Let us next take a brief but important notice in Tacitus, for the year 33 AD:
Meanwhile a powerful host of accusers fell with sudden fury on the class which systematically increased its wealth by usury in defiance of a law passed by Caesar the Dictator defining the terms of lending money and of holding estates in Italy, a law long obsolete because the public good is sacrificed to private interest. The curse of usury was indeed of old standing in Rome and a most frequent cause of sedition and discord, and it was therefore repressed even in the early days of a less corrupt morality. First, the Twelve Tables prohibited any one from exacting more than 10 per cent., when, previously, the rate had depended on the caprice of the wealthy. Subsequently, by a bill brought in by the tribunes, interest was reduced to half that amount, and finally compound interest was wholly forbidden. A check too was put by several enactments of the people on evasions which, though continually put down, still, through strange artifices, reappeared. On this occasion, however, Gracchus, the praetor, to whose jurisdiction the inquiry had fallen, felt himself compelled by the number of persons endangered to refer the matter to the Senate. In their dismay the senators, not one of whom was free from similar guilt, threw themselves on the emperor’s indulgence. He yielded, and a year and six months were granted, within which every one was to settle his private accounts conformably to the requirements of the law.
Hence followed a scarcity of money, a great shock being given to all credit, the current coin too, in consequence of the conviction of so many persons and the sale of their property, being locked up in the imperial treasury or the public exchequer. To meet this, the Senate had directed that every creditor should have two-thirds of his capital secured on estates in Italy. Creditors however were suing for payment in full, and it was not respectable for persons when sued to break faith. So, at first, there were clamorous meetings and importunate entreaties; then noisy applications to the praetor’s court. And the very device intended as a remedy, the sale and purchase of estates, proved the contrary, as the usurers had hoarded up all their money for buying land. The facilities for selling were followed by a fall of prices, and the deeper a man was in debt, the more reluctantly did he part with his property, and many were utterly ruined. The destruction of private wealth precipitated the fall of rank and reputation, till at last the emperor interposed his aid by distributing throughout the banks a hundred million sesterces, and allowing freedom to borrow without interest for three years, provided the borrower gave security to the State in land to double the amount. Credit was thus restored, and gradually private lenders were found. The purchase too of estates was not carried out according to the letter of the Senate’s decree, rigour at the outset, as usual with such matters, becoming negligence in the end.
So far as we can understand what was happening, the passage largely explains itself. An old law restricting the rate of interest is suddenly revived. This invalidates a large class of loans above the official rate made on short term but renewable contracts. An indulgence is given of eighteen months, during which the now illegal loans are systematically called in. The result is a liquidity crisis in which land prices collapse. The crisis is dealt with by emergency lending by the Emperor.
There is nothing unusual about this sort of crisis. We are passing through something similar at the moment. What Tacitus is showing is a developed economy with much integration of capital and land markets. We can see how easily land can be sold, and how responsive prices are to the forces of demand and supply. Again, special pleading can be brought to bear on the story to try and minimise the extent of market behaviour. But, so far as this crisis can be analysed in terms of standard economic theory, the simplest explanation is to conclude that the economy of the early Roman Empire was, in its essentials, like that of the modern world.
Sean Gabb, “Market Behaviour in the Ancient World: An Overview of the Debate”, 2008-05.
October 29, 2019
QotD: The financial crisis of 33AD
October 28, 2019
The Surrender of the Imperial German High Seas Fleet
Historigraph
Published 26 Oct 2019Buy Historigraph Posters here! https://teespring.com/en-GB/surrender…
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Crypto, Incompetech https://incompetech.com
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Britain’s Naval March, “Hearts of Oak”
Kaiserlicher Marinemarsch “Gruß an Kiel“
Hetzer – a German mobile armoured coffin
Lindybeige
Published 26 Sep 2019Get your first audiobook and two Audible originals free when you try Audible for 30 days. Visit https://www.audible.com/lindybeige or text “lindybeige” to 500 500.
The Hetzer (or Jagdpanzer 38t) – it is a “cool”-looking vehicle, and a favourite with WW2 tank enthusiasts, but was it all that great to fight in?
