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could readily be sent to any part of the empire. But of course both posts and roads helped largely in the development of commerce, giving security and rapidity of communication from east to west and from north to south. One cannot insist too forcibly upon the immense influence which these roads had not only upon commerce, but upon civilisation in general. They were part of the grand system of organisation which distinguished the Roman people. Under the Romans the world for a long time had peace and leisure to develop its resources, and though their main idea was that other nations should be ruled for the benefit of the Romans and not for their own, the Roman system of administration undoubtedly favoured and stimulated the arts of peace and the progress of civilisation. But the empire could not last for ever, and about four centuries after the Christian era it was invaded by hordes of barbarians, who caused complete chaos and confusion and destroyed nearly the whole of the industry and commerce of Roman times. We shall deal with their invasions in another chapter.

NOTE. (a) Commercial Tribunals.—It is not to be supposed that in ancient times foreign commerce was conducted without disputes, which caused great practical difficulties. Suppose, for instance, an Athenian bought corn of an Egyptian at a fixed price, and either the corn supplied was not up to sample, or the buyer would not pay? How could the foreigner obtain redress? Among the Greeks the difficulty was settled in the following way. States entered into treaties with one another, determining the principles of law which they would enforce in favour of one another, and also the mode in which a citizen of either state might plead and obtain his rights in the courts of the other. As a rule, each contracting state had a proxenos, or resident consul, in the other, and the proxenos conducted actions for citizens of the state which he represented. Among the Romans, while Rome was a small state, a similar system prevailed, but, as the Roman empire extended and covered almost all countries which had an organised commerce, a different plan was adopted. A Roman province was governed by a code put forth by the Roman governor. Most of this code was usually borrowed from the local law, but much of it consisted of general legal principles, supposed to be common to all nations, and therefore called Jus Gentium, "the law of nations." It was to this

part of the code (the foundation of modern International Law) that a foreigner, whether a Roman citizen or not, was allowed to appeal.

(b) Roman Currency.-The Romans used at first copper, and, after 269 B. C., silver, but under the Roman empire a gold standard was general, and the silver and copper were allowed to degenerate into tokens of nominal value. The chief actual coins were I aureus (about £1)=25 denarii (silver) = 100 sestertii (brass).

BOOK II

MEDIEVAL COMMERCE

CHAPTER I

THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS AND THE DECAY OF

COMMERCE

27. The Teutons and the Romans.-We have now come to a time when there is a great break in the history of commerce, culture, and industry. We have reached the period when the nations of the great Teutonic race, to which the English and the Germans alike belong, began to make their way inside the boundaries of the Roman empire, till at length they finally overran it, and produced for a long period industrial and political chaos. Every one knows how the various German tribes had been some of the most dangerous enemies of Rome ever since Augustus became first Emperor of Rome in 27 B.C. About a century later a well-known Roman author called Tacitus gave a very celebrated account of these tribes, and also mentions many battles fought against them by Roman generals. Indeed the most valiant emperors of Rome had very often to fight with all their strength against these half-barbarous peoples that kept ever pressing nearer and nearer to the limits of their empire. So things had gone on for three centuries, up to the days of Constantine (306337) and Julian (361-363), who both had to fight against these Teutonic nations, as also Valentinian (364-367) was compelled to do. In all these wars the Germans, constantly beaten back though they were, grew gradually stronger and stronger, and learnt, too, much of Roman discipline and Roman civilisation. For many of them used to enter the service of the Roman emperors as their

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