DEN 
a Sibyl Barthelot tenet unam acram, & 
terre in eodem tenemeuto ange. 
RII, in Aatiguil ,a general term for any fort of 
_pecunia numerata, or ready money. ch. Antiq. 320. 
Dewar de Caritate, cuftomary oS made to cathe- 
1e parith 
5 denariates 
Gat lar. Abb. Giafton 
DENARIUS, the Roman penny ; a filver coin, equiva- 
lent ne from fix to eight-pence half-penny fterling, See 
@IN 
e Romans having, for a long time, ufed brafs money, 
which they call as, quafi es ; or ibra and pondo, becaufe it 
was a pound weight; beganin the year of Rome 
269 years B.C. to coin filver ; er aed firft the denarius, 
which was marked with the letter X, becaufe it is worth 
: D ae eg its name, and divided into two quinaril, 
arke » which were fubdivided into two felftertia, 
caveat a thefe three letters IIS. The as was then o 
ounces, and allowing, which was probably the cafe, that thefe 
large denarii of go grains at a medium, are of the o coinage, 
the proportion of copper to wee was as I to 160. 
wards, when the denarius was of ata aide: and 
the as of 2 ounces, copper was il to jue as 1to 160; but 
when the as fell to only an ounce, copper was,to filver as 1 
“o 
mt 
to 80; a it aks Ate - ounce, and 16 went to 
the denarius, it was to 6 » at which rate it remained. 
ith u per to *ilver is in coinage 1 to 403 but in 
aGual pasa 1 to 72. The denarius was worth pale -pence 
the quinarius oe hay and the Peale 
uae flver or aia) hae 7 Afterwards, about t 
r 579, or 175 Y r se the as fell to half an 
pice the filver denariue was made to 
of our m 
denarius continued at this value ull the 
. Under Caracaila, or probably under his 
, Carseaila, and his fucceffors, is one-third SS Siar ae 
ufual one, and it may be reafonably concluded that i 
one-third more value ; and was worth 6 b brals felteti, while 
the fil 
filver Philip, ae ee Philip having become a familiar ate 
lation for any ¢ . Th fir began ¢ 
_termed minuti, and argentei Philippi a ane the like, to 
exprefs their being {maller than the others. The fir argen- 
teus is worth nearly one fhilling ferling. 
From the time that Caracalla ftruck the a denarius, 
both it and the a all had been leffening by degrees; till 
after Gordian ITI, the latter totally anes, and the large 
alone remained. This, in the time of Gallienus, was the 
fole denarius of filver, and fo h diminifhed, ag only to 
ual the minutus, or fi » of enone But Gallienus 
s copper wafhed with 
fize of the jena. intend of the feftertii, 
the argenteus, though reduced more than a third in fize, bore 
6 denarii ere, its old itandard of /e erhi Writers of the 
DEN 
sae and after, fay, that the denarius, or argenteus, Was of 
60 affaria ; hence it fol'ows that each denarius ereus 
and ere) its name from that Srein tues e, as well as its 
being of the fize of the filver denarius, Thefe affaria are 
of the fize of the argentei; and fhew that copper retained 
its old proportion to filver ‘of about 1 to 60. e denarit 
or argentei continued to be coined in the time of Cosine 
tine I., and were th co pea in currency. As 
they had been rated at 100 to the pound of le in 2 
they began to be called inane or hundr 
then diminifhed very falt in fize ; thofe of Contantne L. and 
L., Conftans, and Conftantiue weigh 5° grat ° 
thofe of Julian IT., Jovian, a — 
Mana till Juftinian, 30 to 
ceafed, the denarii were i om 15 
The a which was fubltituted oe “Conltantine in 
the ro the denarius, attends the denarius in propor- 
cy dete of fize. See 
e moft ancient denarii e the 
woman in a helmet, with the infcription roma, and t 
mark of the denarius X or xX, and fome few xvi, anda 
biga or quadriga on the other; whence they are denomi- 
nated bigatiand quadrigati. The next to thefe in antiquity, 
have the head of Roma, or fome other deity, on one fide, 
and on the reverfe the name of the mint-mafter, with hiflori- 
cal oremblematical figures. Many of thefe have the mark ¥ 
or XX, which remained long after the denarius paffed for 16 
affes. A third fort have the head of a conful or general on 
one fide, with an hiftorical or emblematical reverfe: few of 
thefe have the mark X or XN, uponthem. Thefe three 
forts are called confular sedi aap they were ees 
nt by confuls. The 
d of the mance a 
ome em- 
,as t 
ee eck sigicans: rare 
to Rome, and finding the two coins eee equal, prefcribed 
by it, as they had been ufed to do by the drachm in pheir 
own country. 
* We are informed both by Celfus and Aes that eighty- 
four denarii were coined out of the d of filver; and 
therefore by determining the true aes the Roman 
pound, we fhal Me that of the denarius, which de epended 
upon it. But the Roman pound in tale exceeded ok in like 
manner a cur aia in tale falls thort of our pound in 
weight 5; the Roman pound in tale confilted of 100 aaa 
Celfus de “Metin lib. v. cap. 17. “— Nat. Hift. lib. 
XXXL, 
e Ro- 
many imper 
Ors 5 
ial dena at from Au ugoftus ta: time 
to Vefpafian they continually a 
Imoft feaeaie fi from 
being the feventh ‘aos Ser runners ounce, they came now 
to be the eighth part ; ae ety-fix were coined out of the 
Reman libra, whereas cade the confuls they coined 3 oul 
eight 