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QotD: Latin versus English
Winston Churchill, My Early Life, 1930.
October 27, 2019
Hitler is Disappointed by his Allies – WW2 – 061 – October 26, 1940
World War Two
Published 26 Oct 2019Hitler finds out that not everyone is ready to do his bidding. Much to the frustration of Hitler, Franco, Petain and Mussolini all have their reasons to take the high road.
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Source list: http://bit.ly/WW2sourcesWritten and Hosted by: Indy Neidell
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Executive Producers: Bodo Rittenauer, Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Joram Appel
Research by: Indy Neidell
Edited by: Karolina Dołęga
Map animations: EastoryColorisations by Norman Stewart and Julius Jääskeläinen https://www.facebook.com/JJcolorization/
Sources: Biplane by Hea Poh Lin from the Noun Project
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Archive by Screenocean/Reuters https://www.screenocean.com.A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.
October 26, 2019
History Summarized: Byzantine Beginnings
Overly Sarcastic Productions
Published 25 Oct 2019It’s Rome! It’s Greece! It’s… The Byzantine Empire! Check out how late Imperial Rome transformed in the centuries from Constantine to Justinian, as it evolved into a new and unique iteration of Roman civilization. Watch as Byzantine craftsmen revolutionize artwork by throwing a megaton of gold onto every last mosaic in the Mediterranean, and radically reimagine architecture by asking “But what if *dome*?”
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A look into yet another dystopian future
This time, it’s Tom Slater looking at the parliamentary situation well into the future:
The year is 2051. An 87-year-old Boris Johnson is still prime minister, commanding a majority of minus 200 in the House of Commons.
The taxidermied remains of Jeremy Corbyn looks lairily at him each day from across the chamber.
The Liberal Independent Group for Anti-Democratic Change, formed by breakaway elements of the other parties in the great merger of 2020, is by far the largest bloc.
For some reason it has never found the “right time” to assert control of the Commons. But by some convoluted means it has successfully delayed some 187 attempts to hold a General Election.
The UK is still a member of the European Union. But no one else is. Long since collapsed, it is now just a portacabin outside the Mini-Europe miniature park in Brussels.
It employs one man, whose job it is to sweep up, sort the post, and respond to the United Kingdom’s periodic requests for an extension to Article 50.
Somehow, his expenses are exorbitant.
They say making predictions these days is a mug’s game. But I’m pretty sure that’s where we’re headed. Or rather, given the Kafkaesque turn British politics has taken, nothing could surprise me now.
PM Boris Johnson has offered the opposition the election they claim to have been craving, again, and they appear set to reject it, again.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has indicated he will back a General Election once the European Union grants an extension to Article 50. But the EU is holding off on making that decision until MPs vote on the election.
You can see the problem here. But at least it will keep half of Corbyn’s parliamentary party happy, who are apparently dead-set against an election and would rather we go for a second Brexit referendum first.
Chassepot Needle Rifle
Forgotten Weapons
Published on 30 May 2015Sold for $1,150 (with three other rifles).
The Chassepot was the French answer to the Dreyse needle rifle, and also the only other needlefire rifle to see major military service. It was adopted in 1866 and served as a primary French infantry rifle until being replaced by the 1874 Gras rifle, which was basically a conversion of the Chassepot to use self-contained brass cartridges. The concept of a needle rifle is that of a breech loading rifle using paper cartridges. A primer was set in the base of the cartridge (inside the paper), and upon firing the needle-like firing pin would pierce the paper cartridge and detonate the primer and powder charge. The system always had trouble with sealing the breech, but was still a significant improvement over muzzleloading rifles.
October 25, 2019
“Rorke’s Drift” – The Anglo-Zulu War – Sabaton History 038 [Official]
Sabaton History
Published 24 Oct 2019The Battle of Rorke’s Drift was the last stand for the British defenders, facing thousands of Zulu fighters with only a few hundred of their own.
