Roman Republican currency

Before the introduction of coinage in Italy the two important forms of value in the economy were sheep (pecus), from which the Latin word for money (pecunia) is believed by some to have been derived, and irregularly shaped pieces of bronze known as aes rude (rough bronze) which needed to be weighed for each transaction. It is unclear when money became commonly used, but Roman tradition recorded that pay of the army began during the siege of Veii in 406 BC and it appears that Aes rude was the currency well before this. Toward 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 heavily leaded, 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 coins since they did not adhere to a weight standard. Rome produced its own aes signatum around 300 BC which are distinguished by the inscription "ROMANOM" (of the Romans) and production continued to about the end of the first Punic war in 240 BC,^[1] overlapping some of the developments described below.

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Latin

Latin

Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area around present-day Rome, but through the power of the Roman Republic it became the dominant language in the Italian region and subsequently throughout the Roman Empire. Even after the fall of Western Rome, Latin remained the common language of international communication, science, scholarship and academia in Europe until well into the 18th century, when other regional vernaculars supplanted it in common academic and political usage. For most of the time it was used, it would be considered a "dead language" in the modern linguistic definition; that is, it lacked native speakers, despite being used extensively and actively.

Aes rude

Aes rude

Aes rude was a nugget of bronze used as a sort of proto-currency in ancient Italy prior to the use of minted coins made from precious metals.

Aes signatum

Aes signatum

Aes signatum consisted of cast ingots of bronze of measured quality and weight, embossed with a government stamp, used as currency in Rome and central Italy starting in the 5th century BCE before the introduction of aes grave in the mid 3rd century BCE. When exactly they were first made is uncertain. Popular tradition ascribes them to Servius Tullius, but due to the high quality of art found on even the earliest specimens, this seems very unlikely. A date in the midst of the 5th century BC is generally agreed on. Designs featured are that of a bull, an eagle, and other religious symbols.

O: Bearded head of Janus, I horizontally below; on a raised disk.	R: Prow of galley right; I above; all on a raised disk.
Anonymous Æ Aes Grave As (259.53 g). c 225-217 BC. RRC 35/1; Vecchi 75

According to Pomponius, a lawyer who lived during the 2nd century AD, the group of three mint magistrates tresviri monetales was established in 289 BC, but this date seems to be far too early, and if they did not come into existence during the Second Punic War, the formation of a formal college may not have occurred until some time after 200 BC. The three members of this committee were officially known as the "tres viri aere argento auro flando feriundo" ("the three men responsible for casting and striking bronze, silver and gold"), a lengthy title that was almost always abbreviated to "III.V.A.A.A.F.F.". Julius Caesar briefly raised their number to four.

According to Suidas, the mint was located in (or at least near) the temple of Juno Moneta on the Capitoline Hill. By this time Rome was familiar with coinage, as it had been introduced to Italy in the Greek colonies of Metapontum, Croton, and Sybaris before 500 BC and Neapolis ca 450 BC.^[2] Rome had conquered a large portion of central Italy, giving it large quantities of bronze, but little silver.

A system of heavy cast leaded bronze coinage was introduced; these issues are known as aes grave (heavy bronze) by numismatists. Stylistically the coins were distinctly Roman and, due to both their size and their being cast rather than struck, crude compared to the coinage elsewhere around the Mediterranean at the time. The standard coin was the as; the word as referred to a coin and also to a unit of weight – in fact, as could also mean any unit – of length, area, and sometimes just the number one.^[3]

The bronze coinage was initially a more or less full value currency rather than a token currency, based on the "libral standard" where the as weighed one Roman pound (libra) with fractions in units of Roman ounces (unciae), with 12 unciae in a libra. The "uncia" was thus also both a weight and a coin of the same weight. This changed when the weight of the aes grave was decreased to approximately 10 unciae ca 270 BC (the "light libral standard", remaining at that level until 225 BC, then suddenly to 5 unciae (the "semi-libral standard") c. the start of the second Punic war in 218 BC, finally falling to 1.5–1 unciae around 211 BC.^[4]

In addition to the as and its fractions, multiples of the as were also produced. Fractions were much more common than asses and their multiples during the period of aes grave.^[5] By the time of the semi-libral standard, the smaller denominations such as the uncia and semuncia were struck rather than cast. A variety of less common denominations were minted over time; those found in Crawford (1974) are listed here.

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Obverse and reverse

Obverse and reverse

Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse means the back face. The obverse of a coin is commonly called heads, because it often depicts the head of a prominent person, and the reverse tails.

