should be made those of a sextans in weight, by means of which when payments began to be made, both the Roman people would be freed from debt, and private persons, to whom a debt had to be paid by the state, would not suffer much loss[1]." Varro likewise is worth hearing: "In the case of silver the term nummi is used: that is borrowed from the Sicilians. Denarii (were so named) because they were worth ten (coins) of bronze each, quinarii because they were worth five each, sestertius, because a half was added to two (for the ancient sestertius was a dupondius and a semis). The tenth part of a denarius nummus is a libella, because it was worth a libra of bronze in weight, and being made of silver was small. The sembella is half the libella, just as the semis is of the as. Teruncius is from tres unciae; as this is the fourth part of the libella so the quadrans is the fourth part of the as."
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Fig. 58. Sextans (Aes Grave). (The two globules mark the value.)
As so much difficulty and controversy surround the various questions connected with the beginnings of Roman currency, I have thought it best to give at full length the scanty data afforded by the ancient authorities. Let us now state the principal facts revealed by those extracts. (1) The Romans in the Regal epoch employed aes rude, but according to the testimony of Timaeus (an Italian Greek historian who wrote about B.C. 300), they had already before the days of the Republic stamped bronze with figures of cattle. (2) Silver was first coined five years before the beginning of the First Punic war: (3) Some time during that war the as was reduced from a pound to two ounces; (4) In the Second Punic war under like circumstances the as was reduced from two ounces to one ounce; (5) The denarius when first struck represented ten
- ↑ V. 173 Müller.
