KFLCC Kingdom Economics

Money and the Rise and Fall of Empires

talents, over a seven-year time frame at 33 1/3 percent, would equal millions of dollars in today’s value. Thus, Greece owed a massive debt they were unable to repay to the Persians. Eventually, Greece was under the dominion of a highly successful and motivated general named Alexander the Great. Using today’s monetary standards, Alexander inspected his treasury and discovered only $120,000 in the account. Greece owed nearly $1.5 million in outstanding loans to the Persians. Eventually, the same war cycle was repeated as Alexander the Great and his army battled the king of Persia and his armies, crushing the Persians and taking over the region of Babylon, setting up his headquarters there. At that time, the Persian government, headquartered in Babylon, had $440 million dollars in gold in their treasury. The result of Alexander’s war with the Persians not only caused a major transition in the ruling empire of that day, it also allowed the Greeks to cancel their loans and inherit huge amounts of land and spoils in a brief time. The Greeks immediately began to expand and build cities in each land they conquered. In each major city were large temples dedicated to the Greek gods and goddesses. The temple also served as the bank where money (in that day, gold and silver coins) could be stored. As the Greeks expanded, they also constructed cities in the north and south of Italy, in an area with the Roman Federation positioned in the middle. The Greeks initiated commerce with the Romans, including purchases made on credit using a gold standard. After the death of Alexander the Great, the Grecian Empire was divided among his four generals, and later those four regions were further divided by internal fighting. Over time, the Romans began to form armies and spread their Roman influence throughout the Mediterranean, expanding their strength in more directions and giving them additional political and military dominion over more nations than any previous empire. Rome eventually became the controlling empire by the time of Christ and the Apostles. In New Testament times, the Roman soldiers were occupying the land now known as Israel and the surrounding nations. Rome’s official rule began with their first elected Emperor, Julius Caesar (known as Caesar Augustus), who ruled from 27 BC to AD 14. He was the emperor when Christ was born in Bethlehem (Luke 2:1). The Roman empire had experienced numerous civil wars and, under Julius, his armies were able to unite

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