Classicist George Bevan will give a talk on the Gold Standard in Late Antiquity tomorrow as part of Calumet College’s Speaker Series.
Left: A Constantine solidus
Bevan will trace the elements in gold coinage studied to research Roman economic history. He will discuss the implications of a radical gold standard on the economy of late antiquity. And he will examine empirical data that suggests not a decline but a dramatic increase in the monetization of the economy based on the solidus, the coin introduced by Roman emperor Constantine in 309 and used as the standard until the 11th century.
Bevan received a BA from the University of British Columbia, and an MA and PhD in classics from the University of Toronto, where he is a visiting professor. In 1999, he was the first recipient of the R.M. Smith Scholarship, a prize that honours distinguished Sanskrit scholars. He also received the 2002 Connor Prize for Greek composition.
The lecture will take place March 16 in 214 Calumet College, 2-4pm. Members of the York community are welcome to attend.