Inflation was invented in the iron age. Cool.
Well no wonder the iron age died out. They weren't on the gold standard. </Goldbug mode>
Inflation has existed for as long as people have weighed things in trade. "short weight," "thumb on the scales", etc. - that is all inflation. With the invention and use of money it becomes institutionalized and is called "clipping", among other things. Inflation has, for millenia, been a ruler's way to get out of debt by defrauding his creditors. Other methods involved killing or expropriating his creditors and/or kicking them out of the country. It also provides immediate income to the ruler via seigniorage- the difference between the actual value of the substance of the money and the nominal value, i.e. the dollar coin only costs the government 20 cents to produce, netting the government 80 cents.