TALES OF GOLD

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 October 1928, Page 9

TALES OF GOLD

RICHEST MEN IN HISTORY. The £10,000,000 estate of Sir George Wills, recently announced, proves ll the famous tobacco king to have been one of the richest men in Great Britain. How does this fortune compare with those of the rich men of other countries —and the rich men of the past whose names have long since been forgotten ? If riches are to be measured by the cost of living, says an English writer, Mr E. W. Thomas, some of the plutocrats of the past have not been entirely outclassed by Mr Henry Ford, now hailed as the first “dollar billionaire” in history. Herodotus, Diodorus, and Plutarch.

provide a few dazzling glimpses of wealthy men in antiquity. The first, almost lost in the midst of legend, was the Egyptian Pharaoh Raineses 111., who reigned about 3000 years ago. He surpassed all predecessors in the wealth he possessed and in his fondness for its accumulation. Diodorus estimates this Pharaoh’s fortune at

400,000 talents, which would be about £100,000,000 in actual money to-day. In the purchasing power of that period it was equivalent to 20 times this amount. Rameses, therefore, was worth £2,000,000,000 in the buying value of his day. To show how far money would go a thousand years before the beginning of the Christian era, it is only necessary to mention that a fat ox could be bought for 4s or less. A busel of wheat would bring 5d in the market, and that a day’s wage was from 5d to 9d.

n For the preservation of his enormous d hoard of treasure Rameses 111. had a b special stone edifice built adjoining his palace. But Herodotus adds that e a dishonest- architect contrived a loose p block in the wall, which, when re- „ moved, would admit a man to the tons p of gold. Apparently he was afraid to t use his secret entrance, but on his r. death-bed he told his two sons about f it, and they helped themselves to j. riches, until discovery put an dnd to their easy money. f Up to a few years ago such tales I- from Herodotus and Diodorus were 1 considered samples of Oriental imag--3 ination; but since the golden dis- » closures of Tutankhamen’s tomb —and 1 he was one of the least of the 1 Pharaohs —the untold wealth of these 1 sons of Ra has entered the realms of 1 reality.. Small wonder that they ' plated their household furniture with * precious metals and encrusted their [ common domestic utensils with gems. . Incidentally, how these old Pharaohs could command labour! Cheops, who J came somewhat later than Rameses 111., kept 100,000 men at work on his ' pyramid for 20 years. Furthermore, from modern deductions, based on inscriptions and various remains, it is evident that this army of pyramid builders worked with systematic efficiency with tools and science that may be compared with methods and means employed in a modern high-powered industrial plant. OTHER INSTANCES. Amazement grows at the wealth and achievements of the Egyptians when it is known that their population never went much beyond the 7,000,000 mark. However they knew how to make the most of their land, discipline themselves into an organic whole, and make conquered peoples work for them. Croesus is another hero of Herodotus. Nobody knows how rich this Lydian king was, but his name became a synonym for fabulous wealth. An idea of his possessions may be had from a propitiatory offering he sent to the Delphic Oracle. This bid for success in his campaign against the Persian host consisted of a pyramid of 117 bricks, some of them solid gdsd weighing 4001 b apiece. The whole was surmounted by a golden lion weighing 8001 b. There were bowls of gold, silver, necklaces, and money. Altogether the gift aggregated about £2,000,000 a current valuation*; but again it is necessary to multiply by twenty to get the purchasing value of that period. It is seen, then, as a little present of £400,000,000 given to the gods. Yet despite this tribute the Oracle could not give him the victory he craved. Certain of Croesus’ relatives seem to have been quite as well off as he himself. Pythius, one of his distant kin, is pictured as giving Xerxes a token of his esteem in the form of money to the amount of £4,800,000. "When Xerxes hesitated Pythius assured him that it was a mere trifle that he happened to have on hand. Multiply that by twenty and it becomes nearer the purchasing power of the time. It is safe to assume that there have been few gifts in history to equal this one.

Solomon had an income equivalent to £4,000,000 a year to-day which would place him in the Rockefeller class. Sardanapalns and Nero were golden overlords, and Lucullus spent fortunes on feasts and luxurious living. Both the Queen of Sheba and Cleopatra were women, of great wealth.

Except for the dark ages there does not seem to have been a period in history where tlliere was not some collossal wealth or some fabulous moneyed

family towering over the fest of the world. Even as early as the fourteenth century one hears of very rich men in England, like William de la Pole and Dick Whittington. De la Pole lent his king the equivalent of £1,000,000 sterling on one occasion—and never got it back.