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In the early days of Rome, cattle were the common means of payment. Anyway, the later name of money in Latin, pecunia, comes from the word pecus, meaning nothing but “cattle”. The pound unit was used to determine the face value – libra – which was 327.45 g.
The monetary history of ancient Rome
Originally, the state property of Rome was kept in the form of herds of cattle. Interestingly, theft was defined by the word peculatus, which referred to cattle and meant the theft of animals.
Launch of bronze coins
With the more and more frequent contacts of the Romans with the Greeks living in southern Italy (so-called Great Greece), a need appeared in Roman society to imitate their Greek neighbours. Scientists estimate the probable time of the emergence of a new currency in the middle of the 5th century BCE. Then it was started to use untreated bronze, in small pieces, for payment, the so-called aes rude. For each transaction, the appropriate amount of aes had to be weighed. It is possible that in 406 BCE During the siege of the Veins, it was this new means of payment that paid soldiers. It should be noted that bronze was a cheap metal and was made of 90% copper and 10% tin. The pure metals were weak and the tin strengthened the material.
Over time, rectangular, untreated bronze bars (aes signatum or “embossed bronze”) appeared, often depicting cattle or a branch with side branches (the so-called Ramo Secco). The bars did not have a constant weight and weighed from 0.5 to 2.5 kg. The Romans also placed the inscription “ROMANOM” on the bars, emphasizing their statehood. Probably aes signatum was used until the end of the Third Punic War, i.e. in the middle of the 3rd century BCE.
In the meantime, the Romans also began to make smaller bronze coins, which imitated the Greek counterparts, and which resembled the shape of the familiar coins. These activities also had a prestigious aspect – belonging to higher civilizations. And this is how money called aes grave (Libral As) appeared, probably already in the 3rd century BCE. The following types were distinguished: as, semis, triens, quadrans, sextans and uncia. Additionally, the coins began to depict scenes from mythology and deities.
During the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE, Rome used various bronze coins: decussis, quincussis, tressis, dupondius, as, dextans, dondrans, bes, semis, quincunx, triens, quadrans, sextans, uncia, semuncia, quartuncia, each with a different denomination and value. The value of the coin was based on its weight. So 1 as weighed 1 Roman pound (libra). Libra, in turn, contained 12 unciae; uncia it was both the coin and the unit of measure for calculating the weight.
Introduction of the silver coin – didrachma
At the beginning of the 3rd century BCE, during the conflict with Pyrrhus (282-272 BCE), Rome introduced the first didrachma silver coin, which naturally was taken from Greek cities. Their production initially took place in Campania. The coin featured the image of the god of war Mars in a Corinthian helmet and the inscription “ROMANO” – these were minted in Campania. With time, the inscription “ROMA” began to appear, which began to be stamped in Rome. This coin was probably created at a similar time as aes grave, but it had a typically propaganda dimension and was primarily intended to pay for soldiers taking part in the war, both their own citizens, mercenaries and Greek allies. The weight of the coin was 7.3 g.
With time, a new image appeared on the coin – Hercules and the she-wolf with twins began to be shown. In the years 235-225 BCE the quadrigatus coin appeared, the name of which was due to the image of Jupiter on the coin that he was driving in the quadriga.