Coinage, conquest and colonial activities. Procedures and strategies for monetary supply in Italy in the early 2nd century BCE

Résumé 0

The aim of this presentation is to propose an overview of the general framework and civic procedures for the minting of coinage in Rome during the 2nd century BC, with an emphasis on the institutional relationship between the Senate, the aerarium Saturni and the mint itself. In this period, the monetary system introduced during the Second Punic War was retained in a simplified form, while the volume of silver issues was significantly reduced. Likewise, the available numismatic data is surprisingly scarce when compared with the presumed scale of public expenses. Nevertheless, one may argue that it was in this period that Rome came up with the procedures, both ordinary and extraordinary, which were subsequently used until the end of the Republic to pay for its political expansion. Monetary production was determined by the nature and volume of public expenses, as well as by the practical consequences of the State’s reliance on a wide diversity of sources of income and by the availability or lack thereof of old coins, both in silver and in bronze. The transport and distribution of coins also raised practical issues, especially in relation with the financing of military activities far from Rome. Other manifestations of Roman expansion came with specific monetary challenges, however: of special interest in this regard is the case of the victoriatus, the production of which continued until the 170s BC, possibly in relation with the development of Roman colonial activities in Italy. It might be understood as specific-purpose coinage, connected to the broader Roman monetary system but issued following specific procedures.