts owed to the unfortunate lenders. It was assumed that the debtors would eventually repay the state, but if you think they did, then you probably think Greece is a good credit risk today.


In 357 BC, the maximum permissible interest rate on loans was roughly 8 percent. Ten years later, this was considered insufficient, so Roman administrators lowered the cap to 4 percent. By 342, the successive reductions apparently failed to mollify the debtors or satisfactorily ease economic tensions, so interest on loans was abolished altogether. To no one’s surprise, creditors began to refuse to loan money. The law banning interest became completely ignored in time.


By 133 BC, the up-and-coming politician Tiberius Gracchus decided that Licinius’s measures were not enough. Tiberius passed a bill granting free tracts of state-owned farmland to the poor. Additionally, the government funded the erection of their new homes and the purchase of their faming tools. It’s been estimated that 75,000 families received free land because of this legislation. This was a government program that provided complimentary land, housing, and even a small business, all likely charged to the taxpayers or plundered from newly conquered nations. However, as soon as it was permissible, many settlers thanklessly sold their farms and returned to the city. Tiberius didn’t live to see these beneficiaries reject Roman generosity, because a group of senators murdered him in 133 BC, but his younger brother Gaius Gracchus took up his populist mantle and furthered his reforms.

Read the rest of the article at the link.

[DGUtley]

George-Santayana-Quotes-1.jpg

[jet57]

The Slow-Motion Financial Suicide of the Roman Empire

Free food, land, houses, farm equipment- welfare programs broke the Empire. An interesting read.



Read the rest of the article at the link.

The Celts kick their ass, empire wherever they invade... public assistance had nothing to do with it as your partisan source says.

[Mister D]

The Celts kick their ass, empire wherever they invade... public assistance had nothing to do with it as your partisan source says.

With the exception of what is now Ireland and Scotland, the Celtic lands were absorbed into the Roman Empire by the time of Christ. You can't help but embarrass yourself, can you?

[Peter1469]

The Celts kick their ass, empire wherever they invade... public assistance had nothing to do with it as your partisan source says.

You get an F in History. Rome absorbed most Celtic lands.

[jet57]

You get an F in History. Rome absorbed most Celtic lands.

(chuckle)

So you're going to stick with that - right? That's your story.

[Peter1469]

(chuckle)

So you're going to stick with that - right? That's your story.

Of course. It is history.

[jet57]

With the exception of what is now Ireland and Scotland, the Celtic lands were absorbed into the Roman Empire by the time of Christ. You can't help but embarrass yourself, can you?

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles...ome_390bc.html

The sack of Rome (390 B.C.) was the worst recorded disaster in the history of the early Roman Republic, [b]and saw a Gallic war band led by Brennus capture and sack most of the city, after winning an easy victory on the Allia.
The speed with which the Gauls had approached the city seems to have caught the Romans by surprise. They were only able to raise a small army, which was easily defeated on the Allia. Most of the survivors took refuge in Veii, which was much better fortified than Rome. The rest escaped back to Rome, where they took refuge in the Citadel, the strongest defensive position in the city.

And you know that Ireland and the Scottish Highlands were and are Gaelic - right? You probably don't know - but you do now! Gaelic Scotland was known as "The Wild Irish". My own family were gall oglaigh: it's on record.

The chronicles are full of the reports of the Celtic sack of Rome. But of course, don't take my word for it; for heaven's sake research it on your own, or by all means continue to embarrass yourself.

For some reason I was under the impression that you were over that middle school "I'm better than you are crap", but maybe not...

[Peter1469]

You are skipping the part where Roman ruled Celtic lands for centuries. Why?

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles...ome_390bc.html



And you know that Ireland and the Scottish Highlands were and are Gaelic - right? You probably don't know - but you do now! Gaelic Scotland was known as "The Wild Irish". My own family were gall óglaigh: it's on record...

The chronicles are full of the reports of the Celtic sack of Rome. But of course, don't take my word for it; for heaven's sake research it on your own, or by all means continue to embarrass yourself.

Zfor some reason I was under the impression that you were over that middle school "I'm better than you are crap", but maybe not...

[jet57]

You get an F in History. Rome absorbed most Celtic lands.

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles...ome_390bc.html

The sack of Rome (390 B.C.) was the worst recorded disaster in the history of the early Roman Republic, [b]and saw a Gallic war band led by Brennus capture and sack most of the city, after winning an easy victory on the Allia.
The speed with which the Gauls had approached the city seems to have caught the Romans by surprise. They were only able to raise a small army, which was easily defeated on the Allia. Most of the survivors took refuge in Veii, which was much better fortified than Rome. The rest escaped back to Rome, where they took refuge in the Citadel, the strongest defensive position in the city.

And you know that Ireland and the Scottish Highlands were and are Gaelic - right? You probably don't know - but you do now! Gaelic Scotland was known as "The Wild Irish". My own family were gall oglaigh: it's on record.

The chronicles are full of the reports of the Celtic sack of Rome. But of course, don't take my word for it; for heaven's sake research it on your own, or by all means continue to embarrass yourself.