Ancient Roman The origin of coins: The First Punic War
The early Roman Republic did not have the so-called circulating currency, and the trade exchanges between the Romans and the outside world were very rare. At that time, most of the Italian peninsula was a self-sufficient farming society. The nobles hired servants or slaves to farm for themselves, while the civilians also owned a self-cultivated land. In this regard, the early Roman society was very similar to the self-cultivated farmers in China. But the difference is that in Rome , only Roman citizens have land ownership. All the free people and slaves who were not Roman citizens had to find a shelter to provide their own financial resources.
Under this agricultural social system, Rome does not need to contact the outside world to rest assured, so there is no need to mint circulating coins. Only when large-scale trading or large-scale reserves of money are needed, Romans need to find alternatives to agricultural product exchange. Precious metals such as copper ores, silver ores, and gold ores already have considerable economic value in scale at this time. As early as the Roman period, there was a precedent for the use of precious metals to cast silver bars and copper bars as circulating currency for transactions.
This economic system was not affected by the early expansion of the Roman Republic in the Italian Peninsula. Although the Roman Republic suffered heavy losses in the Samone Wars and the Pyros Wars, it did not hurt the foundation of national strength. With the wealth of its own country and the army of allies, the Roman Republic did not open up new ways in terms of economy and maintained its previous economic system. But all this was broken by the First Punic War.
In the middle of the third century BC, the Roman Republic and Carthage had differences due to the ownership of Sicily , which led to Rome declaring war on Carthage. Carthage was the largest trading empire in the Mediterranean at that time, with its trading bases spread throughout the entire coast of North Africa, Iberian Peninsula and Sicily. As the overlord of maritime trade, Carthage owned the most powerful navy in the Western world at that time. The port of Carthage alone was enough to accommodate two hundred warships of 100 people. Most of the Carthage's navy was composed of Carthage's citizens, and the navy was the most proud professional army of Carthage. In contrast, most of Carthage's army was composed of mercenaries, and for Carthage, which acquired a lot of wealth through trade, the expensive employment fees for these mercenaries were just a drop in the bucket.
Facing the territory spanning Europe and Africa, and the trade routes are spread throughout the entire Mediterranean , Rome seems much thinner. Rome has been a land war country since ancient times, and its military development and territorial expansion are based on land. So far, Rome has no naval to fight. Faced with the fierce Carthage Navy, the Roman Republic had to seize the time to build ships and train sailors. The Romans who were accustomed to land wars found that there were a lack of craftsmen on the Italian Peninsula who could build ships, so they had to hire them from the Greek city-state that had sailed for many years. Not only that, this war beyond the Italian Peninsula forced Rome to seek more resources from places outside the Italian Peninsula.
After the first Punic War began, the Roman Republic quickly realized that it could not be without circulating currency to support military activities. After all, the battlefield was no longer around the Italian land, but the entire Western Mediterranean. This led to the original coin minting system of the Roman Republic.
Roman Republic currency system (264-140 BCE)
The original coins of the Roman Republic were mainly made of two precious metals: silver coins and copper coins . As for why there are no gold coins, the reason is that the Romans believed that gold was a very luxurious precious metal. Roman culture was very opposed to extravagance and showing off wealth, and the "Frugalitas" (simple) was particularly important in early values. So the Romans also kept their currency away from extravagance and luxury as much as possible. But this does not mean that gold coins were never minted during the Roman Republic, but the purpose of minting was mostly commemorative or religious. Therefore, gold coins were not a common currency in circulation in the early stages of the Republic, and this tradition continued until Caesar conquered Gaul that large-scale minting of gold coins began. Therefore, the gold coins of the Republic unearthed before Caesar are rare in the world.It is precisely because of the lack of gold coins in the Roman monetary system that silver coins instead of gold coins became the foundation of the entire currency.
