How did Alexander the Great's conquest impact the economy of the ancient world?

 

The Asian campaign of Alexander the Great had long ended around late 324 BC, when his troops mutinied at Opis, near Babylon.

 This enormous and exhausting expedition had a great impact on the economy, circulation of coinage, and food prices, even while it was still in progress.

 Major cities, such as Sardes, Damascus, Susa, Persepolis, and others, filled the coffers of Alexander’s treasury at Ecbatana with 180,000 talents, which, in today’s money, is worth around 350 BILLION dollars.

 It is often attested that this sudden influx of Persian treasures into the Greek world had the effect of inflation, because there was an incredible increase in the circulation of money, but no corresponding increase in the amount of goods available for purchase.

 But of course, the effects that Alexander’s reign had on

 the economy of the ancient world are much more complex.

 So let’s dive in.

 Alexander’s legendary campaign is something to behold, but, it was during his reign that we see a great rise in the prices of wheat and barley.

 In 330 BC, a medimnos of wheat in Athens had risen from 5 to 16 drachmas.

 Although to be fair, other factors contributed to the rise of foodstuffs in the late 4th century BC.

 Several continuous disastrous harvests caused by drought around 330-320 BC contributed to the price increase of grain in the markets.

 Instability caused by Alexander’s campaign was also a major factor, as well as piracy in the Eastern Mediterranean, especially in the years 333 to 332, and uprisings like the one led by Agis III in the Peloponnese, in 331, increased uncertainty for people living in Greece proper.

 This was followed by a period of political, social, and economic isolation for the kingdom of Macedonia, after Antipater re-assumed the role of regent and until the death of his son Cassander in 298.

 The Antipatrids were seen as keepers of the old values and traditions that characterized mostly Classical Macedon.

 A conservative policy was indeed true in that period, despite the continuous influx of Asian gold.

 Nonetheless, Cassander was the one to use this gold for upgrades in infrastructure and road network.

 A simplified consideration of the numismatics point of view, in the Hellenistic kingdoms coinage was gathered as income from taxes and then used to pay for the wars and the running of the bureaucracy.

 Alexander the Great adopted the Attic standard for his coins which was very popular around late Classical period.

 This policy was continued also by his Diadochi and thus the Antipatrids in Macedon.

 Many entities issued copies in order to meet the demand for payments in coins.

 Already known from the Classical period, the basic tax of eisphora (contribution), was a common practice in the early Hellenistic period.

 It was a compulsory tax that was applied in times of special need.

 Nevertheless, barter and other forms of a non-monetarized economy still persisted.

 Many people would exchange products with their neighbors.

 The monetarization of the economy, and the spread of the bronze coinage from the 4th century onwards, is clearly a sign of the convenience that coins had in small, daily and frequent market transactions.

 These infrastructure and bureaucratic policies helped continue urban development, by connecting neighboring settlements and effectively turning them into cities, a process called synoecism.

 Using this method, Cassander created the cities of Cassandreia in Chalkidice, and Thessaloniki, close to the Thermaic gulf.

 The city founding programs were already a common policy from the reigns of Philip II and Alexander the Great, and were then continued by Cassander and Demetrius I of the Antigonids, who founded the city of Demetrias, using the same policy.

 After the death of Cassander in 297 BC, an era of turbulence and instability followed inside the kingdom.

 Civil wars, dynastic strife and the Gallic invasion were some of the events that contributed for economic and social decline of the kingdom.

 The repulse of the Gauls at Lysimacheia in 277 BC by Antigonus II Gonatas wasn’t enough to trigger the economic restart of Macedonia.

 Weak manpower, damaged livestock, ravaged fields and impoverishment of the people was a ‘’cocktail” of depression for Macedonia at that point.

 However, after the death of Pyrrhus of Epirus in 272 BC at Argos, contributed Antigonus to restore the unity among his kingdom; especially the regions of Upper Macedonia and Thessaly.

 Macedonian dominance was sealed by the control of the three strategic areas in the Greek south.

 The heavily fortified Acrocorinth that overlooked the bay of Corinth, the formidable port of Chalkis, situated on the narrowest point of the Euripus Strait, and the strategically placed Demetrias, from where the whole of Thessaly could be controlled, were described as the three shackles of Greece, due to their advantageous position on the map.

 This control was enforced either with Macedonian garrisons or pro-Macedonian tyrants installed in the various southern Greek cities.

 Financial transactions between Cyclades, Greek cities of the south and Macedonia was frequent from that point onwards, as a policy of Gonatas.

 Exportation of tar, timber and grain from inland Macedon to these areas is known to us, according to inscriptions found in the island of Chios and Delos.

 The Antigonids transformed Delos, as a center of commerce for the whole Aegean due to its important role in transit trade.

 This deepened Macedonian presence and influence on the island.

 At the same time, the Macedonian ports of Dion, Pydna, Cassandreia and most importantly Thessaloniki strengthened maritime trade connections with the Aegean islands and southern Greek cities.

 Gonatas died c. 240/39 BC leaving his legacy in the economic policies of the kingdom.

 However, he left behind a vulnerable northern border and the kingdom’s military was weaker than other Hellenistic kingdoms, such as Ptolemaic Egypt and Seleucid Kingdom.

 Nevertheless, he left Macedon in a much better shape than when he first ascended the throne.

 Gonatas’ successors tried to continue his policy in the Aegean as it was very beneficial for the economy of the kingdom.

 Demetrius II, Antigonus III Doson, and Philip V had mixed results in their attempts.

