Even back in Aristotle's time theft and confiscation of assets were risks anyone holding money was exposed to.  The more durable and portable the money the easier it is to hide (from all manner of thieves, including the tax collectors).

Bitcoin excels not just as a form of money whose value, once acquired, can be kept hidden well, but it also excels because it can be used during the process of creating wealth as well.  The blockchain doesn't reveal how much in revenues a particular merchant sees.

Anonymity is a property that nearly all money in Aristotle's time had but with today's ubiquitous electronic transaction (and reporting to the state), Bitcoin's user-definable anonymity is something that is relatively unique to Bitcoin.