Capitoline Hill

Capitoline Hill

The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill, between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome.

Aes grave

Aes grave

Aes grave is a term in numismatics indicating bronze cast coins used in central Italy during the 3rd century BC, whose value was generally indicated by signs: I for the as, S for semis and pellets for unciae. Standard weights for the as were 272, 327, or 341 grams, depending upon the issuing authority.

Libral standard

Libral standard

The libral standard compares the weight of coins to the bronze as, which originally weighed one Roman pound, but decreased over time to 1/2 pound. It is often used in discussions of ancient cast coinage of central Italy, especially Etruscan coins and Roman Republican coinage. The adjective libral is related to libra, the Ancient Roman unit of weight, and is not related to the word liberal.

Ancient Roman units of measurement

Ancient Roman units of measurement

The ancient Roman units of measurement were primarily founded on the Hellenic system, which in turn was influenced by the Egyptian and the Mesopotamian system. The Roman units were comparatively consistent and well documented.

Dupondius

Dupondius

The dupondius was a brass coin used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire valued at 2 asses.

Dodrans

Dodrans

The dodrans or nonuncium was an Ancient Roman bronze coin produced during the Roman Republic.

Bes (coin)

Bes (coin)

The bes was an Ancient Roman bronze coin produced during the Roman Republic. Valued at two thirds of an as, it was only produced in 126 BC by C. Cassius in combination with the dodrans, another very rare denomination which was valued at three quarters of an as. The obverse head displayed the god Liber facing to the right.

Semis

Semis

The semis, literally meaning half, was a small Roman bronze coin that was valued at half an as. During the Roman Republic, the semis was distinguished by an 'S' or 6 dots. Some of the coins featured a bust of Saturn on the obverse, and the prow of a ship on the reverse.

Quincunx

Quincunx

A quincunx is a geometric pattern consisting of five points arranged in a cross, with four of them forming a square or rectangle and a fifth at its center. The same pattern has other names, including "in saltire" or "in cross" in heraldry, the five-point stencil in numerical analysis, and the five dots tattoo. It forms the arrangement of five units in the pattern corresponding to the five-spot on six-sided dice, playing cards, and dominoes. It is represented in Unicode as U+2059 ⁙ FIVE DOT PUNCTUATION or U+2684 ⚄ DIE FACE-5.

Triens

Triens

The triens was an Ancient Roman bronze coin produced during the Roman Republic valued at one-third of an as. The most common design for the triens featured the bust of Minerva and four pellets on the obverse and the prow of a galley on the reverse. It was not a common denomination and was last struck c. 89 BC.

Greek-style struck bronze coins were produced in small quantity with the inscription ΡΩΜΑΙΩΝ around 300 BC; only a handful of examples exist today. They are believed to have been produced on behalf of Rome by Neapolis, based on the similar style and weight with Neapolis' own coinage, and used to facilitate trade in the wake of the construction of the Appian Way, started in 312 BC.

O: Bearded head of Mars with Corinthian helmet left.	R: Horse head right, grain ear behind.
The first Roman silver coin, 281 BC. RRC 13/1

Rome entered into a war against Tarentum in 281 BC; the Tarentines enlisted the support of Pyrrhus of Epirus. It was in this context that Rome produced its first Greek-style silver didrachm (RRC 13/1) with the head of Mars wearing a Corinthian helmet on one side and the head of a horse with the inscription ROMANO (worn off on the example shown) and a grain ear behind. This coinage may have predated the aes grave discussed above, but was minted and used largely in Magna Graecia and Campania. It was clearly part of a broader trend; payment of Roman and allied troops fighting in the Pyrrhic war appears to have been crucial in spreading the use of Greek-style coinage throughout the southern Apennine areas of Italy.^[6] This issue is today thought to have been minted in Neapolis because it was minted on that weight standard (7.3 g), not that of Metapontum, Tarentum, and other South Italian cities (which was 7.9 g at the start of the war but fell to 6.6 g during its course).^[7] This issue was thought earlier to have been minted in Metapontum because the grain-ear is the most common type on Metapontine coins and the Mars head is very similar to the head of Leucippus (a local hero, the Messenian king who re-founded Metapontum, not the philosopher) on an earlier coin produced there.^[8]

O: Diademed head Hercules right, club on shoulder.	R: Wolf suckling twins, ROMANO in. ex.
The first Roman silver coin minted at Rome, 269 BC. RRC 20/1

