Description

• The Roman Republic was a period of time in which Rome was governed by a group of elected officials headed by two Consuls. The Republic began in 509 BC, when Rome's last king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was overthrown by the Roman people. The Republic lasted some 500 years until 27 BC, when the Roman Empire was established. During this period Rome saw a great increase in its military and economic power. It was also the period during which its monetary system developed significantly with the silver denarius as its principal backbone. Other coinage typical of this period included the bronze As or Aes, Sestertius and gold Aureus amongst others.
• The denarius was a standard silver coin used during the Roman Republic and Empire. It was first minted in 211 BC and functioned as the backbone of the roman coinage system - it was used as the standard for payment of military troops. The word "denarius" is derived from the Latin word for "ten", as it originally worth ten asses. Not surprisingly, half a denarius was known as "quinarius", stemming from the word for 5:quinque. Ongoing inflation caused the denarius to be debased and eventually replaced by the double denarius, commonly referred to as "Antoninianus" in the middle of the 3rd century AD. The word "denarius" lies at the root of common modern monetary terms such as the Arabic "Dinar" or Italian word "denaro" and Spanish "dinero" meaning money.