Roman Coin Showing Pompeius Magnus
The earliest coinage in Rome started around 289 B.C with the introduction of Bronze bars. Before this the economy functioned on the bartering of livestock.
It was the Greeks that helped get Roman coinage started with Roman armies marching southward and encountering silver coinage within the Greek colonies. It was after this that silver began to show up in Rome’s history and from here on coinage would become an essential component of Rome’s economy
Roman history, politics and culture shows itself on its coinage throughout time with the earliest bronze coins featuring gods such as Janus, Mercury and Apollo. The first living Roman to place his own portrait on the silver denarius was Caesar in 44 B.C. Caesar started the tradition in which Hellenistic monarchs started portraying themselves on the coinage during their rule.
When Octavian and Antony divided the Roman world into eastern and western sectors, coinage served as propaganda as each tried gaining power over each other. Coins were used to celebrate achievements with the major imperial mints issuing silver and gold coins featuring Augustus’ military victories and the achievements abroad whereby Octavian or Augustus, as he was later named, stabilized the frontiers of the empire.
While gold and silver coins featured Augustus’ military victories, peace and prosperity, bronze coins emphasized his civil powers and honors. This made sense as the bronze coins became the civil and military standard whereas gold and silver were often circulated among the wealthier classes.
More realistic portraits became the norm during Nero’s reign from the more idealistic images that came before. After the fires in A.D. 64 there was a need for increased funds to rebuild Rome. This led to monetary reform and the introduction of the bronze sestertius with the aureus and denarius reduced in weight. As the coins became larger in size, Nero’s die-engravers made the images on the coins more realistic.
During A.D. 69 in the “year of the Four Emperors”, Rome’s achievements and prosperity began showing up on the coinage again. The construction of the Flavian Amphitheater and the capture of Jerusalem were featured on coins. Other coins honored gods such as Minerva, the warrior goddess and Jupiter, the supreme god of all. These gods were admired by Nero during his reign as emperor.
Later on coins were characterized with liberty, prosperity, justice and equity as Rome continued with stability for almost a century. Even Women began appearing on coins with hairstyles and garments showing off the prosperity of the age.
After the age of peace, when emperors came and went, the denarius began to fall in value. The coin dropped to 50 percent of its value when Nero rules in A.D. 54 to 68 and by the time Philip the Arab reigned in A.D. 244 to 249 the denarius almost became outdated. Both Silver and Gold became devalued and reformation of the coinage didn’t return until Diocletian in A.D. 284. Diocletian redefined Roman coinage and remapped the districts when he divided the empire into eastern and western halfs with senior Augustus and junior Caesar in charge of each. In A.D 294 he minted gold coins at 60 to the pound, silver coins of nearly pure silver at 96 to the pound and several sets of bronze coins in varying size and value. It wasn’t until the age of Constantine who made the major and final innovation of Roman coinage. The coin became the conventional method for the payment of taxes and the gold standard was created and remained for another 700 years.