Send us a text Forget the tidy tale of Athens inventing everything. We follow the harder, richer path: who counted as a citizen, who powered the mines and fleets, and how alphabets, temples, and trade shaped a world that learned to finance risk before it learned to praise democracy. We trace the consonants of Phoenicia becoming Greek vowels, the spread of colonies from Sicily to Anatolia, and the Etruscan bridge that carried scripts to Rome. Along the way, temples act like strongrooms and len...
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Send us a text Forget the tidy tale of Athens inventing everything. We follow the harder, richer path: who counted as a citizen, who powered the mines and fleets, and how alphabets, temples, and trade shaped a world that learned to finance risk before it learned to praise democracy. We trace the consonants of Phoenicia becoming Greek vowels, the spread of colonies from Sicily to Anatolia, and the Etruscan bridge that carried scripts to Rome. Along the way, temples act like strongrooms and len...
Episode 44. Han’s Tightrope: Markets, Monopolies, and Mandates
History of Money, Banking, and Trade
33 minutes
3 weeks ago
Episode 44. Han’s Tightrope: Markets, Monopolies, and Mandates
Send us a text What if the health of an empire could be read in the trust of its money and the fairness of its institutions? We follow Han China through a gripping arc: from early market freedom and soaring wealth to Emperor Wu’s heavy hand—state monopolies in salt, iron, and liquor, unified coinage, and price-smoothing granaries—and then into the turbulence of debasement, counterfeit coin, and a monetary dark age. Along the way, the Silk Road begins to hum, standards slash fraud, and safer r...
History of Money, Banking, and Trade
Send us a text Forget the tidy tale of Athens inventing everything. We follow the harder, richer path: who counted as a citizen, who powered the mines and fleets, and how alphabets, temples, and trade shaped a world that learned to finance risk before it learned to praise democracy. We trace the consonants of Phoenicia becoming Greek vowels, the spread of colonies from Sicily to Anatolia, and the Etruscan bridge that carried scripts to Rome. Along the way, temples act like strongrooms and len...