A number of different coins were minted in increasing volumes over the next few years, but the first silver coin now thought to have been minted in Rome itself is the Hercules/She-wolf didrachm (Crawford 20/1). The date of this issue is likely 269 BC, as the devices on this coin refer to that year's consuls Q. Ogulnius L.f A.n. Gallus and C. Fabius C.f. M.n. Pictor. Hercules, shown on the obverse his club (shown undersized above his shoulder) and a lion skin tied around his neck, was the divine patron of the Fabii.^[9] Quintus and his brother Cnaeus Ogulnius had, as curule aediles, prosecuted moneylenders; part of the proceeds were used to set up near the Ficus Ruminalis a statue of Romulus and Remus being suckled by the she-wolf as shown on the reverse.^[10] Some historians believe that these coins 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. Most historians today, however, do not see this as a denarius, but another didrachm.

This last and most other Roman coins were produced in small numbers until the introduction of the didrachm we refer to as the quadrigatus. The quadrigatus, produced in large quantity starting around 235 BC, was named after the reverse image of Victory driving a quadriga and was produced for about 2 decades, becoming more and more debased (to as little as 30% silver) during the second Punic war.

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History of Naples

History of Naples

The history of Naples is long and varied, dating to Greek settlements established in the Naples area in the 2nd millennium BC. During the end of the Greek Dark Ages a larger mainland colony – initially known as Parthenope – developed on the Pizzofalcone hill in the 8th century BC, and was refounded as Neapolis in the 6th century BC: it held an important role in Magna Graecia. The Greek culture of Naples was important to later Roman society. When the city became part of the Roman Republic in the central province of the Empire, it was a major cultural centre.

Appian Way

Appian Way

The Appian Way is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is indicated by its common name, recorded by Statius, of Appia longarum... regina viarum.

Obverse and reverse

Obverse and reverse

Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse means the back face. The obverse of a coin is commonly called heads, because it often depicts the head of a prominent person, and the reverse tails.

History of Taranto

History of Taranto

The history of Taranto dates back to the 8th century BC when it was founded as a Greek colony, known as Taras.

Pyrrhus of Epirus

Pyrrhus of Epirus

Pyrrhus was a Greek king and statesman of the Hellenistic period. He was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house, and later he became king of Epirus. He was one of the strongest opponents of early Rome, and had been regarded as one of the greatest generals of antiquity. Several of his victorious battles caused him unacceptably heavy losses, from which the term "Pyrrhic victory" was coined.

Corinthian helmet

Corinthian helmet

The Corinthian helmet originated in ancient Greece and took its name from the city-state of Corinth. It was a helmet made of bronze which in its later styles covered the entire head and neck, with slits for the eyes and mouth. A large curved projection protected the nape of the neck.

Magna Graecia

Magna Graecia

Magna Graecia was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; these regions were extensively populated by Greek settlers. These settlers, who began arriving in the 8th century BC, brought with them their Hellenic civilization, which left a lasting imprint on Italy. They also influenced the native peoples, such as the Sicels and the Oenotrians, who became hellenized after they adopted the Greek culture as their own.

Campania

Campania

Campania is an administrative region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula, but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the island of Capri. The capital of the Campania region is Naples. As of 2018, the region had a population of around 5,820,000 people, making it Italy's third most populous region, and, with an area of 13,590 km2 (5,247 sq mi), its most densely populated region. Based on its GDP, Campania is also the most economically productive region in southern Italy and the 7th most productive in the whole country. Naples' urban area, which is in Campania, is the eighth most populous in the European Union. The region is home to 10 of the 58 UNESCO sites in Italy, including Pompeii and Herculaneum, the Royal Palace of Caserta, the Amalfi Coast and the Historic Centre of Naples. In addition, Campania's Mount Vesuvius is part of the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

Metapontum

Metapontum

Metapontum or Metapontium was an important city of Magna Graecia, situated on the gulf of Tarentum, between the river Bradanus and the Casuentus. It was distant about 20 km from Heraclea and 40 from Tarentum. The ruins of Metapontum are located in the frazione of Metaponto, in the comune of Bernalda, in the Province of Matera, Basilicata region, Italy.

Leucippus

Leucippus

Leucippus is a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who has been credited as the first philosopher to develop a theory of atomism.

Aedile

Aedile

Aedile was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public order and duties to ensure the city of Rome was well supplied and its civil infrastructure well maintained, akin to modern local government.

