The Mediterranean and the Roman Revolution resourcestofightagainstanother:forinstance,Sulla’simpositionsinAsiain
..,^75 Scipio’sinSyriaandAsiain..,self-righteouslydescribedby
Caesar,^76 andCaesar’sowninSyriain..^77
Thesecaseswillrepresenttherapidaccumulationofvaluemainlyinorder
topaytroopsinthefield;theultimateoveralleffectswillthenhavedepended
onwherethetroopswentandwhathappenedtothem(civiliansarenotnec-
essarilywithoutresourcesasagainstpassingsoldiers,andweshouldnotfor-
gettheCaesariansoldiersbeingthrownoverboardintheharbouratUticain
..).Someexactionstooktheformofseizingstaticwealthintheshape
oftempletreasuresorofpreciousmetalornaments;itwasthenturnedinto
coin,andusedtopaytroops.^78 Theeffectwillthushavebeentosomede-
greeinflationary.Themostobviousandwell-knownexampleistheprocess
by which, after Cleopatra despoiled the temples of Egypt of accumulated
treasures,Octaviancapturedthemin..(withouteventheodiumofim-
piety), carried out extensive furtherexactions in Alexandria, and brought
theproceedstoRomein..;there,presumablynowintheformofcoin,
theycausedariseinpricesandafallininterestrates.^79
Thatisonlyoneofseveralwell-knowninstanceswherevastaccumula-
tionsofvalueintheformofpreciousmetalwerephysicallytransportedto
Rome;wehaveonlytothinkofthetriumphofPompeyin..,^80 orthe
million sesterces ‘‘from booty’’ (ex manubiis) displayed in Caesar’s tri-
umphin..^81 Yetthatsumitselfrepresentsonlyabouttwicethelevelof
thelargestindividualfortunesrecordedfromRome.Moreover,wemaystill
askwhatsort,orscale,oflosstotheeconomiesofthevariousconqueredre-
gionswasrepresentedbytheremovalofthetypeofspoilsinpreciousmetal
orothervaluableswhichitwasphysicallypossibletobringtoRome.That
mustremainanopenquestion.
. Plutarch,Sull.;Appian,Mith.–.
. Caesar,De bello civili,,–.
. Dio,Roman History,,,–.
. Forremovalofwealthfromtemples,see,e.g.,Diodorus,/,;Plutarch,Sull.,
and;Pausanias,,(SullainGreece);Josephus,AJ,,(–)(Crassusfromthe
templeinJerusalem);Dio,,–,and,,–(CaesarinSpaininand).For
theconversionofprecious-metalornamentsintocoin,see,e.g.,Appian,BC,/–
(Tarsos,..),and,/(thecitiesofAsia,referringbacktoBrutus’andCassius’exac-
tionsbeforePhilippi).Forcomparativecases,seeF.Millar,The Emperor in the Roman World
(),.
. Dio,,–,and,.
. Pliny,NH,–;Plutarch,Pomp.;Appian,Mith..
. Velleius,,;cf.Appian,BC,.