Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/804

* NUMISMATICS. 684 NUMISMATICS. The real coined money of the Romans began with the .Es Grave, or heavy bronze, which seems to have begun about u.v. .'!.">(>, Ihough some have wished to phice its origin as far back as the decemviral Icgishitiou (B.C. 450). The diUKU'ci- nial sy.stem of the ws ijrave wa.s adopted from the Greeks of Southern Italy and Sicily, whoso 'pound of copper,' or Xirpo, of twelve "ounces' (oirixlai) became the Koman libra of twelve iiiicia-. The libra thus became the unit of count ((14), and as such was coined, a large and bulky copper (bronze) piece, which, however, seldom e.vcw'ds ten ounces, and is generally less. The earliest as and its divisions bear ncj hlters what- ever, but the value is marked by dots. The re- verse type is always the prow of a ship. The obverse types of the various denominations ditler as follows: As, double head of Janus with 1 (unit) ; semis ( ^/4 as = 6 uitciw), head of Jupi- ter with S; trieiis (% as = 4 UHciw), head of Konia with foir dots; quadrans ( % "« == 3 unciw) , head of Hercules with throe dots; sex- tans (l-(i as = 2 uneiee) , head of Mercury with two dots; iiHcia. (1-12 as), head of Ixuiiia with one dot. These remained the fixed types of Roman bronze money during the whole Republic. All these coins are cast (not struck), and are of rude fabric. There is also an enormous series of (ES ffrave, coined on the Roman system, but of even greater size, with the most diverse types. by the many Italic tribes of Central and North' em Italy. But while the Romans at home were con- tent to use their cundiersomc bronze coins, their generals ojierating in Campania and .Ajiulia struck coins on Greek systems, in silver as well as eo]iper, and far finer in technique. These b<>ar at first the name Romano, afterwards Roma, and are known as Romano-Campaniaii coins. They were not intended for circulation in Rome. A great reorganization of Roman coinage took place in B.C. 269-2t)8, after the .successes over the Sam- nites, Pyrrhus, and the Tarentines. The bronze 0.9 and all of its divisions were reduced to one- third of their former weight and size (so that the as now contained only as nnieh metal as the earlier iriens). and at the same time multiples of the as were coined in silver; the silver coins along with the snuiUer divisions in bronze (.sc.r- tans and iiiieia) being struck, the others still cast. The silver coins were the drnariits (1-72 of a pound of silver; eriuivalent to ten reduced asses), qiiiiiariiis (of five assrs). and sestcrliiis (of 2'1> a.isrs). The silver coins have all the same types: obverse, head of Rouia, with winged helmet', and sign X (= ten). V (= five). IIS (= 2Vi), respectively: reverse, the Dioscuri gal- loping to the right, with the name Koma. Shortly afterwards other reverse types were introducd. as X'ictory or Diana in a chariot. There was also a very slight emission of bronze multiples of the as. namely, the drcussis (ten asses), Irijwndiiis (three nsscs) . diipondius (two asses). Tint even now the bronze coinage, which was still the back- bone of the Roman monetary -ystem. tended gradually to diminish in weight. The a.i was reduced to the weight of the original i/iiadraiis. then to the sextans; and finally, in ii.c. 217, under the pressure of the crisis produced by the invasion of Hannibal, the Lejc I'laminia ordained a new reorganization of Roman linanees. The as was reduced to the size of the original nncia, and the drnnrius was coined at S4 to the libra of silver, instead of 72. This changed the rela- tion of silver and copper coins, and the denarius equaled 10 asses instead of 10. From henceforth all coins are struel,. The right of coinage, which at first was vest- ed in the consuls and other magistrates, was now confined to a special board of triuiin-iri- muiiclules (though at first the board of moneyers was not limited to three), and these early began to place their initials, monograms, or names upon their coins. We thus have a long .series of coins (the so-called 'family' or "consular' se- ries) bearing the most noble names in Roman history from the third century B.C. to .lulius CiFsar, I'ompcy, Brntus, Ca.ssius, and M. Anto- nius. About n.c. 1.50 the types begin to be very various on the silver coins, each moneyer follow- ing his own whim in recording family traditions, religious cults, or historical events. In n.c. 01 the great uprising broke out which is known as the Social War. Many tribes of Central Italy declared themselves indepcndciil of Rome, and formed an otTcnsive and di'fensive alliance against Rome, striking coins with the name of their leader, Q. Poni)i:edius .Silo, with the type of the bull of Italy crushing the serpent of Rome, and with the name of their new republic, Italia, in Osean or Latin letters. It required years for Rome to subdue this powerful union, and in B.C. 89 a financial crisis was again averted by the expe- dient of reducing the coinage. The silver was not changed, but the as was maile equal to the setinitieia {U iincia). This is called the semun- cial system. This was the last eluingc under the Republic. Gold had not heretofore been coined in Rome (though gold pieces of 20, 40, and 00 .sesterces, with Roma, had been struck after B.C. 217 in the Romano-Canqianiau series) ; in the last century of the Republic, however, there were numerous emissions of denarii aurci (or simply aurei), which, like the silver coins, bear the names of magistrates and generals, as Sulha, I'ompey. ami (';esar. It was .Fulius Ca>sar who first placed his portrait on a Roman coin. The standard work on coins of Republican Rome is Babelon, De.wriplion historiijiie et eliro- nol<>(iii/ue dcs monnaies dc la rfpuhliiiue ro- maine (2 vols., Paris, 188.t). With this compare Bahrfeldt. yaehtrtifie and Heriehfiiiiinfien zur Miinr.hiindc dcr rbmi.iehen Republik (Vienna, ISO", with .supplementary volume, 1000). Con- sult, also, Garucei. /.<• monetc dell' Italia aniica (Rome, l.SS.'i). With Augustus Ciesar begins the coinage of the ICmpire. ;i long anil important series with an infinite niiiiiber of varieties in gold, silver, and liroMze. .ugusliis took under his personal charge the coin.ige of gold and silver, leaving the bronze to the Senate; wherefore bronze coins from now till the third century bear the letters >S. C. (senatus consiilla. "by onlcr of the senate'). The obverse of Imperial coins generally bears the ruler's head, with his name and titles; the re- verse has a varying tyjx' (deity, personification, group, monument, or the like), with explanalorv inscription or continuation of Imperial titles. The denominations are: in gold, denarius anreu.t (or simply aureus), equal to 2.'> silver denarii, and its lialf. Hie quinarius aureus; in silver, the denarius, equal to four seslerlii. and the quinn- rius. of two seslerlii: in bronze, the .wslertiu.t (so-called 'large-bronze'), of four asses, dn/ion- dius. of two asses ('middle bronze'), as ('midilte I i