Units of Currency
The Rise of the As
The Roman as was, at first, a specific weight: one pound of bronze
This pound was divided into twelve unicae (ounces)
Please note, the noun (3rd / m.) declines as follows:
- as, assis, assī, assem, asse
- assēs, assium, assibus, assēs, assibus
Introduction of Silver Coinage
During the Republic (late third century BCE), two new coins were introduced: the dēnārius and the sēstertius, these made of silver
One sēstertius was valued at 2.5 assēs, and one dēnārius at 10 assēs
“The sēstertius was probably introduced at a time when the as had been so far reduced that the value of the new coin was equivalent to the original value of the as.” (AG, 633)
- Debasement was a persistent threat to Roman coinage
During the early Empire, a gold coin, the aureus, was introduced, at the value of 100 sēstertiī
Height of the Sēstertius
The sēstertius became the common coin of the Roman Republic and Empire
- Where Roman authors say nummus, coin, they typically mean sēstertius
The word, sēstertius, is an elision of sēmis-tertius, ‘the third a half’
- Picture the Romans counting three assēs, the third of which is at half value, for a total value of two and a half
Sēstertius vs. Sēstertium
The sēstertium was a unit of value, not a coin, equivalent to 1,000 sestertiī
- It likely derived from the genitive plural in the phrase mīlle sēstertium
Abbreviations
The sēstertius could be cataloged as HS or HS, a confusing symbol until one considers its evolution
- The symbol began as IIS (viz. 2S), or duo et sēmis, two and a half, and the H became standard somewhere along the way
Where a line appears above an abbreviated sum, it indicated thousands
- The sum HS CC = 200 sēstertiī, but the sum HS ̅c̅c̅ = 200,000 sēstertiī, or 200 sēstertia
Roman Wages
Sampled from the end of the Republic, consider and compare these wages
- A typical legionary was paid 900 sēstertiī per annum
- A day-laborer might make 3 sēstertiī per dīem
Review of Values
aureus = 25 dēnāriī = 100 sēstertiī = 250 assēs
dēnariī = 4 sēstertiī = 10 assēs
sēstertius = 2.5 assēs
as = an ever-decreasing weight of bronze (or, later, of copper)
sēstertium = 1 mīlle sēstertium = 1,000 sēstertiī
The Essential AG: 632
Famous Phrase: crescit amor nummī quantum ipsa pecūnia crēvit
(love of money grows as much as money itself is known)
-Juvenal, Satires, 14.139
roman_currency.pdf
Latin for Addicts 