[inglor_cz]

Well, neither was the Stone Age, but why are you even talking about the Bronze Age under a link that discusses Pompeii?

The relevant event took place in 79 AD, long after the end of the Bronze Age in the Mediterranean.

[Anotheroneagain]

Because somebody claimed that you can't have organized society without banking, while for a long part of history there were organized societies without MONEY.

[inglor_cz]

Well, yeah, now I understand.

You can definitely have organized society without banking, but AFAIK there was no organized society without some form of taxation, and few organized societies without long-distance trade (only in isolated places).

[thfuran]

Taxes can be assessed as a percentage of production and collected as goods rather than collecting money amounting to the value of those goods.