I vaguely recall from reading Tainter's book (the bible of collapse porn, amirite?) that currency devaluation was more a consequence rather than a cause. That i

I vaguely recall from reading Tainter's book (the bible of collapse porn, amirite?) that currency devaluation was more a consequence rather than a cause. That is, the Roman emperors where trying to save the collapsing house of cards by debasing the currency in order to pay for the expenses of maintaining the empire. Of course, Tainter's whole schtick was that worsening, and eventually negative, marginal returns to increase in complexity is the explanation for why ancient civilizations collapsed, but anyhow, his argument is, at least to a layperson like yours truly, somewhat convincing.