Roman Republican coinage

Coinage came late to Rome, compared to the rest of the Mediterranean, such as Greece and Asia Minor which had invented coins in the 7th century BC. The currency of central Italy was influenced by its natural resources, with bronze ore being abundant and silver ore being scarce. The coinage of the Roman Republic started out as heavy cast bronze pieces, but eventually added silver. Following the Second Punic war the denarius was introduced, a coin that would become the backbone of the Roman economy for 450 years.

Table of contents

1 Pre-coinage 2 Cast bronze coinage 3 Introduction of Greek-style coinage 4 Introduction of the denarius 5 References

Pre-coinage

\nBefore the introduction of coinage in Italy the two important forms of value in the economy were cattle (pecus), from which the Latin word for money (pecunia) is derived, and irregularaly shaped pieces of bronze known as aes rude (rough bronze). Aes rude was the currency of central of Italy for hundreds of years, although it inconveniently needed to be weighed for each transaction. Towards the end of the 4th century BC bronze began to be cast in flat bars which are known today, without any historical authority, as aes signatum (signed bronze). These bars were of varying weights although generally on the order of five Roman pounds and usually had a design on one and later both sides. The actual function of aes signatum has been variously interpreted; although a form of currency they were not coinage since they didn't adhere to a weight standard. Rome produced its own aes signatum around 300 BC which are distinguished by the inscription "ROMANOM" (of the Romans).

Cast bronze coinage

\nAccording to the Pomponius, a lawyer who lived during the second century AD, the position of triumviri monetales was established in 289 BC, "IIIviri aere argento auro flando feriundo" = the three responsible for melting and striking bronze silver and gold. According to Suidas, the mint was located in the temple of Juno Moneta on the Capitoline Hill. By this time Rome was familiar with coinage, as it had been introduced by the Greeks in their colonies in southern Italy. At the time Rome had conquered a large portion of central Italy, giving it large quantities of bronze, but little silver. A system of heavy cast bronze coinage was introduced on the libral standard based on the as at one pound (libra) with fractional pieces made in units of unciae (ounces), with 12 unciae in a libra.

• As (12 unciae)\n*Semis (6 unciae)\n*Triens (4 unciae)\n*Quadrans (3 unciae)\n*Sextans (2 unciae)\n*Uncia (1 uncia)\n*Semuncia (1/2 uncia)

The values were clearly marked with I on the as, S on the semis, and dots indicating the number of unciae on the smaller denominations. These issues are known as aes grave (heavy bronze) by numismatists. Stylistically the coins, due to being cast rather than struck, were distinctly Roman and utilitarian. In addition to the as and its fractions, multiples such as the dupondius (II) and tressis (III) were also produced. The weight of the aes grave decreased in a series of reductions. Starting on the libral standard (roughly 330 grams), the weight was reduced to semi-libral standard (roughly 170 grams) by the 220s BC, and further reduced to a reduced semi-libral standard of about 88 grams not long after. By the time of the semi-libral standard, the smaller denominations such as the uncia and semuncia were struck rather than cast.

Introduction of Greek-style coinage

\nGreek-style silver coins were produced in small quantity with the inscription ΡΩΜΑΙΩΝ around 300 BC. Only a handful of example exist today. They are believed to have been produced on behalf of Rome by Neapolis (Naples), based on the similar style and weight with Neapolis' own coinage, and used to facilitate trade. Rome made its own Greek-style silver didrachm bearing the inscription ROMANO, which were produced somewhere in southern Italy and was probably used there and not within Rome. Some historians believe that these were valued at 10 asses making them denarii, this assertion is based on the account of Pliny in the 1st century AD, where he states that the denarius was introduced in 269 BC. The weight of didrachm decreased from about 7.3 grams to about 6.6 grams and it was eventually replaced by a more Roman-style coin of similar weight know as the quadrigatus. The quadrigatus, produced in large quantity starting around 235 BC, are named after the reverse image of Victory driving a quadriga. The quadrigatus was produced for about 2 decades, until about the time the denarius.

Introduction of the denarius

\nThe denarius, which became the main silver coin of Rome for over 4 centuries, was introduced in 211 BC. The denarius was valued at 10 asses as indicated by the mark X and weighed about 4.5 grams (72 to a Roman pound). At the introduction of the denarius, the as weighed about 55 grams but was reduced yet again to a sextanal standard at about 40.5 grams. The earliest denarii featured the helmeted bust of Roma on the obverse and Victory driving a biga or the Discouri on the reverse. The weight of denarius soon stabilized to about 4.0 grams. The denarius was introduced along with a half denarius, the quinarius (V), and the quarter denarius, the sestertius (IIS). At about the same time as the denarius was introduced another silver coin, the victoriatus, was also introduced in large quantity. The victoriatus was produced mainly for the payment of non-Romans, and would have been roughly equivalent to a Greek drachm. While the quadrigatus, which was retariffed to 15 asses (1.5 denarii) soon fell out of circulation, the victoriatus continued to circulate well into the 2nd century BC. They were popular in places such as Cisalpine Gaul where they circulated alongside drachma of Massalia (Marseille). From very early the denarii where marked with special symbols (such as a star or an anchor) and later monograms indicating the tresviri monetales that was responsible for the issue. By about 140 BC (the exact date is unclear) the denarius was retariffed to 16 asses, indicated by XVI (all three letters written on top of each other) on the obverse of the denarius. The obverse and reverse types of the denarius varied widely, while the types of the bronze coins remained static.

References

\n*Roman Coins by C.H.V. Sutherland, 1974 ISBN 0-399-11239-1\n*Coinage in the Roman Economy by Kenneth W. Harl ISBN 0-8018-5291-9\n Category:Ancient Roman currency