162
CIIAP. VI.
Although it may be fairly assumed that thevalue of gold and silver had diminished betweenthe time of Solon and the absorption of Greece into the Roman republic, yet it is only to beinferred from such vague testimony as can becollected from incidental assertions scatteredthrough various authors as have been here quoted.Abbe Barthelemy , who paid so much attention toevery thing relating to Greece , and especially toAthens, gave up in disgust his examination intothe prices of commodities in the several stagesof the history of those countries, concluding itthus : “ J’ai trouve tant de variations dans cellesd’Ath&nes, et si peu de secours dans les auteursanciens, que j’ai abandonn6 ce travail.”
In Rome , the circumstances under which theinhabitants were supplied with bread corn makesthe exact value of it, or of the money with whichthat value is to be measured, a case of great andconstant doubt. The corn was sometimes ex-tracted as tribute from conquered or subjectcountries. It was sometimes furnished to thepublic magazines by contract, and sold to thepopulace at lower prices than it had cost. Itwas at other times given to them gratuitously-These various circumstances do not, however,affect the view we must now take of it. Theymight have a temporary^ and even a great effect,but it would not be greatly operative on the dif-ferences between the cheapest and the dearest