After defeating Antony and Cleopatra at Actium in 31 BC, Octovian brought the treasury of Egypt to Rome thus providing an abundance of wealth wich contributed to stabilize both public and private finances. The value of land increased and interest rates fell. During the Augustan Principate, Roman economy went through a period of financial equilibrium. However, this balance was broken in the early 30's AD under Tiberius' Principate when, according to Tacitus, Suetonius and Dion Cassius, the first inopia nummorum (lack of liquidity) crisis of the Roman Empire came about. Based on the accounts cited above and a comparative perspective with other financial crises in the Roman Empire, this paper examines issues concerning interest rates from the end of the Republic to the Principate, it presents an overview of cash loans and interest rates at the time of Augustus and gives my reading of the crisis of AD 33, highlighting the main discussions about its origins, its development and its end.
Inopia nummorum; Financial Crisis; Roman Economy; Roman Empire; Interest Rates