![]() It was around the turn of the eras that the denarius was the most important currency in the entire Roman Empire. During the first century BC, the denarius was so omnipresent that there was no need any more to specify where it came from. The Roman money supply increased tenfold during the 100 years after the capture of Macedonia in the middle of the 2nd century BC due to its rich silver deposits. The denarius followed the Roman troops, first on a small scale and then on a larger one. ![]() ![]() It consisted of almost pure silver and weighed about 4.2 grams. The denarius was independent of all other monetary systems. Despite their economic crisis, the Romans introduced a new currency shortly before the year 211 BC. The denarius came to being as a gesture of defiance and pride in the war against Hannibal. But even a high age does not protect against a crisis of confidence as shown by the history of the Roman denarius. ![]() And yet the dollar is still functioning, and it has been functioning for more than 230 years. Every American is burdened with more than 60,000 U.S. The name, however, survived, inspiring the medieval coinage known as the denier, denar, denaro and so on, including the medieval silver penny of Britain.Monetary crisis – The end of the denariusĮvery second, the government debt of the United States of America increases more than 35,000 U.S. The antoninianus was introduced in 215 to spark more interest in the silver coinage of Rome, but it didn’t work, and the last true denarii were struck in the 240s, “and attempts to reestablish the coin later in the third century met with no success,” according to Richard Doty in The MacMillan Encyclopedic Dictionary of Numismatics. The size, weight and silver purity of the denarius declined from the reign of Nero (54 to 68 A.D.) until its content was about 50 percent circa 193 to 211 during the reign of Septimius Severus. Today these coins regularly trade for hundreds of thousands of dollars. An estimated population of some 80 examples was known in 2008 when Berk’s book was published, “but many more than 80 people want one of these coins and can afford the $100,000-plus price tag.” “Caesar, a mere two years earlier, had been the first Roman to place his own portrait on Roman coins, and that was just the sort of monarchial innovation for which he had been assassinated,” Berk wrote.Įid Mar denarii were deliberately recalled and melted down by the victors of the second battle of Philippi on Oct. The design is notable for the irony of its use of a portrait of Brutus. The Eid Mar coins of mid-42 B.C., with the pileus or cap of liberty between the daggers that executed Caesar, is Brutus’ final coinage type. Brutus fled and soon waged war against Caesar’s successors.Īfter being proclaimed imperator, Brutus began issuing coins to pay his army. The conspirators, fearful of a tyranny ushered in by Caesar, expected to be hailed as liberators, but the Roman populace was horrified by Caesar’s murder and wanted the assassins punished. Berk.īrutus was one of two chief co-conspirators leading a cabal of Roman senators that surrounded and stabbed Caesar during a Senate proceeding. 1 in a survey of experts for the book 100 Greatest Ancient Coins by Harlan J. ![]() The dime-sized coin is famous for the image of its issuer, one of the assassins, Marcus Junius Brutus, on the obverse. The reference is to the assassination of the megalomaniacal dictator Julius Caesar two years earlier, on March 15, 44 B.C. silver denarius is known as the Eid Mar or “Ides of March” coin for the Latin legend EID MAR on the reverse. The pinnacle of self-promotion via numismatic means in ancient Roman times, however, was the Eid Mar silver denarius. The reverse features the Dioscuri, known individually as Castor and Pollux, the twin sons of Zeus and Leda. These young gods became widely popular as protectors in a moment of crisis, and a temple was built in their honor.Īs the decades passed, designs for the denomination made way for the political realities of a world where the moneyers (those who struck the coins) and later the rulers themselves, highlighted their own achievements, relationships, or both. Originally worth 10 bronze asses, the denarius coins were redenominated to 16 asses in 145 B.C., a value that was fixed until the final denarii were struck in the 240s A.D.Įarly denarii feature the head of Roma, patroness of the city, on the obverse. ![]()
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