coinage from 338 to 16 B.C. falls into two great periods—the second being marked by the introduction of the denarius system in 269. From 338 to 269 three minor periods may be distinguished, indicating in a striking way the growth of the Roman organization of central Italy. In the period 338-312 Rome consolidated her dominion in Latium and Campania as against her rivals the Samnites. In the second period (312 to c. 290) she finally subdued the Samnites. The system of her coinage is from the beginning based on a double mint, one in Rome and one in Capua, (perhaps also she struck in some other cities in south Italy). The weight-units with which she starts are, for bronze, the Osco-Latin pound of 273 grammes, for silver the didrachm of 7.58 grammes (the latter being 136 of the former and more or less coincident with the Phocaic-Campanian didrachm current in Campania). The relation between silver and bronze was as 1 : 120 or 1 : 125. The bronze unit was the as of 1 pound weight, which was divided into 12 unciae. The reverse type of all bronze denominations was a prow, which alluded to the establishment of Roman sea-power (in 348 she concluded her treaty with Carthage, in 338 she subjugated Antium, her chief rival on the Latin coast, and set up the beaks of the Antiate ships in her forum). The denominations are marked by I (the as), S (semis = ½ as) and for the smaller denominations a number of pellets indicating the value in unciae. On the obverses appear the heads of deities: Janus on the as (see Plate), Jupiter on the semis, Minerva on the triens (4 unciae), Hercules on the quadrans (3 unciae), Mercury on the sextans (2 unciae) and Bellona on the uncia. These heavy coins were all cast at Rome. The Roman mint at Capua, on the other hand, produced a series of silver coins (chiefly didrachms) and small struck bronze change with the inscription ROMANO (see Pl. II. fig. 24). In the second period (312 to c. 290) the mint at Rome continues to issue cast bronze of the same weights and types. But at Capua the mint becomes much more active, being opened for cast bronze as well as struck silver. The Osco-Latin silver standard is superseded by the Roman scruple-standard (1 scruple of 1.137 grammes = 1240 of the pound of 273 grammes). Silver being to bronze as 1 : 120, 2 scruples of silver were equivalent to 1 bronze as of 273 grammes. The first issue of silver in this period consisted of didrachms (six-scruple pieces) with a head of Roma in a Phrygian helmet (alluding to her Trojan foundation), the inscription is ROMANO. Parallel with this is a Capuan issue of libral cast bronze (aes grave) for the use of the Latin territory; the 3-asses (tressis), 2-asses (dupondius) and as all have the head of Roma as on the didrachm, and the reverse type of all denominations is a wheel. (This wheel probably alludes to the completion of the internal routes of communication in Roman territory, especially of the via Appia, which was finished in 312). Finally, to this first issue is attributed one of the quadrilateral ingots generally known as aes signatum; its types are the Roman eagle on a thunderbolt, and a Pegasus with the inscription ROMANOM. These ingots, according to a plausible but not quite convincing conjecture, were probably not used as money, but only in sacral and legal ceremonies—such as dedication to the gods, venditio per aes et libram, &c.—in which the use of aes rude was traditional. But from this time onward each issue of silver and aes grave from the Capuan mint was, it is supposed, accompanied by a new ingot of this kind. Three further issues of silver from the Capuan mint took place in this period, each accompanied by its corresponding aes grave series and ingot. These heavy bronze pieces are all uninscribed; on the silver and small struck bronze ROMA replaces ROMANO. The evidence of hoards shows that in this period there must have been some sort of convention between Rome and the autonomous mints of her allies, permitting the circulation, throughout the bronze-using district under Roman control, of all the coins issued from Rome and Capua, on the one hand, and, on the other, all the aes grave issued by the autonomous mints. In the third sub-period (c. 290-269) the silver coinage of the Capuan mint becomes thoroughly Romanized; its inscription is, of course, ROMA; its types are the typically Roman ones of the youthful head of Janus and Jupiter in his quadriga (these are the nummi quadrigati). There is also a series of struck bronze inscribed ROMA issued from the same mint. The important feature of this period is that bronze is no longer regarded as the most important element in the currency, but is subordinated to silver; the result is that we have what is called the semi-libral reduction, the weight of the as issued from the Roman mint being half the pound. But opinions vary as to whether the pound of which the as represented the half in this period was the old one of 273 grammes or the new Roman pound of 327.45 grammes. As the latter was certainly used for a special series of aes grave issued from the Roman mint for the Latins (see below), we may assume that it was also used for the regular Roman coinage. Now since the ½ ℔ as (163.72 grammes) was equated to 1 scruple of silver (1137 grammes), we get a forced relation of silver to copper of 1 : 144. The as being regarded merely as representing so much silver (1 scruple), so long as the state guaranteed the cover, there was no reason why the as, being merely token money, should not fall in weight; and that it does, sinking by the end of this or beginning of the next period to the weight of 15 of the Oscan or 16 (sextans) of the new Roman pound. We may note the occurrence in this series of the decussis or 10-as piece. Of the two series of aes grave issued in this period for the benefit of the Latin district, both are heavier than in the preceding period; the new Roman pound of 327.45 grammes is used for a series issued from the mint of Rome; a still higher weight (perhaps of 341 grammes) for a series issued from Capua, The relation between silver and copper involved in this standard is not quite clear. In this period also we have ingots corresponding according to the theory above mentioned, to the various series of aes grave; one, with a pair of chickens feeding and a pair of rostra, refers to the augury taken by the Roman imperator before battle. Two other ingots commemorate historical events; one, with a Samnite bull on each side, the subjugation of Rome's great rival; the other, with an elephant and a pig, the alleged rout of Pyrrhus's elephants by the grunting of swine at Asculum in 278.
After the introduction in 269 B.C. of the silver denarius (piece of 10 asses, marked X, Pl. II. fig. 25) with its half (the quinarius, V) and its quarter (the sestertius, IIS), no changes of obviously great economic importance take place in the coinage until near the close of the republican period. Although it is not true, as is sometimes stated, that the coinage of silver at all local mints in south Italy, except the Bruttian, came to a close with the introduction of the denarius, yet the new Roman coin entirely dominated the currency from the first. Many mints, however, continued to issue bronze coinage down to 89 B.C., and a Roman coinage in various metals is also attributed to certain local mints, such as Croton and Hatria; not to mention the Roman issues which still continued to be made from Capua, though in a less degree than before. At Rome itself the mint was now localized in the temple of Juno Moneta, who probably received her surname from, rather than gave it to, money. The denarius, being equivalent to 10 asses, and weighing 4.55 grammes, would at the rate of 1 : 120 (which was now restored) be equivalent to 546 grammes of bronze. The as of the time must therefore have been the one weighing 54.6 grammes, that is 15 of the Oscan pound of 273 grammes, or 16 (sextans) of the Attic-Roman pound of 327.45 grammes. In other words, the legally recognized as of this period was the as of the sextantal reduction. The bronze coins of this reduction are, like the silver, struck, not cast; the process of striking had already been introduced for the lower denominations of bronze in the previous period. About 241 B.C. the weight of the denarius, having sunk under the stress of the first Punic war, was fixed at 3.90 grammes. Possibly the reduction of the as to the weight of an uncia, which Pliny attributes to the time of the Hannibalian crisis, may really have taken place at the same time. In 228 B.C. (some critics prefer to say nearly forty years earlier) a new silver extra-Roman coin, the victoriatus, was introduced. It replaced the old Campanian drachm and, wherever it may have been minted, was meant for circulation outside Rome. The quinarius and sestertius at the same time disappeared from the regular coinage, but