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Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Written by: Markus Linke and Indy Neidell
Directed by: Astrid Deinhard and Wieke Kapteijns
Produced by: Pär Sundström, Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Joram Appel
Executive Producers: Pär Sundström, Joakim Broden, Tomas Sunmo, Indy Neidell, Astrid Deinhard, and Spartacus Olsson
Post-Production Director: Wieke Kapteijns
Maps by: Eastory
Edited by: Iryna Dulka
Sound Editing by: Marek KaminskiEastory YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEly…
Archive by: Reuters/Screenocean https://www.screenocean.com
Music by Sabaton.Sources:
– The National Archives UK
– A group of Zulu men in war dress, a photograph by Robert Harris. Credit: Wellcome Collection.
– Episodes in the Zulu wars, Credit: Wellcome Collection
– Field ambience by dobroide from freesound.orgAn OnLion Entertainment GmbH and Raging Beaver Publishing AB co-Production.
© Raging Beaver Publishing AB, 2019 – all rights reserved.
From the comments:
Sabaton History
2 days ago (edited)
One nation’s heroic history is another’s national tragedy. In academia, the horrors of imperialism get more and more attention each year. In this episode, besides covering the events that unfolded during the Battle of Rorke’s Drift, we try to capture the ambiguous nature of colonial history. Yes, the last stand of the British soldiers against an overwhelming Zulu force is impressive, but whether or not it should be celebrated is open for debate. We would like to have this conversation in the comments down below, but keep it civil. Any racist, apologist or revisionist comments can lead to a ban.
Cheers, The Sabaton History Team.
Tank Chats #53 Matilda Canal Defence Light | The Funnies | The Tank Museum
The Tank Museum
Published on 6 Jul 2018Another episode in the Tank Chats Funnies Specials, looking at the weird and wonderful vehicles of 79th Armoured Division led by Major General Percy Hobart.
The idea of the CDL was to use a light of such power that it would dazzle the opposition, leaving them temporarily blind and disorientated.
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October 24, 2019
When the English (finally) met Euclid
In the latest Anton Howes newsletter on the Age of Invention, he relates the introduction of Euclid’s geometric ideas to the English:
Illustrating Euclid’s proof of the Pythagorean Theorem.
Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Almost all of the late sixteenth-century English innovations seem to involve the application of geometry, following the maxims set down almost two thousand years earlier by Euclid of Alexandria. (Though at the time, most people mistakenly attributed his work to the even more ancient philosopher Euclid of Megara.) Manuscripts of Euclid’s work had circulated in western Europe throughout the Middle Ages, but was only accessible to the handful of people who could read Latin, or the even fewer who could read Arabic or ancient Greek. In 1482, however, the Latin version was printed in Venice, and throughout the sixteenth century it was translated into more and more modern languages.
The full edition would eventually appear in English in 1570, but Euclid’s geometry was revealed to English-speakers much earlier, through the intervention of the mathematician Robert Recorde. Recorde embarked on a project to comprehensively unveil the mysterious mathematical arts in print. He started in 1543 with The Ground of Arts, a basic introduction to arithmetic, which in 1551 he followed up with The Pathway to Knowledge, an introduction to geometry. Once the ground had been stood upon, and the pathway to knowledge had been followed, there was then a Gate of Knowledge (on practical geometry, sadly now lost), which revealed a Treasure of Knowledge (also lost, but presumably also on applied geometry), which was then kept in a Castle – you guessed it – of Knowledge (on applying the learning from the other books to some complex astronomical instruments). At this point he apparently ran out of places to go with his metaphor, returning in 1557 with a book on advanced arithmetic called the Whetstone of Wit. He unfortunately died the following year.
But his Pathway of Knowledge was the first book to introduce English-speakers to Euclid’s geometry. In fact, it was the first book in English on geometry ever. And he wrote it in a way that he thought would be more accessible than reading Euclid raw. The effect was revolutionary. He created the market for books on mathematics, opening the way to books on its applications by common gunners and navigators and makers of navigational instruments, as well as by scholars. And geometry began to creep into invention after invention. Recorde’s Pathway extolled the seemingly extraordinary achievements of the ancients – Archimedes, Daedalus, and others – which he argued had all been made possible by their understanding of geometry. Naturally, it inspired others to emulate or even exceed them.
