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Money and Greed: Early Warning Signs

News of coin money eventually traveled to Rome. The Romans began minting their own coins and

building the first money-centric civilization in the world. Although the Greeks established the use of

money, the Romans created the first global marketplace and the first consumer oriented society.

Quick to discover how money could buy them almost anything, the Romans went on a spending

binge that would ultimately destroy them. (The phrase “shop till you drop” was probably first used

during this era!) Rather than becoming producers themselves, the Romans relied heavily on the

outside world for goods of all kinds. Does this sound familiar?

When they ran short of money, they simply financed large armies to plunder riches from other

lands. Between their ever-rising military costs and insatiable and extravagant lifestyle, the Romans

finally hit bottom by the end of the fourth century C.E. when their empire fell. This great money-

centered society managed to survive for nearly a century, only to fall beneath the weight of its own

greed. Instead of facing their own responsibility (as is true of all addicts), the Romans blamed

money for their demise. The fall of the Roman Empire was followed by the period known as the

Dark Ages, and money, the convenient scapegoat, all but disappeared from Western Europe for

nearly one thousand years. 18