The Mining, Minting, and Acquisition of Gold in the Roman and Post-Roman World
The Mining, Minting, and Acquisition of Gold in the Roman and Post-Roman World
During the Roman and the post-Roman worlds the extent of political power and the exploitation of gold resources (with the associated minting of coinage) were closely linked phenomena. The preference for exploiting some sites over others appears related to the changing needs of different imperial houses coming to power and to their political status. Large quantities of gold coins were minted by the Romano-Byzantines for the purposes of subsidies (or tributes) and external long-distance trade. The access to gold by non-imperial or weak states appears to have been largely dependent on political treaties and politically arranged trade with imperial and robust states. Consequently, this chapter argues against the widely accepted theories that defend the extensive exploitation of mines by non-imperial states or fragmented entities. Several examples are used in this chapter to fully apprehend the mechanisms which connect different powers with regard to the extraction and distribution of precious metals.
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