Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 October 2009
Summary
Although it is so remote in time, the Roman Empire has left a gigantic amount of coin. The amount from relatively modern discoveries must run into millions, even without allowing for finds in earlier centuries which were mostly melted down. Survival on this scale has its own interest, and seems to have a specific explanation, which is discussed in Part II. This book seeks to use coin evidence to study Roman minting policy, monetary organisation, and the monetary economy. For these purposes, co-ordinated analysis of a large amount of data has clear advantages over piecemeal study. Coin hoards of the Principate provide a rich source material whose potentialities as historical evidence are only slowly being exploited, partly because so many hoards remain unpublished. But the material available is now increasing rapidly, thanks partly to discoveries by metal detector, and has grown substantially while this book has been in preparation.
As a preliminary, the early chapters consider the Empire's finances and financial structure. And an initial economic chapter discusses the role of currency, the availability of coin, and monetary inflation. In the main part of the book, the evidence mainly comes from physical survivals of coin. The period examined ends at AD 235, close to the point at which written sources sharply diminish. The invaluable survey by J.-P. Callu takes up from AD 238. Some evidence from the Late Empire is also used, particularly in the discussion of taxation in chapter 4.
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- Money and Government in the Roman Empire , pp. xv - xviiPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1994