![]() 9 The denarius began to undergo slow debasement toward the end of the republican period. It formed the backbone of Roman currency throughout the Roman Republic and the early Empire. At the time of the Third Servile War, a private legionary was paid approximately 40 denarii three times a year (minus deductions for food and other expenses), although the stated salary was 450 sesterces per year. The denarius contained an average 4.5 grams, or 172 of a Roman pound, of silver, and was at first tariffed at ten asses, hence its name, which means 'tenner'. The most significant new coin was the denarius, a silver coin weighing 4.5 grams (72 to the Roman pound) that would continue to be minted into the late third century CE. ![]() While the denarius circulated far more widely, the sesterce was the more common unit of accounting. In total 1753 silver coins were found, and they are all Roman denarii. The denarius was worth four sesterces throughout the Republic. By the time of the Third Servile War, the denarius was the primary coin of the Roman Republic, with a purchasing power, measured in terms of staples such as bread and wine of approximately £12 or $20 in 2010 currency. As Roman trade with the Greek cities to the east and south increased through the mid-third century B.C., the Romans found themselves in need of a counterpart to the silver Greek drachma, and the Romans began striking the coin which became known as the denarius. The denarius (meaning "containing ten") was a silver coin worth at first ten, then, by the time of the Third Servile War, sixteen, of the bronze as coins which were the original Roman currency. ![]() One of the coins of the Roman monetary system. This coin, so remarkable even in antiquity that it was mentioned by the Roman historian Dio Cassius (150235 CE), commemorates the assassination of Gaius. ![]()
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