Posted by AJay on Apr 8th, 2011 // No Comment

 

 

 

 

40 Nummi Piece of Anastasius    

 

 

First, some background information:

In  the late fifth century A.D. as the Western Roman Empire was dying its last gasps, under an onslaught of illegal alien invading barbarians, (Vandals, Huns, Goths etc.) Meanwhile, the Eastern Empire underwent a remarkable revival. Emperor Leo I, first expelled from the Roman military all the immigrants, legal and illegal, who were threatening the security of the state. Next, he recruited only native citizens of the Roman Empire, especially a ferocious group called the Isaurians. Having secured his military, he proceeded to construct powerful walls and other defenses around his capital, the former city of Byzantium. (It had been renamed Constantinople over 150 years earlier, by the bloodthirsty tyrant Constantine I).

 

After a successful 17 year reign, Leo’s daughter Ariadne married the next Emperor who took the Greek name Zeno. Upon the death of Zeno, Empress Ariadne was given the privilege of choosing the succeeding  Emperor.

  Empress Ariadne

 

   All of the powerful aristocrats eagerly awaited her choice, hoping to see which of them would be granted this exalted position and title. Ariadne, by all accounts was a brilliant woman. She fooled all of them. Instead of one of these haughty officials, she picked a respected palace official and economist of very high character but no military or political background. His name was Anastasius.  The aristocrats of course were furious.  “Who the hell is this old bastard!” they cried.  Well, they thought, he is already 61 years old, he will probably die in a few years and we will be rid of him.  As we shall see, he tricked everybody.

 

   When Anastasius came to power in 491 A.D., the economy was in terrible shape. The coins consisted of tiny little copper bits the size of an aspirin, called nummi, and 24 karat gold coins called solidi. Imagine, trying to do business with currency consisting of nothing but cents and hundred dollar bills! The official value was around 7200 to the solidus but varied greatly. The value of those little nummi pieces was, in effect, whatever any local government official said it was, a situation  ripe for cheating and extortion.

 

   The government had also instituted a punishing tax system; levies existed on every possible profession from physician to prostitute and worst of all, a high tax on farmers. The tax on farmers had to be paid whether there were good crops or even a complete crop failure. Many farmers in bad years to avoid arrest simply abandoned their properties. Food shortages were common, and many people hardly worked because the taxes made industriousness a foolish proposition. Anastasias swept out the entire rotten system.

 

  Anastasius’  first important reform was a complete overhaul of the currency. A series of large bronze coins from 5 to 40 new numina as issued. Each coin had its mark of value on the reverse with a large Greek letter, M for 40, K for 20, I or X for 10 and E for 5 nummi. (Most of the people of the East Roman Empire tended to speak Greek more than Latin)

 5 Nummi20 Nummi10 nummi

 

 

 Anastasias then took the most dramatic action of his very successful reign. He slashed taxes by 90% and eliminated all the taxes on the various professions. As soon as this radical change took place, rapid economic expansion ensued. The farmers soon produced so much food that the Eastern Roman Empire became the breadbasket of the entire Mediterranean region and beyond. The Romans of all occupations  began working very industriously because they could now keep most of the wealth they generated.

   You might think that the government was in danger of bankruptcy but amazingly, as a result of the economic revival , tax revenue grew at an phenomenal rate.

 Solidus of Anastasius

  Anastasias survived for 27 very successful years. After he finally died at the age of 88, in 518 A.D., when the government treasury was inspected, it contained an amazing 320,000 pounds of pure gold. If Barack Hussein Obama and his gang of Marxists understood this, we would not be in the disastrous situation we are in today. (In my opinion Obama DOES know this and he is deliberately doing everything possible to weaken America in every way )

 

   Anastasius was in fact, practicing Reaganomics 1500 years before Ronald Reagan. If you believe in reincarnation, perhaps Ronaldus Maximus, the elderly, brilliant and successful late president was inhabited by the soul of the great Emperor Anastasias. Of course you may read about these events on KutTheKrap but don’t hold your breath waiting to see this in the NY SLIMES, PMSNBC or any other Liberal left media outlets.     

Following emperors used this wealth to not only give Constantinople its amazing architectural wonders, but retake many of the lost provinces of the fallen Western Roman Empire.

 

 Hagia Sophia, built by Emperor Justinian, funded with wealth left by Anastasius.

 

   Examining the practical effects of the policies of that great Emperor, I consider him to be the greatest economist in all of history. He is certainly the only economist to acquire power over a huge empire and thus, the ability to effect profound economic change.  The only problem he had in governing is that he refused to take part in the prevailing religious fanaticism that was afflicting the Christian East Roman Empire. This resulted in violent rioting and bloodshed, similar to what we see today during religious disputes in the Islamic world. I actually consider his religious policy of tolerance another positive aspect of his 27 year rule.

   With our government squandering money on every imaginable kind of nefarious vote buying scheme and scam, I therefore conclude that only another Anastasius or Ronald Reagan can rescue us from unstoppable inflation followed by economic ruin.

   You should listen to Ronald Reagan’s amazing 1964 “Rendezvous with Destiny” speech presented here:

 

YouTube – “A Time for Choosing” by Ronald Reagan

 

  Like the East Romans, we are surrounded by enemies bent on our destruction, like that great civilization, only a powerful economy will supply us with the resources needed to ensure America the military and financial power to preserve our liberty, and resist foreign political and religious tyranny.

 

 

  Note- the Eastern Roman Empire is commonly slandered with the illegitimate name “Byzantine Empire”. The people of that important civilization, until the last day of its existence, with the capture of Constantinople on Tuesday, May 29 1453, referred to themselves as Romans. as did, the last Roman city, Trebizond, which held out until 1461.

  

  The East Roman Emperors, after Greek gradually became the official language, were titled Basileaus Romaion “King of the Romans”. It is the courageous people of that Empire, who, while West Europeans were living in the filth, squalor and ignorance of the Dark Ages, preserved Western Culture and Christian Civilization against the Islamic onslaught which began in the 7th Century. An interesting sidelight- In the mid 600′s, by welcoming a Jewish refugee, who was a scientific genius, the Romans were able to acquire the amazing secret that enabled their survival. That however, is a topic for another installment on KutTheKrap

 

The last Roman Emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, in fact, died a hero’s death fighting the Muslim Turks, refusing to surrender his capital despite hopeless odds. 7000 Romans held off hundreds of thousands of Turks for many weeks. He embodied the true ancient spirit of a real Roman. 

  Below is another Gold Solidus of Anastasius. Our world soldier is derived from the name solidus. On each coin in this piece, the emperor’s name is preceded by the letters “DN”. This is an abbreviation for Dominus Noster, “Our Lord”

  CONOB means Constantinople, OB=pure gold, Victoria AVG Victory of the Augusti (Emperors)

 

More East Roman coins can be viewed at Forum Ancient Coins

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