Last as Long as Litrons
Coins in Latin Literature

-Natalie Witherell

There are few things more powerful than the written word. It can taint a reputation, contract an agreement, solidify a relationship, and betray a nation. The written word is crucial, and, in the study of all things ancient, it is never ignored. In order to understand the full context of Roman coins and their respective significance in history, we must read ancient commentary on their creation and use. This commentary includes historical accounts such as Suetonius' biographies, political propaganda like Octavian's Res Gestae, geographical writings such as Strabo's descriptions of mints, some scarce surviving economic records, as well as fictional poetry and prose that provides interpretive insight on this subject. By studying such texts, we can explore the motivations for coinage, the background of legends and types, the political powers that controlled currency, some economic influences on coins, and the geography of Roman mints.

Classical historians seek the active social, cultural and political motivations behind artifacts such as coins. Archeological studies have ruled out some ancient motivations for coinage, and literary texts present new reasons for minting. Trade is no longer seen as the prime initiator of coins because hoards of coins are found near home nations, not on sunken trading vessels. War and public benefit are considered motivating forces because of their mutual dependence on coins, expressed through primary sources. In his Res Gestae, Octavian mentions his need for coinage in order to avenge Caesar's death: "At the age of nineteen I took the personal decision to raise an army from my private funds. With it I freed the state from the tyranny of faction" (RG 1.1). This event was commemorated in a tetradrachma with depictions of Octavian and Pax (Sutherland, 4). Livy, a Roman historian from the period of Augustus, explains that coins were needed for supplications and the benefit of Romans in general (vii.28). Coins allowed wealth to be amassed from many benefactors in order to build public works such as aqueducts and altars, as well as the support of public defense such as building ships and enlisting mercenaries. Political leaders also gave back to the public in coin form. Augustus explains, "four times I assisted the public treasury with my own money, depositing 150 million sesterces to those in charge of that treasury...and I deposited 170 million sesterces, from my inherited fortune, for the military treasury" (RG 17).

Literary sources also provide insight on specific coin types and legends, such as why they were issued and the corresponding ancient reactions to them. A Roman senetor named Dio Cassius provides a good example of this when he explains that "Vitellus retained the coinages struck for Nero, Galba, and Otho, having no objection to their portraits on them" (64.6.1). When mysteries arise out of the inspiration for types and legends, historians often turn to literary texts in order to resolve the issues. An example of this is the debate about the letters "SC" that were issued on Augustus's aes coinage. Sutherland looks to Tacitus, Dio Cassius, and Polybius for insight but remains unresolved (35-38). Some sources comment directly on special editions of coins that were issued, such as Livy who lists the names of the founders of Roman colonies that directly coincide with the special type-editions of them (Mattingly, 90).

When a certain issue of a coin is made, the political powers behind the edition are key components of the history of the coin. While the entire political background cannot be inscribed on each coin, literary sources help illuminate many controls and influences on the coins being produced. For instance, ancient sources explain that the operation of the mint was controlled by the senate until Julius Caesar "placed his household slaves in charge of the mint and the public taxes" (Suet. Div. Iul.76.2). The mint under Caesar's control created an issue of the denarius of Rome which struck Caesar's head on the obverse and Venus with Victory on the reverse. This imperial control remained standard in the reigns of emperors who followed. (Sutherland, 1-3)

In this way, emperors had a great deal of control over the economy. They directly managed the exact amount of coins being produced. Suetonius exalts Augustus for being able to "produce so much coinage that interest rates dropped and land-values rose sharply" (Div. Aug. 41). However, Emperors could only control the economy so far. Tiberius was unable to prevent a financial crisis in AD 33 from which there "arose a scarcity of coinage, as credit everywhere had been upset and silver coinage was immobilized" (Tacitus, Ann, 6.17). Nevertheless, Dio Cassius gives Tiberius credit for giving a great amount of money to the public treasury during this recession (58.21.5). These writers shape the ways we view not only the production of currency, but also history itself.

A few ancient writers have written directly about Roman mints. Their commentaries support archeological evidence for the locations of the mints as well as give historians a more humanistic vision of the mints and the culture which they benefited. The ancient geographer, Strabo, writes:

"The Romans possess Lugdunum, founded below a ridge at the confluence of the Arar and the Rhone. It is the most populous of all the other cities except Narbo; for it is a centre of commerce, and the Roman emperors strike their silver and gold coinage there." (4.3.2)

There are some other writings about the sources and conversions of metals that took place in order to facilitate coinage. Both Suetonius (Div. Aug. 52) and Augustus himself explain that he had silver statues melted into metal sources for coins, "There were in Rome about 80 silver statues of me...these I removed and from the money they provided..." (RG 24.2). In his Natural Histories, Pliny writes about Nero's reduction of aurei and denarii: after the collapse of the Republic, "it was decided that 40 aurei should be struck from a pound of gold...until Nero most recently reduced the figure to 45" (33.3). According to Tacitus, Dio Cassius, and Suetonius, Nero also scrambled for bullion after the AD 64 fire in Rome (Sutherland, 100). Finally, historians can learn a great deal about coins from the information that literary sources don't provide. Ancient writings about commercial ports have little to say about currency; so we can infer that coins were not needed to facilitate trade. There are few female sources about coins; so we must wonder if females had access to coins, or any need for them. Besides reading for information on the motivations for coinage, the background of legends and types, the political powers that controlled currency, economic influences on coins, and the geography of Roman mints, we should read between the lines of Roman history and remember whose lives the development of coinage actually imprinted. As crucial as the written word is, it has never been proven to be infallible.

WORKS CITED

Mattingly, Harold. Roman Coins. Methuen and Co. LYD, London: 1928.

Oakley, S.P. A Commentary on Livy Books VI-X Vol. II. Clarendon, Oxford: 1998.

Peck, Harry Thurston. Harper's Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities. NY: 1896.

Platner, Samual Ball. A Topographal Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Oxford University Press, London: 1929.

Rolfe, J.C. Translations of Suetonius Vol.1. Harvard University Press. Cambridge: 1998

Sutherland, C.H.V. Roman History and Coinage 44BC-AD 69. Clarendon Press, Oxford: 1987.

The Oxford Classical Dictionary