L’impact de la guerre navale sur l’économie des cités phéniciennes.

Abstract

Under the domination of the Persian Empire, the war fleets of Phoenician cities were requisitioned to compose the Persian fleet. Sidon, Tyre and Arwad had powerful fleets to protect their cities. The construction and maintenance of these fleets required significant funding, very heavy even for cities enriched by maritime trade. In the 5th and at the beginning of the 4th c., they suffered successive naval defeats which had a heavy impact on their finances. One after another, the kings of Sidon, Tyre and Arwad began to devalue their coinages in order to reap the benefits of the reduction in silver and thus replenish State coffers. The king of Sidon gradually decreased the silver percentage of his double shekels down to 74.2%, while the king of Tyre went as far as changing the standard, an operation equivalent to a gradual reduction in silver down to 65.9%, and the king of Arwad carried out a more moderate devaluation.