If I recall well, the Persian treasure seized by Alexander was 180,000 talents!
He could afford anything he wanted... but most important, he threw all this money into circulation and created the first trully global market. Commerce flourished!
Re: How Much was ATG worth
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Re: How Much was ATG worth
The release of so much bullion also devalued the coinage and started serious price inflation.
When you think about, it free-choice is the only possible option.
Re: How Much was ATG worth
Hi guysI think the comparison is a bit unfair.First of all, we are comparing the wealth of a person (Bill Gates) against that of an empire (basically the Persian, if we restrict our attention to the treasure Alex seized after Gaugamela). That is, due to the monarchical structure, Alex became the owner of the treasury. Had he been a democratic leader, the story would have been very different indeed (even ignoring the problems that would face the mere idea of organizing such a costly and uncertain campaign financed by citizens-soldiers-taxpayers!). I think a better comparison would be one between the two superpowers of the times: Persia then, the US now. That is, we should rather compare the Persian treasury against Fort Knox (unfortunately, I donGÇÖt know how much gold is there, so donGÇÖt expect me to satisfy your curiosity here). A comparison Alex vs Bill Gates, then, will always favour Alex.But even then, thereGÇÖs another VERY important issue to consider here, and that is that the value of gold and silver changed over time. In particular, one would expect that both prices decreased over time, since new deposits of the two metals were discovered (eg, those in America, after the discovery in 1492). In this case, however, the bias is against Alexander: a kg of gold in the -300s bought much more, say, cattle, than a kg of gold nowadays. This problem is pervasive in every comparison you attempt, and since thereGÇÖs no commodity whose purchasing power remained the same over time, you cannot solve it.But in any case, I think we can say, without a doubt, that Alex was then the richest person on earth. And maybe more important, the most powerful too (and though wealth and power are inextricably linked, they are not the same. As an example, just look at Darios!).Kind regardsAlejandro