发明金钱的真正原因：让统治者变得富有

如今，我们可能永远不会停下来思考为什么要发明金钱。如果您是一个愤世嫉俗的人，您不会惊讶地发现其主要动机是为统治者谋取利润。

Money was invented around 2,600 years ago by the kings of Lydia in modern-day Turkey. They hit upon a clever scheme to make a profit for themselves by turning the silver and gold everyone had been using to buy and sell things into coins with their emblem on it, and forcing everyone living in their territory to use it. But the face value of the coin was greater than the value of the metal content. The difference went into their tunics, and everyone has been doing it ever since.

货币是大约 2,600 年前由现代土耳其吕底亚国王发明的。他们想到了一个聪明的计划，通过将每个人用来买卖东西的金银变成带有他们标志的硬币，并强迫生活在他们领土上的每个人使用它来为自己谋取利润。但硬币的面值大于金属含量的价值。区别在于他们的束腰外衣，从那时起每个人都在这样做。

Even the Lydians would have been surprised by the phenomenal success of $TRUMP, the recently launched cryptocurrency modestly bearing the name of the new President of America and now worth billions.

即使是吕底亚人也会对 $TRUMP 的巨大成功感到惊讶，这是最近推出的加密货币，谦虚地以美国新总统的名字命名，现在价值数十亿美元。

But Trump’s coin is nothing new. In a pre-social media world, coins were the ultimate propaganda tool. Rulers used them to advertise themselves and their achievements and any messaging they wanted to get across.

但特朗普的硬币并不是什么新鲜事。在社交媒体出现之前的世界中，硬币是最终的宣传工具。统治者用它们来宣传自己和他们的成就以及他们想要传达的任何信息。

Here are some of the most interesting examples from ancient times.

以下是古代一些最有趣的例子。

Alexander the Great, the god

亚历山大大帝，神

Alexander the Great was the first person to put his own image on Greek coins, hitherto the preserve of the gods. But he came to consider himself a god which gave him the OK.

亚历山大大帝是第一个将自己的肖像印在希腊硬币上的人，迄今为止，希腊硬币一直是众神的保留地。但他开始认为自己是上帝，这给了他OK。

His vast coinage became the standard issue for his successors. The obverse shows the head of Alexander wearing a ram’s horn, indicating the Horns of Ammon – the iconography thanks to an Egyptian Oracle which identified him as being the son of the god Zeus Ammon.

他的大量铸币成为他的继任者的标准货币。正面显示亚历山大头戴公羊角，代表阿蒙之角——该图像源自埃及甲骨文，确认他是宙斯阿蒙神的儿子。

The reverse has the goddess Athena personified as Nikephoros (bringer of victory) holding Victory in her hand with a spear and shield, and the inscription naming King Alexander. You definitely wanted Athena on your side.

背面是女神雅典娜化身为尼基弗鲁斯（胜利使者），手中拿着长矛和盾牌，上面刻着亚历山大国王的铭文。你肯定希望雅典娜站在你这边。

Coins were primarily minted to pay the army. There were no fancy economic notions of maintaining an adequate money supply; that was simply a by-product. But coins were the main medium in which everyone got to see Alexander as a divine being with the warrior goddess par excellence on his side.

铸造硬币主要是为了支付军队费用。没有什么花哨的经济概念来维持充足的货币供应；那只是一个副产品。但硬币是每个人将亚历山大视为神圣存在的主要媒介，他身边有卓越的战神女神。

Roman battles

罗马战争

The Romans were the best at using coins for propaganda.

罗马人最擅长使用硬币进行宣传。

This coin of Julius Caesar features, on the obverse, Caesar at the height of his power with a legend naming him as “Dictator in Perpetuity”, an honour bestowed on him by the Roman Senate in mid-February 44 BCE.

这枚朱利叶斯·凯撒硬币的正面刻有凯撒的权力巅峰，传说中称他为“永久独裁者”，这是罗马元老院于公元前 44 年 2 月中旬授予他的荣誉。

On the reverse is his mythical ancestor Venus holding Victory. Essentially, he was making himself king and ending the Roman Republic. If you know your Roman history, or Shakespeare, you will realise this was not going to go down well.