October 23, 2019
QotD: Climbing Maslow’s Pyramid again
If people want little orchards of native (well, you know) apples then people should have little orchards of native apples. As long as, of course, they’re creating and maintaining those little orchards of native apples at their own expense. This is, after all, what liberalism means, that the peeps get to do what the peeps want. And if we’re to add some Burkean conservatism so that it’s the little platoons sorting it out for themselves then all the better.
As long as no one is being forced to pay for this through taxation then what could possibly be the problem?
At another level this is climbing Maslow’s Pyramid again. At one level of income we’ll take fruit in the only way we can, seasonally and in a limited manner. We get richer, technology advances, we can have apples year round – but that does mean trade, commercially sized operations and the inevitable limited selection. We get richer again and now we’ve more than sufficiency, let’s have that variety back again.
After all, it’s not as if we’re not seeing this right across the food chain, is it?
That roast beef of Olde Englande was most certainly better than the bully beef from Argentina or the Fray Bentos pie. As is the best grass fed British beef of today. But we moved through the cycle to get from most not being able to eat any beef, to all being able to have bad beef, to now again thinking more about the quality – we have a more than sufficiency of beef and can be picky about it.
Tim Worstall, “I fully approve of this”, Tim Worstall, 2017-10-22.
October 22, 2019
Papers Behind the Pistol: Mauser’s Archives on the Model 1910
Forgotten Weapons
Published 21 Oct 2019http://www.patreon.com/ForgottenWeapons
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Courtesy of the Paul Mauser Archive, we have a very cool opportunity to look at the documentation and paperwork behind a production pistol design, from beginning to commercial sales. This sort of documentation is rare for pre-WW1 German small arms in general, and the Mauser Model 1910 pistol is a very rare example of a complete set of archival papers surviving. So, what we can look at is the whole development process from behind the scenes at Mauser. Initial design drawings, blueprints, glass-plate photography, internal assembly instructions, costing, corporate-level final approval, marketing, and final print manuals. Thanks to Mauro Baudino for supplying these original documents for me to show you!
The Paul Mauser Archive (http://www.paul-mauser-archive.com/in…) is a wealth of information for researchers, and make sure to check out the recent book on Mauser coauthored by Mauro Baudino and Gerben van Vlimmeren:
Contact:
Forgotten Weapons
6281 N. Oracle #36270
Tucson, AZ 85704
QotD: The Soviet contribution to defeating Hitler
Between 1941 and 1945 so much praise had been heaped upon Uncle Joe, the defenders of Stalingrad, heroic factory workers of the Volga and suchlike, that thereafter it proved a hard task to disabuse many people of their illusions about Mother Russia. They were not wrong in believing that hundreds of thousands of young British and American men were alive in 1945 because Red soldiers had done more than their rightful share of dying.
Any examination of the Bolshevik revolution and its legacy must linger on the Great Patriotic War, because that victory remains the only indisputable and durable achievement the rulers of Russia can boast since 1917, save the invention of some remarkable weapons systems and spacecraft.
Max Hastings, “The centenary of the Russian revolution should be mourned, not celebrated”, The Spectator, 2016-12-10.
October 21, 2019
The French Resistance – was it of any use to anyone?
Lindybeige
Published on 19 October 2016Who organised the French Resistance? Did it ever do much?
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LindybeigeI had planned to say a lot more, but this should be long enough. In take one, which I had to ditch because my sound recorder packed in half-way through it (but I didn’t notice, so carried on), I talked quite a bit about Wing Commander F.F.E. Yeo-Thomas AKA “The White Rabbit” who did a lot of organising the French Resistance, and I was also planning to talk about “R.A.F. blackmail sabotage” but perhaps that will come out in another video another day. Probably not, though. Never mind – sixteen minutes should be long enough for anyone.
Many of the figures I quote were fresh in my mind because I had just read them in Dadland by Keggie Carew. Another influential book on this video was The White Rabbit about Wing Commander FFE Yeo-Thomas.
Lindybeige: a channel of archaeology, ancient and medieval warfare, rants, swing dance, travelogues, evolution, and whatever else occurs to me to make.
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