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2.OutlinehistoryofRomanRepublicancoinage
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popularname–denariibigati.StartingfromthelatesecondcenturyBCthestyles
onthedenariibecomelessuniformandbythefirstcenturyBCnolongerfollow
anyrules.Coinsissuedbyindividualmoneyersfeaturearichselectionofimages
ofgods,heroes,historicalpersonages,scenesfrommythology,beasts,edifices
andotherimagesrelatedeithertotheRomanstateatlarge,ortothearistocratic
familyofthemoneyer.Itisalsonotablethatonsomecoins,infact,onthecoin
dies,smallcontrolmarkswereadded,letters,numeralsandsymbols.Thesemarks
presumablywereaninstrumentofqualitycontrol,helpingtodetectirregularities
inmintproductionmadeusingaspecificdiemarkedinthisway.
TheinternalunrestofthefinaldecadesoftheRepublicbroughtanew
phenomenon,theappearanceofImperatorialcoinageasRomangeneralswaged
civilwarononeanother,thefirstofthem(followingthoseofSullainthe80sBC)
issuedcoinswiththeirnameonthem,andstartingwithJuliusCaesar,alsotheir
portrait.IngeneralthedesignsplacedonImperatorialcoinageconveyedaheavy
propagandamessage,onemostlydirectedatthearmy.Thisdoesnotmeanthatwith
theintroductionoftheImperatorialissuescoinagewasnolongermintedunder
theauthorityofthemoneyers.Tresvirimonetalescontinuedtoissuecoinswiththeir
namesuntiltheascendanceofEmperorAugustus,inthelatefirstcenturyBC.
Nevertheless,itwouldhappenthatforanextendedperiod,forinstance,during
the40-30s–fromthedeathofJuliusCaesartothetimewhenOctaviantookfull
controloftheRomanstate,practicallyalloftheRomancoinagewasImperatorial
coinage.ManyImperatorialcoinswerestruckoutsideRome,bymilitarymints
onthemovewiththearmy.Becauseitwaswartimeandtherewerefinancial
difficulties,notallImperatorialcoinsadheredtothestandardsofweightandsilver
content.Thebestknownexampleofdevaluationnotsanctionedinanywayis
thelargescaleissueoftheso-calledlegionarydenariiofMarkAntony,mintedin
32-31BCforarmypayduringthewarswithOctavian.Thesecoinshadonthem
designsandinscriptionsthatrefertothelegionsincludedinMarkAntony’sarmy,
hencetheirpopularname.
Fromthenumismaticperspective,itisnoteasytosetanunambiguousdividing
linebetweentheperiodoftheRepublicandoftheEmpire.21M.H.Crawford
bringshiscatalogueupto31BC,theyearwhenOctaviandefeatedMarkAntony
intheBattleofActiumandassumed,albeitnotatonce,fullcontrolovertheRoman
state.Volume1ofthemonumentalRomanImperialCoinagecataloguebyCarol
HumphreyV.Sutherlandopenswiththissameyearof31BC.22Forthepurpose
ofthisstudy,27BCisadoptedasthedividinglinebetweentheRepublicanand
theImperialcoinage.ThiswastheyearinwhichOctavianadoptedthetitleof
Augustus,afterwhichhecouldbespokenofasEmperorAugustus.Thistitle,which
forOctavianAugustusbecamedefactohisname,wasplacedoncoinsjustifying,
21SeeZiółkowski2001,pp.312-313.
22Sutherland1984,p.1.