At this time, the Roman currency had not yet developed into the credit currency of the later Empire period, so the value of each currency is determined by the precious metal content and its weight of the currency itself. Nevertheless, the early monetary system of the Republic also laid the foundation for future credit currencies. I believe that those who have observed Roman coins will not find that although all coins have a "standard" weight and size, it is really difficult to make every coin exactly the same. First of all, it is impossible for craftsmen to ensure that all templates are exactly the same when carving templates, which means that the precious metal content on the surface of the coin will be slightly different. Secondly, when the founder minted coins, it is inevitable that the knocking will occur during the knocking process, which leads to not all coins being exactly the same size. However, although there will be different sizes, the circulation value of these coins will not be affected by these factors, which means that people have already gained basic value recognition for coins and can ignore those subtle weight gaps.
Roman coins are naturally not the earliest coins in the Mediterranean. As early as the ancient Greek period, Greek city-states began to mint their own currency with Athens to facilitate maritime trade. When Alexander the Great conquered his empire, he even promoted Greek standard coins to the entire Central Asia and the Mediterranean. As a latecomer, Roman coins will naturally move closer to the standards of ancient Greek coins to a certain extent. As the most important circulating currency among Roman coins, silver coins are the most widely circulated "Silver Drachma" (silver weight) in ancient Greece. A silver weight in ancient Greece weighed about 4.3g, and the Romans used this as the weight standard for the Roman silver coin "Denarius" ( dinar ).
Greek Silver Drachma silver weights circulated after Alexander's death. Front: Hercules faces right, wearing lion's skin. Back: Zeus sat on the altar, holding the scepter
silver coins as a coin with a larger face value, and naturally became a circulating currency with huge transactions. However, for small transactions, the silver coin "Quinarius" with a smaller face value (because this word has no Chinese translation, the author translates it as "Quinarius" because its face value is half of the dinar) or copper coins. There are many types of copper coins themselves, but most of them are used for small-scale money transactions.
below is the currency system of the Roman Republic during the Punic War period (211 BCE) and its exchange rate with the main circulating currency dinar :
Note 1: In ancient numerology, metal names will be marked with their Latin abbreviation such as AV=AVREVS=Gold, AR=ARGENTVM=Silver, AE=AES=Copper
Note 2: Most of the coin names in the table do not have a Chinese translation. The author is not talented, so he translated it himself. The table above
only represents the conversion exchange rate around 211 BC. With the continuous expansion of the Roman Republic, inflation also occurred. In the late period of the Republic, the exchange rate that converts the face value will be adjusted again. Some no longer circulating face value will be eliminated, and new face value coins will also appear.
Silver coin Victoriatus during the War of the Roman Punic, Victorinal. Front: Jupiter's side face. Back: The goddess of victory was crowned the result of the victory
silver coin Denarius Dinar in the middle of the Republic. Front: The Roman goddess's side face, with an X value symbol on the background. Back: The chariot, with NAT engraved on the background, meaning that the NATTA family members authorized to cast)
The late Quinarius Quinarius of the Republic. Front: Dionysian side face. Note: At this time, Quinalius's design has changed and is no longer a Roman goddess. Back: The goddess of victory sits on a stool and holds a disc
The late coin system of the Republic (140 BCE-27 BCE)
The late republic is a very important transition period for Roman coins, and many previous monetary policies also began to undergo changes and turns during this period.
The Roman Republic during this period was full of internal and external troubles. The members of the parliamentarians who held military power had their own troops and used the army as weapons to seek higher glory. The political and economic system of the Roman Republic were finally slowly dragged down by the continuous expansion over the past three hundred years. As wars grew, the Republic no longer had enough savings to fund successive military operations.
From the invasion of the Helvithians in the late 2nd century BC to the rebellion of Italian allies, one war after another. It was impossible for the Romans to admit failure as a defeated country, so the Republic tried every means to solve these internal and external troubles at all costs. However, years of wars have long caused the Roman population on the Italian Peninsula to rapidly decrease. With the rebellion of Italian allies, the Roman Republic has gradually realized the lack of human resources. The fiscal deficit and human scarcity have become the death knell of the Republic.
