From husband’s email:
Under Tiberius, the Roman Emperor, there was a financial panic.
This was caused first by Tiberius seizing property for "crimes against the state". Then he took the money from the treasury and used it on orgies.
Taxes were high. He spent little money on public works.
Interest rates on loans were limited to 1.5%. People ignored the rule. Tiberius ruled that they were to uphold the law and he gave people 1.5 years to get their books in order. The result? People called in their loans. Why loan out money for so low interest. Since all loans were called in at once, there was a panic. There were limited coins.
Land prices went almost to nothing.
Tiberius had to rescue the bank by loaning it 1 million coins at 0% interest to pay out to borrowers to exchange securities for land.
Edit: Here is some more info from what looks like an excerpt in The Influence of Wealth in Imperial Rome by William Stearns Davis.
