October 9, 2019October 9, 2019Viking Era One usuable indicator of the value of a Viking sword. How many weapons you could buy today for that price? What was the price of a Viking sword at the time? How about expressing a price then in some unit of measure […]
October 5, 2019Viking Era Overview of silver and coin usage in Viking Era Short overview of the evolution of the means of exchange during Viking Era can be found in Viking Currency, an article by […]
October 3, 2019October 3, 2019Viking Era Recap of payments made to Viking raiders, called Danegeld. Some day I plan to collate all the comments I’ve read on the amount of Danegeld and other money accumulated by various […]
September 30, 2019October 14, 2019Viking Era Coining money in Viking Age and more details on found hoards Consider there was no secure way to store wealth in the time of the Vikings. There were no banks, no marketable securities, […]
September 21, 2019January 31, 2020Roman Empire Galea – helmet worn by Roman Legionnaires. With a shield held in front of you, the most valuable and most exposed area to be protected is your head. Helmets […]
March 2, 2018February 26, 2018Roman Empire Roman legionnaire’s pay over time. Increases are an indication of debasement of currency. Pay for a legionnaire soldier in the Roman army increased substantially over time, from 225 denarii a year around the turn of […]
February 13, 2018February 13, 2018Roman Empire Average pay for Roman Legionnaire Another indication of average pay for Roman foot soldiers can be found in Wikipedia’s article Imperial Roman Army. This pay rate applied […]
January 24, 2018Viking Era More data points on payments to Vikings For some specific data points on hostage payments, tributes, and bribes paid to the Vikings, check out Janet Nelson’s chapter 2, The […]
January 2, 2018January 1, 2018Viking Era More background on coins and storing wealth in hoards during Viking Age Comments I’ve accumulated from a few other books fit well with the previous post Background on Viking Age – money, trading centers […]
December 30, 2017January 10, 2018Viking Era Background on Viking Age – money, trading centers – 2 of 5 In terms of economic life, Viking Age: Everyday life during the extraordinary era of the Norsemen, by Kirsten Wolf, points out geography […]