VOL. LXl.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIOKS. 197 



this, when they were pressed by Hannibal, Quintus Fabius Maximus being 

 dictator [about the year 537], the as was reduced to one ounce, and the silver 

 denarius made to pass for ] 6 asses; the quinarius, for 8; and the sesterce 4. 

 And the republic gained one halfs [on the copper money] . But in the pay of 

 the army, the soldier also received a silver denarius for 1 asses. The stamp of 

 the silver money was a chariot and a pair, or a chariot and 4 horses; whence 

 they were called bigati anrl quadrigati. The as was soon after reduced to half an 



ounce, by the Papirian law. What is now called the victoriat, was coined by 



the Clodian law; before which, it was imported from Illyricum as merchandize: 

 its stamp is a victory, whence it takes its name. The gold money was coined 62 

 years after the silver, and the scruple passed for 20 sesterces, which, as the sesterce 

 was reckoned at that time [2^- asses], made the pound of gold worth QOO silver 

 denarii [of l6 asses each]. It was afterwards thought proper to coin 40 pieces 

 out of the pound of gold. And our Princes have, by degrees, diminished their 

 weight to 45 in the pound." 



The denarii now remaining are of various kinds. The most ancient are the 

 bigati and quadrigati, having on one side the head of a woman in a helmet, with 

 the inscription roma, and the mark of the denarius x or \, and some few xvi, 

 and a biga or quadriga on the other. The next to these in antiquity have the 

 head of Roma, or some other deity, on one side, and on the reverse, the name_ 

 of the mintmaster, or mintmasters, with historical or emblematical figures 

 Many of these have the x or -^ , which continued to be the mark of the denarius 

 long after it passed for l6 asses; whence some have concluded that it was reduced 

 again to 10 asses, contrary to the express testimony of Vitruvius; and Tacitus tells us 

 that the mutinous legions in Pannonia demanded, to have their pay raised from 

 10 asses, to a denarius. A 3d sort has the head of a consul or a general 

 on one side, with an historical or emblematical reverse. Few, if any, of these 

 have the mark x or ^ on them. These 3 sorts are called consular denarii, as 

 having been struck during the republican government by consuls. The imperial 

 denarii have commonly the head of the reigning emperor, with his name and 

 titles on one side, and some emblematical figures on the reverse, with a suitable 

 inscription. 



The Romans coined their first gold money by the scruple, as appears from 

 Pliny's account, which is confirmed by the coins; for he tells us the scruple 

 passed for 20 sesterces, and the rare gold coins now remaining with the numerals 

 XX, and xxxx, which answer to the weight of 1, and 2 ancient Roman 

 scruples. These have the head of Mars on one side, with the numeral letters 

 denotmg their value, and, on the reverse, an eagle standing on a thunderbolt. 

 The latter coins of this scrupular standard are like the denarii of the age in 

 which they were struck ; as was the gold of the different standards that succeeded it. 



The Romans did not use the denarius for a weight, as the Greeks did their 



