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Roman Empire

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Greek and Roman financiers: from the 4th century BC

Banking activities in Greece are more varied and sophisticated than in any previous society. Private entrepreneurs, as well as temples and public bodies, now undertake financial transactions. They take deposits, make loans, change money from one currency to another and test coins for weight and purity.

They even engage in book transactions. Moneylenders can be found who will accept payment in one Greek city and arrange for credit in another, avoiding the need for the customer to transport or transfer large numbers of coins.

Rome, with its genius for administration, adopts and regularizes the banking practices of Greece. By the 2nd century AD a debt can officially be discharged …show more content…

As part an effort to restore order in the Empire, Constantine adopted Christianity as the State Religion, introducing changes by importing customs and cultures into his new religion as a unifying factor for the Roman Empire. The Council of Nicaea formulated the Nicene Creed in 325 and made Christianity the powerhouse of the new Roman Empire as the Roman Catholic Church or World Church. By 476, the political Roman Empire had fallen to repeated outside pressure, transferring the relics of the Roman Empire to the Roman Catholic Church. Political unrest continued as rising powers in Europe invaded the Roman Empire and plundered Rome.
With the rule of the Barbarians and the Byzantines, the Pope became the unquestionable leading religious figure of the time. Local power in Rome was absorbed by the Pope and the remaining possessions of the senatorial aristocracy and the local Byzantine administration in Rome were absorbed by the Roman Catholic Church. The popes of the Church became the de-facto political rulers of Rome and the surrounding regions. Emerging noble families managed to insert a leading role for themselves in the Church. The Popes declared the new Roman Empire through the Roman Catholic Church as the rule of God on earth. Rome was subjected to varying degrees of anarchy and attack until the Normans sacked Rome in 1084. Rome was rebuilt by wealthy families using wealth that came from commerce and banking as the Church began to expand its political and

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