Influence on the Ancient World
Silver Changed The History. Since ancient times the history of mankind documented interesting facts on silver and how it influenced the relations between ancient kingdoms and their development. Ancient world used silver next to gold as the first primitive forms of money compared to simple exchange of goods. For a very long time humanity valued silver as a precious metal. By the time of the Greek and Roman civilizations, silver coins were the core of the economy. Did you know that central Europe became the centre of silver production during the Middle Ages?
Persia in 480 B.C.
The Persian Empire is the name given to a series of dynasties cantered in modern-day Iran. The first Persian Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great around 550 B.C., became one of the largest empires in history, stretching from Europe’s Balkan Peninsula in the West to India’s Indus Valley in the East.
Indeed in 480 B.C. Persia was a powerful ancient empire. As a matter of fact it had the largest army and navy of its time. Ancient Greece was to resist the Persian fleet. By that time silver became the most preferred currency in the ancient states of Mediterranean Sea.
Greeks. How Silver Changed The History
A couple of years earlier Greeks have found large deposits of silver. They were mining the silver and minting silver coins. So they starting building a huge naval forces to face the challenges and threats coming from Persia. They started building ships for their fleet. Silver coins became the main currency to pay the expenses for building their flotilla. As they succeeded in creating strong and compatible navy and having a good strategy, they not only managed holding back the attacks of the Persians, but also defeated them.
Battle of Salamis (480 B.C.)
Battle of Salamis (480 BC), battle in the Greco-Persian Wars in which a Greek fleet defeated much larger Persian naval forces. By 480 the Persian king Xerxes and his army had overrun much of Greece, and his navy of about 800 galleys bottled up the smaller Greek fleet of about 370 triremes in the Saronic Gulf. The Greek commander, Themistocles, then lured the Persian fleet into the narrow waters of the strait at Salamis. There the massed Persian ships had difficulty manoeuvring. The Greeks sank about 300 Persian vessels while losing only about 40 of their own. The rest of the Persian fleet was scattered. Having one year break from the attacks, the Greek city-states gained time to unite against Xerxes. The Persian Empire entered a period of decline after a failed invasion of Greece.
A Paradigm of Fascinating Influence. Silver Changed the History
Silver and good strategy allowed the Greeks not only protect themselves, preserve their spiritual value but also pass on their great ideas and philosophy to Ancient Rome. Thus, silver helped the civilisation of ancient Greeks to become the heart of Western World.
Hopefully in 21st century humanity has accumulated enough wisdom not to repeat the darkest pages of its history.
Let’s create, wear beautiful silver jewellery instead of weapons and make this world a better place to live. Peace on Earth.