背面是他的神话祖先维纳斯手持胜利女神。本质上，他是在自立为王并结束罗马共和国。如果你了解罗马历史或莎士比亚，你就会意识到这不会顺利进行。

And indeed, it did not. Caesar was assassinated just one month later on the Ides of March.

事实上，事实并非如此。仅仅一个月后，凯撒就在三月十五日被暗杀。

Marcus Junius Brutus celebrated the event with one of the most famous coins in history bearing his own bust and name on the obverse.

马库斯·朱尼厄斯·布鲁图斯用历史上最著名的硬币之一来庆祝这一事件，硬币的正面刻有他自己的半身像和名字。

On the reverse, above the inscription, the “pileus” cap was a symbol of freedom often worn by recently freed slaves. The daggers on either side were, of course, the weapons used to slay Caesar.

背面铭文上方的“菌盖”帽子是自由的象征，新近获释的奴隶经常佩戴。两边的匕首当然是用来杀死凯撒的武器。

Jerusalem the Holy

耶路撒冷圣地

The First Jewish Revolt started in 66 CE, when the Jews tried to reclaim their freedom from the Romans and reconquered Jerusalem. They issued coins proclaiming their independence from Rome.

第一次犹太人起义始于公元 66 年，当时犹太人试图从罗马人手中夺回自由并重新征服耶路撒冷。他们发行硬币宣布脱离罗马独立。

The obverse features a chalice with an inscription in paleo-Hebrew alphabet reading (from right to left): “Shekel Israel Year 3”, and the reverse with three budding pomegranates and an inscription: “Jerusalem the Holy”.

正面是一个圣杯，上面刻有古希伯来字母铭文（从右到左）：“Shekel Israel Year 3”，背面刻有三个含苞待放的石榴和铭文：“耶路撒冷圣地”。

Other coins in the series had the legend “The freedom of Zion”, which can be interpreted as a political statement to rally support and to emphasise Jerusalem as the capital.

该系列的其他硬币上有“锡安自由”的传说，这可以被解释为一种政治声明，以争取支持并强调耶路撒冷作为首都。

The Romans did not take kindly to being beaten up. Their Emperor Vespasian subdued the revived Jewish state and destroyed the Temple, issuing umpteen versions of the famous “Judaea Capta” coins.

罗马人并不乐意挨打。他们的皇帝维斯帕先征服了复兴的犹太国家并摧毁了圣殿，发行了无数版本的著名“犹太卡普塔”硬币。

Struck in 71 CE, this coin has Vespasian on the obverse. On the reverse, on the right side is a female personification of the Jewish nation in mourning, seated beneath a palm tree; on the left side, a captive Jew with his hands tied behind back and captured weapons behind.

这枚硬币于公元 71 年铸造，正面印有维斯帕芗 (Vespasian) 图案。背面右侧是一位坐在棕榈树下的哀悼中的犹太民族女性化身；左边是一名被俘虏的犹太人，双手被反绑在背后，背后藏着缴获的武器。

The circulation of these coins in the province of Judaea (Israel) for the next 25 years would have rubbed it in for the local population.

这些硬币在接下来的 25 年里在犹太省（以色列）流通，为当地居民带来了影响。

When the Jews revolted again in 132–135 CE, they once more issued their own coinage. They gathered in all the coins circulating and overstruck them with their inscriptions, first expressing hope for rebuilding the temple and then, in desperation as the revolt failed, “For the freedom of Jerusalem”.

当犹太人在公元 132-135 年再次叛乱时，他们再次发行了自己的货币。他们收集了所有流通的硬币，并在上面刻上了自己的铭文，首先表达了重建圣殿的希望，然后，在叛乱失败后的绝望中，“为了耶路撒冷的自由”。

Coins in the modern world

现代世界的硬币

The tradition of using coins for propaganda and profit has continued throughout history. Even in modern times, we are used to seeing the head of the monarch on our coins.

使用硬币进行宣传和获利的传统在历史上一直延续着。即使在现代，我们也习惯在硬币上看到君主的头像。

Coins and banknotes are still fiduciary, which means that they have little or no intrinsic value. Their value derives from the state enforcing their use and guaranteeing them, just as it was for the Lydians.

硬币和纸币仍然是受托的，这意味着它们几乎没有或根本没有内在价值。它们的价值来自于国家强制使用它们并为其提供保障，就像吕底亚人一样。