The Julia La Roche Show · Saturday, August 29, 2026
Chris Whalen discusses his upcoming book on gold, noting how central gold was to trade and compensation in ancient Rome. He contrasts this with the Middle Ages, where silver played a more prominent role due to limited gold availability.
“Can you tell us more about the book? What's something you've learned in the process of writing your new book on gold?”
“Oh, gosh. Well, I've had to immerse myself in antiquity. Because, you know, I know the modern story of gold and the US efforts to convince Americans not to think of gold as the key measure, which is FDR sees gold, uh, back in 1933.”
“If you were a Roman senator, you would get hundreds of thousands of gold pieces every year as your compensation, which made you enormously wealthy, enabled you to go out and buy land. And and pay your taxes, of course, taxes were paid in gold in Rome.”