attempts to reform the currency. A reform of the empire’s tax
system was somewhat more successful. It created one system
of taxation for the entire empire. In theory, it was more con-
sistent and fair than the patchwork of local and regional taxes
it replaced.
Constantine continued many of Diocletian’s policies. He
was able to introduce a new gold coin, the solidus, which was
not debased and became the preferred means of exchange in
late antiquity. Nevertheless, economic conditions remained
grim, and the government attempted to regulate more closely
the movement and professions of its citizens, creating a new
class of rural serfs known as coloni while continuing to tax
the population heavily to pay for the large imperial army and
bureaucracy. Th ese policies, along with a series of civil wars,
left the empire ill prepared to deal with the Germanic inva-
sions of the later fourth century c.e.
THE AMERICAS
BY MICHAEL ALLEN HOLMES AND TOM STREISSGUTH
By about 2000 b.c.e. the foundations of agricultural civiliza-
tion were being laid throughout the Americas. Maize, beans,
and gourds sustained many cultures in North and Central
America, while South American societies relied on the po-
tato. Economic activity beyond trade at the village level,
however, did not occur on a substantial scale until the ad-
vent of political organization, which went hand in hand with
expanded trading networks. Complex economic structures
evolved steadily over time, leading to greater contact between
regions and the sharing of technologies, resources, weapons,
and tools. Barter and trade provided an essential point of
contact, allowing tribes to gather scarce goods without forag-
ing or warfare.At its height in 200 c.e. the Roman Empire stretched from the Rhine and Danube rivers on the north to Britain and the Iberian peninsula on the
west, northern Africa on the south, and Mesopotamia on the east.
economy: The Americas 371