Financial crisis of 33

After a shift in government policy and a series of confiscations reduced the Roman money supply, the crisis was triggered by the invocation of an old law which resulted in the early recalls of loans given, a credit crunch, and a crash of real estate prices.

According to Tacitus's Annals, Julius Caesar had passed a law in 49 BCE which regulated usury, requiring lenders to possess a certain quantity of farmland in Italy.

[1]: 336  During the early reign of Augustus, the Roman government significantly expanded the money supply through cash handouts, extensive public works projects, and acquisition of Italian agricultural land for veterans to settle (these being partly funded by Egypt's treasury).

When the matter was brought to the Roman Senate and to Emperor Tiberius, it was decided that an eighteen month grace period would be granted for lenders to adjust their holdings to follow the legal requirement.

[9] The crisis was resolved following a government intervention, with Tiberius appointing a commission of five senators who could provide interest-free loans to landowners in financial distress for a period of three years.

[11] Frank's 1935 article on the crisis was written in the midst of the Great Depression, when Keynesian economics was a new concept and the general consensus blamed a monetary contraction for the malaise.

[14] Later modern scholars developed further theories on the causes of the crisis; historian Michael Crawford, for example, focused more on currency outflows due to trade deficits instead of reduced state expenditures under Tiberius.