156 I'UlfES IN GREECE. CHAP. VI. 



CHAPTER VI. 



On the effect of the increased quantity of the precious metals 

 on prices from the earliest period of history till the esta- 

 blishment of the Roman: Empire under Augustus. 



. IF the two precious metals be in fact com- 

 modities like all others, except in possessing the 

 faculty of being used as the measure of the value 

 of all property, they must like the others be 

 affected by their scarcity or abundance, though 

 their denomination or their value with respect 

 to each other may remain unchanged. If gold 

 and silver are rare, they will exchange for a 

 larger portion of food, clothing, or other neces- 

 saries ; if the supply of them be large, they will 

 exchange for smaller quantities of those articles. 

 It is not then that other articles are dearer or 

 cheaper, but that gold and silver are scarcer or 

 more plentiful. 



There are some difficulties in the way of mark- 

 ing with precision these variations in the value 

 of the precious metals, by ascertaining the prices 

 of other commodities. Such commodities are 

 subject to variations, arising from their own 

 scarcity or abundance, which may be caused by 