As the Republic Senate gradually lost control of government affairs, issues such as raising troops and raising funds were handed over to the members who were ordered to go out to fight. The army raised by the general himself will naturally be loyal to the general rather than the Senate. It was from this time that the center of the Republic began to move from the Senate to the army. The Roman Republic's currency system also made a series of reforms to provide military funds.
silver coins have gradually lost their dominance at this time. As the Republic continues to expand, the wealth consumed by war is increasing, and silver coins alone are no longer enough to bear the expenses of soldiers and the supplies of the army. Years of war have gradually reduced the silver mines in the Roman Republic, and the mining speed has gradually failed to keep up with the consumption speed. However, the silver mines at this time have not yet reached the point of exhaustion, and the depletion of the silver mines in Rome will erupt before the third century AD.
As mentioned in the previous article, gold coins are an extremely luxurious existence in the Republic's currency system. In order not to appear too extravagant and wasteful, the Romans were unwilling to mint gold coins. However, in the present Republic, only the value of gold coins can solve the urgent needs of the Republic.
The first general who started to mint gold coins for military funds was Sura . From 88 to 63 BC, Rome was involved in three wars in Asia Minor, which later generations called the Mitradati War. In 88 BC, the conflict between the Kingdom of Bitinia and the Kingdom of Bendu, located along the Black Sea, was increasing. The Republic of Rorland, a trade empire in the Mediterranean, was afraid that its interests would be threatened, so he sought help from his asylum Rome, hoping that Rome could be allowed to mediate the conflict between the two sides. Rome's intentional partiality with the Kingdom of Bitinia in Concord led to dissatisfaction in the Kingdom of Pontus. The Roman king of Bendu began to retaliate against the Romans who lived in Anatolia, which undoubtedly angered the Senate, and the Roman Republic declared war on Bendu. These three wars were also named after the name of Mitradati, King of Bendu.
The Roman Republic seemed to be strong at this time, but the republic's treasury, which had just experienced the invasion of the Germanic people in the north and the rebellion of Italian allies, had gradually become empty. A general named Sula was appointed by the Senate to be the head of the war, and Sula faced the same problems as when she fought against the northern invaders. However, unlike Mario, Sula made new reforms to the monetary system of the Roman Republic. He plundered a lot of gold from Greece, Illyria , and the coast of Anatolia. Due to the lack of silver mines, Sula directly used gold to mint gold coins to pay the soldiers. It was also from this time that gold coins began to circulate and entered the currency system. After Sura, Caesar also obtained a large amount of gold on the way to conquer Gaul. In order to reward the army, Caesar also minted all of these gold into gold coins, and large-scale gold coins poured into the market in Rome in just a few decades. From veterans to parliamentarians who are rich enough to rival a country, everyone has accepted this kind of circulating wealth that was once regarded as a "luxury product", and gold coins have officially stepped on the stage of Roman currency. However, one thing that cannot be forgotten is that the original intention of minting these gold coins was to better provide military support to Rome, so for the army, these gold coins are the fruits of war and the reward for victory.
It is precisely because of the admiration of generals and leaders that the late Roman Republic began to diversify its design. The front and back are no longer the same design as before. Instead, the front will engrave the name of a general or consul in the week of the coin, and the back will also begin to appear in publicity. When you start to depict various events in the republic, or various ancient Roman gods, the week behind them is often engraved with various myths and legends.
