Roman Empire

===Currency and banking===

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{{see also|Roman currency|Roman finance}}

[[File:HADRIANUS RIC II 938-789065.jpg|thumb|''Sestertius'' issued under [[Hadrian]] circa AD 134–138]] 
[[File:Solidus Constantine II-heraclea RIC vII 101.jpg|thumb|''Solidus'' issued under [[Constantine II (emperor)|Constantine II]], and on the reverse [[Victoria (mythology)|Victoria]], one of the last deities to appear on Roman coins, gradually transforming into an [[Angel#Christianity|angel]] under Christian rule<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fears |first=J. Rufus |chapter=The Theology of Victory at Rome: Approaches and Problem |date=1981 |title=Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt |volume=II.17.2 |pages=752, 824 |author-link=J. Rufus Fears}}, {{Cite book |last=Fears |first=J. Rufus |date=1981 |chapter=The Cult of Virtues and Roman Imperial Ideology |title=Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt |author-link=J. Rufus Fears |volume=II.17.2 |pages=908}}</ref>]]

The early Empire was monetized to a near-universal extent, using money as a way to express [[price]]s and [[debt]]s.<ref name="Kessler">{{Cite book |last1=Kessler |first1=David |chapter=Money and Prices in the Early Roman Empire |last2=Temin |first2=Peter |date=2010 |title=The Monetary Systems of the Greeks and Romans |publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref> The ''[[sestertius]]'' (English "sesterces", symbolized as ''HS'') was the basic unit of reckoning value into the 4th century,<ref name="Harl">{{Cite book |last=Harl |first=Kenneth W. |title=Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700 |date=19 June 1996 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-0-8018-5291-6 |pages=125–135}}</ref> though the silver ''[[denarius]]'', worth four sesterces, was also used beginning in the [[Severan dynasty]].{{Sfnp|Bowman|Garnsey|Cameron|2005|p=333}} The smallest coin commonly circulated was the bronze ''[[as (Roman coin)|as]]'', one-tenth ''denarius''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wells |first=Colin |title=The Roman Empire |date=1984 |publisher=Harvard University Press |page=8}}</ref> [[Bullion]] and [[ingot]]s seem not to have counted as ''pecunia'' ("money") and were used only on the frontiers. Romans in the first and second centuries counted coins, rather than weighing them—an indication that the coin was valued on its face. This tendency towards [[fiat money]] led to the [[debasement]] of Roman coinage in the later Empire.{{Sfnp|Harris|2010}} The standardization of money throughout the Empire promoted trade and market integration.<ref name=Kessler/> The high amount of metal coinage in circulation increased the [[money supply]] for trading or saving.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Scheidel |first=Walter |chapter=The Monetary Systems of the Han and Roman Empires |date=2009 |title=Rome and China. Comparative Perspectives on Ancient World Empires |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-533690-0 |editor-last=Scheidel |editor-first=Walter |pages=137–207 (205)}}</ref>
Rome had no [[central bank]], and regulation of the banking system was minimal. Banks of classical antiquity typically kept [[fractional reserve banking|less in reserves]] than the full total of customers' deposits. A typical bank had fairly limited [[Financial capital|capital]], and often only one principal. [[Seneca the Younger|Seneca]] assumes that anyone involved in [[Roman commerce]] needs access to [[Credit (finance)|credit]].{{Sfnp|Harris|2010}} A professional [[Deposit account|deposit]] banker received and held deposits for a fixed or indefinite term, and lent money to third parties. The senatorial elite were involved heavily in private lending, both as creditors and borrowers.<ref>{{Harvp|Harris|2010}}; {{Cite book |last=Andreau |first=Jean |title=Banking and Business in the Roman World |date=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=2}}</ref> The holder of a debt could use it as a means of payment by transferring it to another party, without cash changing hands. Although it has sometimes been thought that ancient Rome lacked [[negotiable instrument|documentary transactions]], the system of banks throughout the Empire permitted the exchange of large sums without physically transferring coins, in part because of the risks of moving large amounts of cash. Only one serious credit shortage is known to have occurred in the early Empire, in 33 AD;<ref>[[Tacitus]], ''Annales'' 6.17.3.</ref> generally, available capital exceeded the amount needed by borrowers.{{Sfnp|Harris|2010}} The central government itself did not borrow money, and without [[public debt]] had to fund [[Government budget balance|deficits]] from cash reserves.{{Sfnp|Duncan-Jones|1994|pp=3–4}}

Emperors of the [[Antonine dynasty|Antonine]] and [[Severan dynasty|Severan]] dynasties debased the currency, particularly the ''denarius'', under the pressures of meeting military payrolls.<ref name=Harl/> Sudden inflation under [[Commodus]] damaged the credit market.{{Sfnp|Harris|2010}} In the mid-200s, the supply of [[Bullion coin|specie]] contracted sharply.<ref name=Harl/> Conditions during the [[Crisis of the Third Century]]—such as reductions in long-distance trade, disruption of mining operations, and the physical transfer of gold coinage outside the empire by invading enemies—greatly diminished the money supply and the banking sector.<ref name=Harl/>{{Sfnp|Harris|2010}} Although Roman coinage had long been fiat money or [[fiduciary currency]], general economic anxieties came to a head under [[Aurelian]], and bankers lost confidence in coins. Despite [[Diocletian]]'s introduction of the gold ''[[solidus (coin)|solidus]]'' and monetary reforms, the credit market of the Empire never recovered its former robustness.{{Sfnp|Harris|2010}}