Editorial discussion · Forgotten Fortunes
Trade routes, taxation, military power and financial institutions all helped sustain empires. Which mechanism best explains their durability, and when does that explanation stop working?
Choose one empire and a specific period. Distinguish the money used in trade from the institutions that collected revenue. A coin circulating widely does not, by itself, prove that the issuing state controlled the trade.
Start with evidence: compare monetary objects with written records in the British Museum collection. What evidence would change your argument?