 Doson also carried out his renowned Carian campaign in southwest Asia Minor in 227 BC, a move to secure naval interests.

 In the same year, Antigonus III sent his lumber aid of 15,000 timber pieces for the reconstruction of the earthquake-damaged Rhodes.

 Going into inland Macedonia, the archaeological evidence available to us from the excavation of Pella, indicate the abundance and prosperity of the Macedonian elite in mid-3rd cent. BC.

 The peristyle houses of Pella host numerous mosaics of fine art and aesthetics.

 Moving into the last quarter of the 3rd cent.

 BC, we see an economic growth under Philip V.

 Macedonia had become a strong force in the region of the Balkans.

 The economic power of the kingdom is reflected in the capability of Philip to conduct large-scale military campaigns in Thrace and central Greece.

 Also, the ability to dedicate rich offerings to sanctuaries like Delos and Epidaurus is known to us through inscriptions.

 During Philip’s reign there was a continued growth of revenue from agriculture, redevelopment of abandoned mines and the opening of new ones, port tolls, fish stocks from the Strymonian and Thermaic gulfs, and the upgrading of the road network.

 In the meantime, traditional Macedonian economic tools like livestock, timber and grain exports also played their part.

 In every respect, Philip V was without a political and economic restorer.

 According to ancient sources like Polybius and Livy, Philip initiated a whole agricultural, naval and mining rejuvenation, with positive results.

 The potential of minting gold, silver and bronze coins, as well as the minting of bronze denominations that had all but disappeared until the start of Philip’s reign, is also evidence that Macedon was an economic powerhouse during this period.

 When his son Perseus inherited the throne, the economy was in a very good shape, the army was well equipped and supplied, and the royal storehouses were stocked with grain.

 However, this progress would gradually crumble due to the renewed conflict with Rome in the 3rd Macedonian War.

 King Perseus was forced to battle against the Romans who were under consul Lucius Aemilius Paullus at Pydna in 168 BC.

 The Romans emerged victorious due to their advantageous position on the battlefield.

 The losses in manpower for the kingdom were huge, as 20.000 Macedonians and Greek allies were slaughtered at the battle, and another 6.000 were captured.

 With the war lost, the kingdom was dissolved, and Paullus gathered at Amphipolis in 167 BC all the Macedonian representatives to announce to them the political and economic measures of the new reality in the region under Roman authority.

 The Romans divided the kingdom into four new republics or districts mentioned in the ancient sources as merides.

 These were primae regionis Amphipolim, secundae Thessalonicen, tertiae Pellam, and quartae Pelagoniam.

 To prevent any relations between the districts, trade and intermarriages were prohibited among them.

 Another measure was the prohibition of felling of shipbuilding timber amongst the Macedonians of the four newly formed republics.

 From that we can assume the continuity and high value of Macedonian lumber for the kingdom’s prosperity throughout antiquity.

 Parallel to this, other harsh economic measures enforced by the Romans included a tax tribute to the Republic (half of the old regime), prohibition of purchasing land properties between the districts, and the termination of operation for gold and silver mines.

 Only copper mining was still permitted.

 Aemilius Paullus made a huge triumph which lasted 3 days after his great victory.

 It was accompanied in the first day by 250 carts, loaded with artworks, while the next two days 750 men marched displaying pots full of gold and silver coins in their disposal.

 This wealth was from the plunder in Pella and Macedonia in general.

 Paullus, also sent envoys to seventy Greek cities (mainly in Epirus) asking for tribute in silver and gold, with the guarantee of removal of Roman garrisons.

 Later, he acted treacherously by attacking these cities and enslaving 150.000 people.

 Having this in mind, we can assume that the prosperous economy in the area of Macedonia had taken a huge blow.

 Moreover, there was a great introduction of Italian and Roman traders, tax farmers and other people that intermingled with the economy not only of the Macedonian kingdom, but the eastern Mediterranean as well.

 The flow of foodstuffs and people from Macedonia and Rome, in both directions was taking place from the time Romans arrived in 168/7 BC and up until the end mark of the Hellenistic period in 31 BC.

 So we can conclude that Macedonia’s economy hadn’t been stable during the Hellenistic period, although it has recovered remarkably on many occasions.

 The Asian campaign of Alexander the Great had a serious impact on the economy and the food prices in the markets, not only in Macedon, but across the Hellenistic world.

 After his death, the Antipatrids’ policy was characterized by political and economic isolation but it had achieved a lot in infrastructure.

 With a period of crisis and instability that followed, the Antigonids tried to put the kingdom back on the path of development, mainly from 272 BC onwards.

 The economic abilities of the kingdom were restored in the period that followed, and the Aegean sea became important for Macedon’s commerce.

 Timber was always an economic and diplomatic tool in the hands of Macedonian kings, and this is supported by facts like the timber grant of Doson or the exports in the Aegean islands.

 During the reign of Philip V, the economy of the kingdom reached its zenith.

 His administration successfully utilized traditional resources of Macedonia with the addition of naval and mining redevelopment.

 But the economic and military peak of Philip couldn’t have been possible without the reinstatement of Antigonus II Gonatas half a century prior.

 The latter received a rather weak kingdom, and managed, due to his effective policies, to take advantage of the available resources and “open up” the Aegean Sea for commerce.

 That was fundamental for the initial survival and future prospect of the kingdom.

 However, this progress was reversed in the short term when the Romans imposed harsh economic measures after their arrival.

 But later, Macedon, as a Roman province continued to prosper with the arrival of Roman merchants and other immigrants that benefited the economy.

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