Ficus Ruminalis

Ficus Ruminalis

The Ficus Ruminalis was a wild fig tree that had religious and mythological significance in ancient Rome. It stood near the small cave known as the Lupercal at the foot of the Palatine Hill and was the spot where according to tradition the floating makeshift cradle of Romulus and Remus landed on the banks of the Tiber. There they were nurtured by the she-wolf and discovered by Faustulus. The tree was sacred to Rumina, one of the birth and childhood deities, who protected breastfeeding in humans and animals. St. Augustine mentions a Jupiter Ruminus.

As introduced

O: Head Roma Right. IIS	R: Caped Dioscuri riding right with couched lances, stars above.
Sestertius, Anonymous, Rome, 211 BC. RRC 44/7

The denarius, which became the main silver coin of Rome for over four centuries, was introduced in 211 BC or a few years earlier, and produced in enormous quantity from the silver captured in the sack of Syracuse. The denarius (RRC 44/5), valued at 10 asses as indicated by the mark X and weighing about 4.5 grams (72 to a Roman pound), was introduced as part of a complex multi-metallic coinage. Also in silver was the half denarius, the quinarius (RRC 44/6, marked V), and the quarter denarius, the sestertius (RRC 44/7, marked IIS and shown on the left), all bearing a head of Roma on the obverse and a reverse of the dioscuri riding with their capes behind (a reference to their supposed assistance to Rome at the battle of Lake Regillus).

Bronze asses and their fractions (all now struck rather than cast) continued to be produced to a standard of about 55 grams; this was very quickly reduced to a sextantal standard and finally an uncial standard of roughly 32 gms. By this time, asses outnumbered their fractions, perhaps because legionary pay was increased to the point where the as could become the principal component.^[11]

In gold, there were three pieces worth 60 asses (RRC 44/2, marked ↆX), 40 asses (RRC 44/3, marked XXXX) and 20 asses (RRC 44/4, marked XX). All featured a head of Mars on the obverse and an eagle with outspread wings standing on a thunderbolt on the reverse.^[12] The eagle is somewhat reminiscent of the eagle that had consistently been a symbol on Ptolemaic coinage since the very beginning of the century, and it has been suggested that Ptolemy IV Philopator may have provided gold for this issue to act as a counterweight to the involvement of Philip V of Macedon on the side of Carthage.^[13]

The victoriatus, another silver coin (RRC 44/1), was also introduced in large quantity at the same time. It seems to have been quite separate from the denarius system proper as X-ray fluorescence spectrometry has shown that these were produced to an entirely different standard of fineness. While an analysis of 52 early denarii, quinarii, and sestertii showed a silver concentration of 96.2 ± 1.09%, 19 victoriati from the same period have highly variable fineness ranging from 72 to 93%.^[14] Early finds of victoriati are primarily in Southern Italy and Sicily and it is thought that the victoriati with a weight of 3/4 of a denarius were used to pay non-citizens with experience of the Greek coinage system in the drachma format to which they were accustomed, but with debased/overvalued coins. The quadrigatus didrachm, which had been retariffed to 15 asses (1.5 denarii), was removed from circulation almost immediately.

Evolution: weights and fineness

Over the next 40 years, the denarius slowly lost weight. The reason for this is unclear, but in the early days it may have been the ongoing pressure of the Second Punic War. Afterwards the Roman state had a debt equivalent to 25 years direct taxation on Roman citizens (~1 million denarii); this was not fully repaid until Cn. Manlius Vulso returned with the spoils of Asia after the Treaty of Apamea, (188 BC).^[15] The weight was officially changed from 72 to the pound (6 scruples) to 84 to the pound at that time; it remained relatively stable thereafter.^[16]

O: ANT AVG III VI R R P C, dromon galley facing right.	R: LEG III, aquila and two legionary standards.
Legionary denarius of Mark Anthony, 32 BC. RRC 544/15

The silver content during republican times remained well above 90%, usually above 95% with the exception of Marcus Antonius's later coinage, especially the massive issue of Legionary denarii of 32–31 BC just prior to the Battle of Actium (an example is shown on the right), rumored to be silver from Egypt provided by Cleopatra.^[17]

Evolution: silver vs bronze

Obverse, RRC 224/1, 141 BC.	Obverse, RRC 243/1, 134 BC.
Two denarius obverses showing alternate indications they were worth 16 asses.

