Seeing the crisis of the third century as a Eurasia wide event is interesting. Do you have any links to articles/blog posts etc explaining that perspective?
Also how in detail did the collapse in silver lead to more beaurocratisation? One way would be that they had to evolve a more paper-based financial system along with whatever government regulation that required. But I sense you are not talking about that, rather you are talking about an imperial beaurocracy overseeing food-rents.
It is a case of putting things together. So, there is Raoul McLaughlin’s work on the revenue and trade flows of the Roman Empire. https://raoul-mclaughlin.com/.
Also, Walter Scheidel and colleagues work on Han China and Rome.
Not merely food rents, but far more taxation in kind generally. Paper-based financial systems require paper (not yet available in Rome) and really printing (not yet available anywhere). If you want to see how silver-stressed the Roman monetary system had become, see here.
On the matter of the Muscovite state being a Christian farming polity that adopted some institutional patterns from pastoralist states, the use of the pastoralist Cossacks as bodyguards, shock troops and order-enforcers increases the congruence.
Yep. The collapse of Roman silver production hugely suppressed trade networks which were crucial for imperial revenues. Rome survived because it still had the Mediterranean trade hub.
That last part in Ukraine is an expensive… luxury.
It is a luxury for the West, so far.
It is expensive for the Ukrainians, who are ceasing to exist.
It’s also ignoring the last century or two of Russian policy, which was mostly rapprochement with the West, punctuated by invasions… from the West.
The 21st century Ruso-Ukrainian conflict is not Russian aggression but reaction. One can quite look at NATO (🇺🇸😉) in 1991 and NATO now and see the line moving East not West.
And you forgot America, which isn’t quite lumped into the Anglo-sphere quite as neatly as “Common Law” which should be apparent, and is about to be made very clear. Internally.
We are a restless people, indeed the sum of restless peoples.
Seeing the crisis of the third century as a Eurasia wide event is interesting. Do you have any links to articles/blog posts etc explaining that perspective?
Also how in detail did the collapse in silver lead to more beaurocratisation? One way would be that they had to evolve a more paper-based financial system along with whatever government regulation that required. But I sense you are not talking about that, rather you are talking about an imperial beaurocracy overseeing food-rents.
It is a case of putting things together. So, there is Raoul McLaughlin’s work on the revenue and trade flows of the Roman Empire. https://raoul-mclaughlin.com/.
Also, Walter Scheidel and colleagues work on Han China and Rome.
https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2009/2009.04.66/
But the original analysis on the importance of trade for the size of states is from David Friedman. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/24107762_A_Theory_of_the_Size_and_Shape_of_Nations
If you add into his analysis the capacity of state’s to increase taxable trade by providing public goods, you have what you need to put it together.
Not merely food rents, but far more taxation in kind generally. Paper-based financial systems require paper (not yet available in Rome) and really printing (not yet available anywhere). If you want to see how silver-stressed the Roman monetary system had become, see here.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fineness_of_early_Roman_Imperial_silver_coins.png
On the matter of the Muscovite state being a Christian farming polity that adopted some institutional patterns from pastoralist states, the use of the pastoralist Cossacks as bodyguards, shock troops and order-enforcers increases the congruence.
https://www.youtube.com/live/lcRBh9sJfVM?si=K2HF7SPpsD3PO1Hm
“Crisis of the Third Century”. A crisis that the Roman Empire was the only imperial state to survive, and even that was a near-run thing.”
Are you including the Han? Who collapsed in the 3d century.
Yep. The collapse of Roman silver production hugely suppressed trade networks which were crucial for imperial revenues. Rome survived because it still had the Mediterranean trade hub.
That last part in Ukraine is an expensive… luxury.
It is a luxury for the West, so far.
It is expensive for the Ukrainians, who are ceasing to exist.
It’s also ignoring the last century or two of Russian policy, which was mostly rapprochement with the West, punctuated by invasions… from the West.
The 21st century Ruso-Ukrainian conflict is not Russian aggression but reaction. One can quite look at NATO (🇺🇸😉) in 1991 and NATO now and see the line moving East not West.
And you forgot America, which isn’t quite lumped into the Anglo-sphere quite as neatly as “Common Law” which should be apparent, and is about to be made very clear. Internally.
We are a restless people, indeed the sum of restless peoples.
Hopefully we’re heading to space.
To put us under common law… or lineage… er, no.
I liked the essay!
Civilization indeed