On the exchange rate of gold coins and silver coins, the Romans also adopted a relatively simple calculation method. The conversion rate between gold coins and silver coins during the Caesar period was about 20 silver coins to one gold coins.
is the late Roman Republic's currency system with extreme exchange (140 BCE-44 BCE):
Note: Coins with a face value smaller than Asat are the same in terms of conversion, and the author decided not to include them in the table. Considering that these small face value currencies have a low impact, you can refer to the previous table
With the expansion of the Republic's government, the credit value of its currency has also become higher and higher, and the weight of the Roman coins themselves has gradually decreased for the convenience of carrying. It has become a credit currency during the Malian period. To give the simplest example, a piece of asci weighed about one pound during the Punic War (the pound is a Roman unit of measurement in this article, not today's British "pound", and a pound of Rome is about 328.9g). If a Roman resident wants to exchange for a silver coin, it means he has to bring nearly three kilograms of ass to exchange for it, and the inconvenience can be imagined. At the same time, the Republic's economy is also constantly stabilizing. On the basis of the known copper coins being exchanged for silver coins at a 10:1 exchange rate, everyone has increased their confidence in the value of the copper coins themselves and will not care about their weight. Because of this, the weight of the copper coins is constantly decreasing. The Assas copper coins during the Octavia period were only about 12g, which was about 300 times lighter than during the Punic War. However, with the weight loss of copper coins, the face value of the currency and its exchange rate have also been adjusted accordingly.
Vitorinal has a very small circulating face value for various reasons, and its minting consumes a lot of silver ore. The government of the Republic chose to completely remove it from the monetary system and save more silver ore to mint currencies such as Dinar and Quinarius.Vitorinal has officially withdrawn from the historical stage of currency.
It can also be seen from the table above that as the currency liquidity of the Roman Republic becomes more and more widespread, it is no longer necessary to engrave its currency face value on the coins. At this time, people can easily distinguish the face value of the coin from its weight and size.
However, this credit currency is not perfect because not all currencies are based on confidence. The basis of Roman credit currency lies in people's recognition of the value of silver coins. It is precisely because copper coins can be exchanged for silver coins steadily that people are willing to accept lighter and more flexible copper coins. This means that once the Roman silver coins lose their value, the entire Roman monetary system will collapse.
late silver coin Denarius dinar of the Roman Republic. Front: Concordia goddess side face. Back: Councillor Lucius Aemilius Paulus Lepidus stands beside the fruit of the war. Perseus and his two sons were tied behind him. At this time, the Roman Dinar had already begun to show off his publicity. This silver coin was minted by the brothers of the latter three giants, Rabida. Its name was also engraved on the silver coin
The early coin system in the Roman Empire (27 BCE - 198 BCE)
0 After the latter three giants turned against each other, Octavian became the final winner of the Roman Republic. Faced with a riddled economic and political system, Octavia has carried out a series of reforms. The amazing thing is that on the basis of not changing the original system of the Republic, the existence called " Augustus " was created, which kicked off the Roman Empire.
In this series of reforms in Octavia, the monetary reform is naturally essential. At this time, the currency of the Republic has become increasingly difficult to convert. The weight of copper coins is constantly decreasing, and the weight of silver coins is gradually becoming lighter. From the beginning of 1 dinar weighing 4.3g, to the Octavian period, the weight of a dinar was about 3.9g. The weight change of copper coins is even more exaggerated, from 323g to 11g.With these changes, further exchange rate adjustments are needed.
Octavian's economic reform mainly includes several points. The first is to reform silver coins, changing Sethels, which was originally minted from silver, to minted from copper. Incestairs is the closest silver coin to Asce's face value. Octavian is very confident about Rome's credit currency. He believes that even if Sestairs is changed to minted from copper, its circulation value will not be changed. Although it was changed to copper, Sethels' casting uses brass, also called mountain copper. Compared with ordinary copper coins, mountain copper appears brighter, and its appearance resembles gold makes it called "brass", which also facilitates the distinction between Ascet and Sethels. On this basis, Octavian officially formulated the exchange of silver Quinarius and Dinar during the Caesar period as an official monetary policy to consolidate the foundation of Roman silver coins.