By about 140 BC (the exact date is unclear) the denarius was retariffed to 16 asses, indicated by XVI on the obverse of the denarius. This appears first on the coinage marked L.IVLI (RRC 224/1), commonly dated to 141 BC. The clear marking with the number XVI was soon again replaced with an X, but often now with a horizontal bar through the centre as shown in the second example on the left (RRC 243/1); this is sometimes read as a monogram of XVI with all the letters superimposed. The re-tariffing is thought to have been a recognition of a relationship that had developed because of decreased as weights, both due to wear of old asses and to decreasing mint weights of newer ones. This meant that the quinarius was worth eight asses, and the sestertius four asses. The new denarius-to-as ratio lasted for hundreds of years. At about the same time the unit of account changed from asses to sestertii (HS). This may well be an indicator of inflation.^[18]

The victoriatus continued to circulate well into the 2nd century BC. Victoriati were later popular in places such as Cisalpine Gaul where they circulated alongside drachmae of Massalia (Marseille).

Evolution: gold

The gold 60, 40, and 20 as coins were only minted for a few years; gold in general appears to have been used at first only as an emergency coinage. Gold coins reappeared in 82 BC when Sulla was gathering funds for the war against Mithridates VI of Pontus immediately after the financial strains of the Social War. Sulla's coinage is commonly considered the first for which the name (denarius) aureus was used. Aureii were minted in large numbers by Julius Caesar in preparation for a proposed war against Parthia and issuing of the aureus continued to increase after the fall of the republic.

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Obverse and reverse

Obverse and reverse

Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse means the back face. The obverse of a coin is commonly called heads, because it often depicts the head of a prominent person, and the reverse tails.

Denarius

Denarius

The denarius was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War c. 211 BC to the reign of Gordian III, when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very small quantities, likely for ceremonial purposes, until and through the Tetrarchy (293–313).

Quinarius

Quinarius

The quinarius was a small silver Roman coin valued at half a denarius.

Sestertius

Sestertius

The sestertius, or sesterce, was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions. During the Roman Empire it was a large brass coin.

Ptolemy IV Philopator

Ptolemy IV Philopator

Ptolemy IV Philopator was the fourth pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt from 221 to 204 BC.

Philip V of Macedon

Philip V of Macedon

Philip V was king (Basileus) of Macedonia from 221 to 179 BC. Philip's reign was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of the Roman Republic. He would lead Macedon against Rome in the First and Second Macedonian Wars, losing the latter but allying with Rome in the Roman-Seleucid War towards the end of his reign.

Carthage

Carthage

Carthage was the capital city of ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classical world.

Gnaeus Manlius Vulso (consul 189 BC)

Gnaeus Manlius Vulso (consul 189 BC)

Gnaeus Manlius Vulso was a Roman consul for the year 189 BC, together with Marcus Fulvius Nobilior. He led a victorious campaign against the Galatian Gauls of Asia Minor in 189 BC during the Galatian War. He was awarded a triumph in 187 BC.

Treaty of Apamea

Treaty of Apamea

The Treaty of Apamea was a peace treaty conducted in 188 BC between the Roman Republic and Antiochus III, ruler of the Seleucid Empire. It ended the Roman–Seleucid War. The treaty took place after Roman victories at the Battle of Thermopylae, the Battle of Magnesia, and after Roman and Rhodian naval victories over the Seleucid navy.

Legionary denarii (Mark Antony)

Legionary denarii (Mark Antony)

Legionary denarii is the modern name for a series of Roman silver denarius coins issued by Mark Antony in the eastern Mediterranean during the last war of the Roman Republic from 32 to 31 BC, in the lead up to the Battle of Actium. The coinage is also referred to by numismatists as RRC 544/1-39, after its designation in M. H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage (1975).

Battle of Actium

Battle of Actium

The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between a maritime fleet of Octavian led by Marcus Agrippa and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII Philopator. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, near the former Roman colony of Actium, Greece, and was the climax of over a decade of rivalry between Octavian and Antony.

Cleopatra

Cleopatra

Cleopatra VII Philopator was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler. A member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, she was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great. After the death of Cleopatra, Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire, marking the end of the last Hellenistic state in the Mediterranean and of the age that had lasted since the reign of Alexander. Although her first language was Koine Greek, she was the only Ptolemaic ruler to learn and use the Egyptian language.

