Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis - Volume 136, Issue 1, 2023

Money before coinage in Archaic and Early Republican Rome

Money existed in the Roman world before the introduction of coinage. Fragmentary information in the written sources suggests the existence of two main forms of money: bronze and cattle. However, this information is often difficult to interpret, due to the problematic nature of the sources, and the pervasiveness in our thinking of a modern concept of money. This article discusses the state of research, and summarizes the evidence about money in Archaic and Early Republican Rome given in the sources. It further discusses how this information, together with archaeological material, informs current interpretations of the actual use of bronze and cattle as money. Finally, it shows how insights from economic anthropology may help us better to understand the sources, especially focusing on ideas about the way money develops, and how its use can be limited to specific spheres of exchange.

The climate crisis as a colonial crisis. Perspectives from African environmental history

By reviewing recent works in African environmental history, this article explores the colonial roots of the Anthropocene. I argue that a historical approach is crucial to understand the current climate crisis and its planetary inequalities. This article traces colonial environmental injustices, through examples such as forestry, agriculture and hydroelectric dam schemes, to show how they are reproduced and endure into the present. The exclusionary histories of the nature-culture divide as well as the problematic effects of colonial development schemes poignantly presage the unsustainability of contemporary interventionist climate policies. In this respect, African environmental history provides unique perspectives on the Anthropocene’s unequal dynamics. Historians can play a more prominent role in contemporary debates about the climate crisis by documenting these colonial legacies and in doing so they can contribute to more just and sustainable climate policies.