Roman credit crunch

Oxford historian Philip Kay has discovered what he believes was the first "credit crunch" or at least a major financial crisis in Rome in the early 1st century BCE. He says that in 66BCE Cicero gave a speech where he alluded to events in 88BCE where Mithridates VI of Pontus invaded Roman Asia. The invasion cost Rome so much money that credit was destroyed in Rome. The loss of the monies in Asia having a knock-on effect to Rome said to be similar to how the US sub-prime has had a knock-on effect to the UK economy. Yeah OK well its got Kay in the papers anyway.

Unfortunately Kay continues how Rome got itself out of the financial mess is not yet known.