It is said all roads lead to Rome. The aphorism applies to the history of coinage and collecting ancient coins. Rome did not invent money, but its influence on money persists. Gareth Harney’s new book shows this influence using Rome’s coins, telling Rome’s history through the coins it issued. They remain collectible items today.
As Harney shows, Rome’s coins were more than just tokens of exchange. They served as mass media, “spreading ideas, beliefs, news, and propaganda” throughout the Roman Empire. The coins Rome minted reflected the image the Roman government wished to project: both as a republic and as an empire. They revealed Rome’s myths, foundational legends, and prejudices.
While the Empire existed, coins spread the face of the emperor and signaled what he viewed as important. Was victory the chief priority? Coins were stamped with gods or goddesses holding symbols of victory. Peace and plenty? A goddess of peace holding a cornucopia. Was there some recent accomplishment? The colosseum or a monument would appear.
Harney traces Rome’s rise and fall over its 800-year history through its coins. He bookends his story with coins depicting Romulus and Remus sucking from a wolf. The first shows Rome’s beginning on a silver didrachm, imitating Greek coinage. The last is a sixth-century coin struck by a Gothic king in Italy, a century after Western Rome’s collapse. In between, he shows how Rome’s coinage proclaimed its ascent, zenith, and end.
Harney provides readers with a highly readable history of Rome. In a single volume, he touches on the highlights of Roman history, its triumphs and failures, and the lives of its citizens. He also shows how the Roman economy worked. All of this is held together with the thread of its evolving coinage.
“A History of Ancient Rome in Twelve Coins” is a book that will fascinate those interested in Rome, coin collectors, or simply those seeking an absorbing story.
