Ancient Roman History Essay Example

The early 3rd century BCE marked the production of the first silver coins which in appearance bear a resemblance to the Greek coins. The value of these silver coins was equal to two Greek Drachman. Engraved on the face of the coin was ROMANO which later became ROMA. The financial gains from the Punic wars lead to the reduction of the coins weights. The metal composition of the bronze bars too was reduced. With the decrease in the quality of bronze coins, the minting of gold coins was initiated. Gold coins were also minted because of financial necessity. Came c. 211 BCE, a brand-new system of coinage was initiated. Silver denarius, the currency that letter became the primary silver coin for the Romans till the 3rd century CE. A single silver denarius weighted 54 grams; it was equivalent to 10 bronze asses. Other coins that existed were silver victoriatus, whose weight was three-quarters of the denarius. The quinary was worth half of a denarius. There were also some bronze and gold coins even though they were never widely used.

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The early 3rd century BCE marked the production of the first silver coins which in appearance bear a resemblance to the Greek coins. The value of these silver coins was equal to two Greek Drachman. Engraved on the face of the coin was ROMANO which later became ROMA. The financial gains from the Punic wars lead to the reduction of the coins weights. The metal composition of the bronze bars too was reduced. With the decrease in the quality of bronze coins, the minting of gold coins was initiated. Gold coins were also minted because of financial necessity. Came c. 211 BCE, a brand-new system of coinage was initiated. Silver denarius, the currency that letter became the primary silver coin for the Romans till the 3rd century CE. A single silver denarius weighted 54 grams; it was equivalent to 10 bronze asses. Other coins that existed were silver victoriatus, whose weight was three-quarters of the denarius. The quinary was worth half of a denarius. There were also some bronze and gold coins even though they were never widely used.

As of 200 BCE, Rome was the only place where coins were produced in Italy. The troops ensured that the coins were widely distributed throughout the Roman empire. As Rome continued to expand its boundaries, they gained a lot of treasures they had taken from their displaced enemies. Silver slowly replaced bronze as the most suitable material to be used in making coins. This was reached at because Rome had taken over the mines at Macedonia which resulted in the production of the quantities of silver coins. Came 141 BCE, the bronze value diminished. This drop made 16 asses of bronze to be equivalent to one denarius.

By 1st century, Roman coins had spread, and they were now being used for trading across the Mediterranean. The relationship between war and coinage was displayed yet again in 84 BCE. This was when Sulla produced new silver and gold coins to pay his armies. In 46 BCE, Julius Caesar also created the most significant amount of gold coins ever to be seen throughout Rome. In the process of producing those golden coins, the state mint run out of gold thus it could not provide any more gold coins. Following the death of Julius Caesar, coins started to be produced by all those people who were struggling to replace him. This went on till Octavian succeeded in replacing Caesar. He played a significant role in restoring an even Roman coinage system.

The images contained on the Roman coin changed when Julius Caesar decided to use his picture on the coins he made. The display of faces of power and imperial portrait on the Roman coin marks the period from 48BC which records the beginning of the reign of Julius Caesar, the dictator. This period continued up to the fall of Western Roman Empire in 476 A. D. Through this period, the government was in total control over the production of coins. The government carefully chose the images that were indicated on either side of the coin in charge. The images were always meant to pass a message to the people living in the empire. The images were intended for the illiterate laborers who were unable to read but could interpret the images to get the message.

The head of the coin always displayed the emperor or someone related to them such as their father, mother, son, or wife. The tail of the coin usually bore a message mostly an image. The image could be of a god such as the victory god or the peace god. It portrayed the god who the emperor wanted his reign to be associated with. The tail of the coin could also bore the commemoration of a celebrated event such as a victory by the army or even a Colosseum opening. Whatever was indicated on the cons and the reality that people knew could sometimes be different. The images on the coins only stated the message which the emperor wanted people to believe. At the time of the Roman republic, the magistrate who was mandated to produce coins would occasionally sneak in his name as part of the legend. The practice of indication of the name of the minter in coin went on till Augustus resigned, bringing it to its abrupt end.

The imperial coining would often include an abbreviation of nomen and cognomen, for example, A which stood for Aurelius, AEL for Aelius/Aelia, CLAVD for Claudius, CLOD for Clodius, ALB for Albinus, ETR for Etruscus, ESV for Esuvius, FL for Flavius. Once cognomina had been identified, agnomina would be adopted to establish the families' individuals came from. The numbers present on the Roman coins indicated how many times an individual had occupied an office if he had made any contribution to the public, and the awards he had been awarded. For instance, LIBERALITAS III indicates the number of public largesses made to be four; TR P II records that the tribunician power is being held for the second year.

The Greek cities started minting their coins long before the rise of Rome to power. In the Greek empire, it was their custom to give the right to cities in the east to produce coins their coins, as long as they had Greek legends on them. The coins were meant for the local use only. On the head of that coin, there was a display of portrait honoring a prominent member of the imperial family and the tail of the coin had an image containing the importance of the coin locally. Just like in the Roman coins, the city magistrates who were in control of the Greek mints would include their names in the legend on the coin. This practice lasted longer in Greek unlike in Rome where it was terminated after the resignation of Augustus. Some of the Greek words which occurred in their legend include ANTINOOY for Antinous, AVTOK for Imperator, and AOYIOAA for Aviola.

Conclusion

Some of the Roman rulers who contributed significantly to Roman coinage include, Julius Caesar. He is known for conquering Gaul and Britain. By 48 BC, Caesar was a ruler in Rome. By 44 BC he was a dictator even though he is mostly recalled as a general. He decided to make Rome in his image. Caesar held the position of Pontifex Maximus. The Romans religious sense lead them into believing that they were mightier than everyone. They thought that the success of their army was due to the relationship they had with their gods. The coin developed by Caesar describes him as a lifelong dictator. It shows him with the...