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Silver Denarius (18mm 3.02g) Struck A.D. 77-78 Rome Obv: CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG Laureate bust right Rev: IMP XIX Modius with ears of corn (grain) RIC II 110 |
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This is a silver coin called a denarius. It was stamped out of a hot piece of metal in Rome about two thousand years ago, during the years AD 77 or 78. On one side, you can see a picture of a man’s head. His name was Vespasian. He was the Emperor of Rome, which meant he was the boss of just about everything that mattered in that part of the world. If you look closely at his face, he does not look like a movie star. He looks like a tired, tough old tax collector with a wrinkled neck, because that is pretty much what he was. Before Vespasian took over, Rome had a very fancy, very crazy emperor named Nero. Nero liked to play the lyre and build giant golden houses, and he eventually made such a mess of things that he had to cut his own throat. After that, four different guys tried to be emperor in a single year. They all marched armies around and stabbed each other until everybody was completely exhausted. Then came Vespasian. He wasn’t royalty. He was a mule-breeder's grandson who knew how to balance a budget. He told the Romans that the party was over and that it was time to pay their taxes. He even put a tax on public toilets. When his own son complained that tax money from toilets smelled bad, Vespasian held a silver coin just like this one under his son's nose and said, "Pecunia non olet." That means: Money doesn't smell. So it goes. If you flip the coin over, you won't see a picture of a god with lightning bolts or a fierce eagle. You see a thing called a modius. A modius was nothing more than a big measuring bucket used for counting out grain. Sticking out of the top of the bucket are several ears of corn. To the ancient Romans, a bucket of grain was the most beautiful thing in the world. Rome was a giant city full of hundreds of thousands of people who didn't grow their own food. If the grain ships from Egypt were late, the people got hungry. When the people got hungry, they started burning things down. By putting a measuring bucket full of grain on his money, Vespasian was telling everybody: "Look. I am keeping the grocery stores stocked. The breakfast arrives on time. Relax." It worked, too. Vespasian cleaned up Nero's mess, started building the big stadium we call the Colosseum, and actually died of old age in his own bed. Right before he died, he joked, "Oh dear, I think I'm turning into a god." He wasn't a god, of course. He was just a man on a little piece of silver that outlived him by two millennia. And so it goes. |
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