Octavian also reduced the weight of the currency called Duponti to the same as Ass. But in order to keep Du Pengdi and Asi a one-to-two exchange rate, a crown will appear on Du Pengdi's front emperor's avatar. When circulating in this way, it would not be said that Du Pengdi mistakenly thought it was Asi. With Du Pengdi's weight reform, the weight of other currencies has also been slightly adjusted. At the same time, coins with low face value circulation rates such as "Sextans", "Uncia", "Semuncia" and Quartuncia have begun to be issued. Only the "Quadrans" small assas is reserved for use as change. "Triens" (Three Anns) is also no longer issued because it is very inconvenient to convert.
The second point of Octavian economic reform is to officialize the minting of gold coins and monopolize its minting rights in the hands of Augustus alone. During the Republic in previous years, most of the coins were minted from municipal officials or local governors authorized by the Senate. Octavian set the rules that only Augustus (literally translated as "people who are worshipped", and many later generations translated this word as "emperor") had the right to mint gold and silver coins. Before this, the act of minting silver coins was not institutionalized, and the minting of gold coins took place not long after, and the Senate had not had time to formulate relevant policies. Octavian's move did not mean to break the system, and the Senate just dared not speak out. But in order not to completely anger the Senate, Octavian left the right to mint copper coins to the Senate, which calmed down the opposition of some members of the parliament.
Below are the currency system and its exchange rate during the Octavian period (27 BCE – 193 BCE):
After consolidating the exchange rate, weight and raw materials of Roman coins, Octavian turned "coin promotion" into an official policy. The so-called "coin promotion" is to print the front of the coin on Octavian's own head, and engrave his title, title, or any message that Octavian himself wants to convey through the coin. The back is designed in various ways, such as the Roman temple, the Phoenix Bird, the Goddess of Peace, etc. Any information that Octavian wants to promote himself with it will be designed on the back of the coin. On the one hand, these reforms helped Octavian consolidate his position in the Republic, and on the other hand, they also conveyed his message as Augustus to every corner of the Roman Empire. Everyone can learn from Octavian's silver or gold coins that their emperor wants to express to the people.
Since the Octavian reform, the design of Roman coins has become diverse. The countless patterns, titles, and information engraved around the coins have greatly increased the historical research value and collection value of Roman numismatics.
Four Anthony cast dinars. Front: Roman warships. On the contrary: the army flag is often engraved with the name of the army, such as: the First Legion, the Second Legion, etc. The picture shows Asas cast in the Second Legion, the Fifth Legion, the Fourteenth Legion and the Twentieth Legion
Octavian period, front: Octavian side face.Back: SC's words "Senatus Consulto"
From the Republic to the Empire
This article is mainly to give a general introduction to the coins from the Roman Republic to the Empire. It does not dabble in too many topics about historical materials, but the changes in the exchange rate and weight of these coins are enough to restore a small part of the economic situation in Rome at that time.
Because the weight of Roman coins is very inconsistent, even coins of the same type such as dinar or assas have different weights and diameters. This does not mean that they did not have a unified standard, but the casting technology at that time was limited, and all coins were knocked out by craftsmen one by one, so there would inevitably be differences in their weight and size. This means that if two coins with exactly the same relevant information appear in today's auction market, the same size and same marks appear, then it can be almost 100% certain that these two are counterfeit coins imitated in modern times.
Roman coins from the Republic to the early stages of the empire symbolized the peak of the Roman economy. Silver coins have nearly 99% silver content. As mentioned earlier, the Roman monetary system is a credit currency based on silver coins, and the value of all copper coins comes from its stable exchange of silver coins. Therefore, the high silver content of silver coins can indirectly reflect the stability of Roman credit currency. However, this stability is not lasting. As the empire slowly develops, the silver mine will gradually be excavated. The silver coins flowing to the outside world cannot be collected, and the national government cannot continue to mint silver coins with high silver content to maintain circulation. The silver content of Roman silver coins will decrease accordingly, which will eventually destroy the empire's economy. This topic will be discussed in future articles.
(Note: All ancient Roman coins in the article are my own collection)