New denarius reverse design: Luna driving a biga, 169–158 BC. RRC 187/1

Eventually a new reverse appeared, first Luna driving a biga (two horse chariot) in 194–190 BC, and then Victory driving a biga in 157 BC – thought to refer to the final defeat of Perseus of Macedon at the battle of Pydna by Lucius Aemilius Paulus in 168 BC.^[19] These Victory "bigati" became the most common type of denarius. Denarii were marked with special symbols (such as a star or an anchor) from very shortly after their introduction and soon monograms indicating the tresviri monetales (mint masters, often called moneyers, that were responsible for the issue) were on the coins. In some cases the symbols are "punning". The example reverse shown to the left (RRC 187/1 showing Luna driving a biga) is one such; a shell symbol appears above the horses along with the letters "PVR" below. The shell is thought to be a murex shell; this was the source of Tyrian purple (in Latin: purpureo) and this, along with the letters, is thought to refer to a Furius Purpureo.^[20] This type of reference to the moneyers became more and more explicit, and eventually developed into self-advertising to further the political career of the moneyers.

Denarius reverse celebrating ancestor of N. Fabius Pictor, RRC 268/1b

Families who had already had members in the Senate were more likely to have further family members elected to political office (and thus become senators). This was so much more likely that only a few consular novi homines (new men) are known to history. Advertising on coins was thus often about the moneyer's family. In the coin reverse shown on the right (RRC 268/1b), the legend around the outside indicates that moneyer was N. Fabius Pictor. The seated individual is wearing a cuirass, holding a spear in his left hand and an apex, the characteristic hat worn by the flamines, in his right. At his side there is a shield inscribed QUIRIN. This is taken to refer to Q. Fabius Pictor (probably the son of Quintus Fabius Pictor the annalist) who was elected praetor in 189 BC and assigned the province of Sardinia by lot (Livy 37.50.8). He was also the flamen Quirinalis and because of this, P. Licinius Crassus, the pontifex maximus of the day did not allow him to take the Sardinian office because of various taboos surrounding the flamen's person, and the need for the flamen to perform certain rites in Rome (Livy 37.51.3–7).^[21] The Sardinian praetorship was exchanged for both the urban and peregrine praetorships, and N. Fabius Pictor remained in Rome.^[22][23] The entire incident was part of the political manoeuvring of Scipio Africanus against his attackers, which included the Fabii.^[24]

O: Head Lucius Junius Brutus right, BRVTVS.	R: Head Gaius Servilius Ahala right, AHALA.
Denarius of Marcus Junius Brutus celebrating his ancestors, 54 BC. RRC 433/2

Over time, the politics of the day became more and more visible in the coinage. In 54 BC, the first triumvirate had control of Rome, and Pompey was its preeminent member. There were rumours that Pompey was to be made dictator. In this context, the coin on the left (Crawford 433/2) was a powerful political message. The moneyer, Marcus Junius Brutus, placed on the coin two figures from Roman history that he claimed as ancestors:

• • Lucius Junius Brutus of the Junia gens, who was made the first consul of the republic of Rome in 509 BC after he expelled Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the last of the Roman kings, and
  • Gaius Servilius Ahala, who killed Spurius Maelius – a knight who endeared himself to the populace of Rome by providing free grain during a famine – reputedly in a bid for seeking kingship – in 439 BC. Marcus Brutus was also known as Quintus Servilius Caepio Brutus, as he had been adopted into the gens Servilia, from which he was descended on his mother's side.

In the face of famine in 57 BC Pompey had been made a special commissioner to control the supply of grain; this included the control of all ports and trading centres for five years. There was earlier bad blood between them; Pompey had put down an earlier insurrection by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus in which Brutus's father had been involved; Pompey had had him executed. It was the opposition of Cato the Younger, Brutus's half brother on his adopted family's side, to Pompey's requests for land for his veterans of the war against Mithradates that gave Pompey the incentive to be part of the triumvirate. M. Brutus was clearly making a pointed, uncompromising statement of opposition to Pompey and the triumvirate while praising his ancestors.^[25]

O: Head Caesar right, CAESAR. IM P M	R: Venus standing holding Victory in right hand and sceptre in left. L. AEMILIVS BVC.
Denarius minted in the name of Caesar by L. Aemilius Buca 44 BC. RRC 480/4

In 44 BC, Julius Caesar was preparing for war with Parthia to avenge the defeat inflicted by the Parthians on Crassus at the Battle of Carrhae. To this end, an enormous variety of denarii and aureii were being minted in large numbers. The coin on the right is from January–February 44 BC. The Venus holding Victory and a sceptre on the reverse was a reference to the claim of the gens Julia to descend from Aeneas and thus Anchises and the goddess Venus. This was innocuous to Romans, but the obverse showing Caesar himself wearing the gold laurel wreath that the Senate had voted for him was an enormous departure from tradition and deeply offensive. While the coinage had been used to show ancestors, this is the first time that the head of a living Roman had been displayed on Roman coinage. It was widely perceived as part of a larger series of moves by Caesar to make himself king – and kings were anathema in Rome ever since the foundation of the republic. Other coins minted at the same time bore the text "DICT QVART", indicating that Caesar had been dictator for four years running. A later version (RRC 480/10, February–March 44 BC) showed "DICT PERPET"; Caesar had been made dictator for life.^[26][27] He was assassinated, by Brutus among others, on the Ides of March, 44 BC.

