Persian tributes
The Persian tributes were levies levied by the Achaemenids on the Ionian , Phoenician, and Cypriot cities. The main reason for this regulation was the fact that the Persian rulers could only get coins on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The court of the great king did not mint money, but filled the treasuries with gold, valuables and jewelery. However, Greek mercenaries were only to be hired for one hard currency. This was provided by the cities of Greek origin.
In his growing sphere of influence, Alexander the Great did not collect the tributes for his needs, but directed them to the temple, as in Ephesus and Priene , and used them for urban development. This brought the Macedonian sympathy and the king requisitioned his money from courtesy payments of the city councils and from sea trade. All parties showed a particular interest in mechanical technology.
The Ionic coin money was based on the Attic rate of interest - it was a silver currency like that on the Greek mainland. The Phoenician-influenced islands of the Aegean preferred the Rhodian rate of interest, which was also based on silver.
The gold-oriented Macedonian currency introduced by his father Philip II of Macedonia was replaced by Alexander back from gold to silver. The reason was possibly his fear that after the spoil of the Persian gold reserves, a currency based on this metal could quickly depreciate.
By accessing the Persian gold chambers, the massive substance of which was melted down and minted, Alexander created a money category that also made huge construction projects and investments in distant infrastructure possible. In this concept lies the reason for the centuries-long flowering of the culture of the Hellenistic world. The new monetary value promoted technology, trade and librarianship in the Mediterranean world far into what is now Kazakhstan, the Persian Gulf and India. The metropolis of this new world was Alexandria in Egypt.
At the beginning of his campaign up to the Battle of Gaugamela , Alexander the Great's finances were very tight. The booty of the Persian entourage after the battle of Issus in Damascus financed little more than the running costs of the military operations. Only when they moved into Egypt did the situation improve overall.
Individual evidence
- ^ Johann Gustav Droysen: History of Alexander the Great. DVA, 1955, p. 113.
- ↑ The German historian Johann Gustav Droysen , who viewed the medieval copies of ancient traditions in the 19th century, coined the term Hellenism for this epoch .