Head Brutus Right. BRVT IMP, L.PLAET.CEST	Two daggers flanking pileus. EID.MAR
Modern forgery of denarius of L. Plaetorius Cestianus celebrating Brutus and his action on the Ides of March. 43–42 BC. RRC 508/3

The assassination could not revive the republic. Two years later, just prior to the Battle of Philippi, Brutus produced a coin (RRC 508/3, modern forgery shown to the left) celebrating the freeing of the republic from Caesar's tyranny. The reverse showed two daggers flanking a pileus (a cap used in the ceremony freeing slaves) and the legend "EID MAR". On the obverse, Brutus, the "noblest Roman", had placed his own head. The republic survived, by convention more than reality, until Octavian, Caesar's nephew and heir was declared Augustus in 27 BC.

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Luna (goddess)

Luna (goddess)

In ancient Roman religion and myth, Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon. She is often presented as the female complement of the Sun, Sol, conceived of as a god. Luna is also sometimes represented as an aspect of the Roman triple goddess, along with Proserpina and Hecate. Luna is not always a distinct goddess, but sometimes rather an epithet that specializes a goddess, since both Diana and Juno are identified as moon goddesses.

Biga (chariot)

Biga (chariot)

The biga is the two-horse chariot as used in ancient Rome for sport, transportation, and ceremonies. Other animals may replace horses in art and occasionally for actual ceremonies. The term biga is also used by modern scholars for the similar chariots of other Indo-European cultures, particularly the two-horse chariot of the ancient Greeks and Celts. The driver of a biga is a bigarius.

Perseus of Macedon

Perseus of Macedon

Perseus was the last king (Basileus) of the Antigonid dynasty, who ruled the successor state in Macedon created upon the death of Alexander the Great. He was the last Antigonid to rule Macedon, after losing the Battle of Pydna on 22 June 168 BC; subsequently, Macedon came under Roman rule.

Battle of Pydna

Battle of Pydna

The Battle of Pydna took place in 168 BC between Rome and Macedon during the Third Macedonian War. The battle saw the further ascendancy of Rome in the Hellenistic world and the end of the Antigonid line of kings, whose power traced back to Alexander the Great. The battle is also considered to be a victory of the Roman legion's manipular system's flexibility over the Macedonian phalanx's rigidity.

Murex

Murex

Murex is a genus of medium to large sized predatory tropical sea snails. These are carnivorous marine gastropod molluscs in the family Muricidae, commonly called "murexes" or "rock snails".

Cuirass

Cuirass

A cuirass is a piece of armour that covers the torso, formed of one or more pieces of metal or other rigid material. The word probably originates from the original material, leather, from the French cuirace and Latin word coriacea. The use of the term "cuirass" generally refers to both the chestplate and the back piece together; whereas a breastplate only protects the front, a cuirass protects both the front and the back.

Flamen

Flamen

A flamen was a priest of the ancient Roman religion who was assigned to one of eighteen deities with official cults during the Roman Republic. The most important of these were the three flamines maiores, who served the important Roman gods Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus. The remaining twelve were the flamines minores. Two of the minores served deities whose names are now unknown; among the others are deities about whom little is known other than the name. During the Imperial era, the cult of a deified emperor also had a flamen.

Praetor

Praetor

Praetor, also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected magistratus (magistrate), assigned to discharge various duties. The functions of the magistracy, the praetura (praetorship), are described by the adjective: the praetoria potestas, the praetorium imperium, and the praetorium ius, the legal precedents established by the praetores (praetors). Praetorium, as a substantive, denoted the location from which the praetor exercised his authority, either the headquarters of his castra, the courthouse (tribunal) of his judiciary, or the city hall of his provincial governorship.

Flamen Quirinalis

Flamen Quirinalis

In ancient Roman religion, the Flamen Quirinalis was the flamen or high priest of the god Quirinus. He was one of the three flamines maiores, third in order of importance after the Flamen Dialis and the Flamen Martialis. Like the other two high priests, he was subject to numerous ritual taboos, such as not being allowed to touch metal, ride a horse, or spend the night outside Rome. His wife functioned as an assistant priestess with the title Flaminicia Quirinalis.

Pontifex maximus

Pontifex maximus

The pontifex maximus was the chief high priest of the College of Pontiffs in ancient Rome. This was the most important position in the ancient Roman religion, open only to patricians until 254 BC, when a plebeian first occupied this post. Although in fact the most powerful office in the Roman priesthood, the pontifex maximus was officially ranked fifth in the ranking of the highest Roman priests, behind the rex sacrorum and the flamines maiores.

Obverse and reverse

Obverse and reverse

Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags, seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse means the back face. The obverse of a coin is commonly called heads, because it often depicts the head of a prominent person, and the reverse tails.

Lucius Junius Brutus

Lucius Junius Brutus

Lucius Junius Brutus was the semi-legendary founder of the Roman Republic, and traditionally one of its first consuls in 509 BC. He was reputedly responsible for the expulsion of his uncle the Roman king Tarquinius Superbus after the suicide of Lucretia, which led to the overthrow of the Roman monarchy. He was involved in the abdication of fellow consul Tarquinius Collatinus, and executed two of his sons for plotting the restoration of the Tarquins.

The dates on all the coins mentioned above can not be known with absolute certainty. Sometimes particular coins can be linked to a well defined event in history, e.g. the "dict perpet" denarii of Caesar can be dated very closely to his assassination, but this is rarely the case. Much dating of the coinage is based on evidence from coin hoards. The hoarding of coins, especially by burial, was a "banking system" often used in ancient times, particularly in times of crisis; hoarding during the civil war between Caesar and Pompey was so extensive that it resulted in a liquidity crisis.^[28] Hoards can present evidence in several ways

• The location of the hoard can speak to where the coins in question circulated.
• The archaeological context of a coin hoard can set an approximate date for the production of the coinage. As an example, excavations of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus uncovered coins beneath the temple; the date the temple was built is known and so a terminus ante quem for the period of their production can be deduced.
• The differential wear of coins in a hoard can be used to establish a relative chronology. Coins that had circulated longer prior to burial should show more wear.
• The composition of the hoard in terms of coin types can speak to what sorts of coins circulated in the same place at the same time and their relative abundance. From this, relative chronologies can sometimes be extracted.
• Comparison of multiple coin hoards can help to establish relative chronologies; if a series of coins is well represented in one large coin hoard and some are missing from a second large hoard, it is likely that they were minted after that hoard was buried.

Despite all of this, the evidence remains unclear. In this case, numismatic scholars attempt to make their best estimate of the absolute and relative chronology. In English, the current standard work is Crawford 1974 which built on and superseded the work of Sydenham 1952, Grueber 1910, Babelon 1886, and Mommsen 1850.^[29] The chronology used by this article and the identification of coins by the label RRC xx/yy identifies a particular item in that catalogue. There is however newer evidence, particularly in the period 170–149 BC, where analysis of the recently discovered Mesagne hoard has led to the alternate chronologies of Hersh & Walker 1984, and Harlan 1995. An alternate naming of the coinage of the form "gens ##" (e.g. "Fabia 11" for the 11th coin minted by a moneyer of the gens Fabia; i.e. RRC 268/1) is also sometimes still used. This was devised by Babelon and used by Grueber, Sydenham, and many newer books.

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Liquidity crisis

Liquidity crisis

In financial economics, a liquidity crisis is an acute shortage of liquidity. Liquidity may refer to market liquidity, funding liquidity, or accounting liquidity. Additionally, some economists define a market to be liquid if it can absorb "liquidity trades" without large changes in price. This shortage of liquidity could reflect a fall in asset prices below their long run fundamental price, deterioration in external financing conditions, reduction in the number of market participants, or simply difficulty in trading assets.

Ernest Babelon

Ernest Babelon

Ernest Charles François Babelon was a French Numismatist and classical archaeologist.

Theodor Mommsen

Theodor Mommsen

Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th century. His work regarding Roman history is still of fundamental importance for contemporary research. He received the 1902 Nobel Prize in Literature for being "the greatest living master of the art of historical writing, with special reference to his monumental work, A History of Rome", after having been nominated by 18 members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. He was also a prominent German politician, as a member of the Prussian and German parliaments. His works on Roman law and on the law of obligations had a significant impact on the German civil code.