List of Roman moneyers during the Republic

During the Roman Republic, moneyers were called ''tresviri aere argento auro flando feriundo'', literally "three men for casting (and) striking bronze, silver (and) gold (coins)". This was a board of the college of the ''vigintiviri'', or Board of twenty (later briefly the Board of twenty-six), '' vigintisexviri''. The title was abbreviated III. VIR. AAAFF. or even III. VIR. A.P.F. (''tresviri ad pecuniam feriundam'') on the coinage itself. These men were collectively known as the ''tresviri monetales'' or sometimes, less correctly, as the ''triumviri monetales''. The singular is ''triumvir monetalis''. In English, they are most correctly called mint magistrates, since 'moneyers' may imply that they actually struck the coins themselves.

In the early times of the Republic, there are few records of any officers who were charged with the superintendence of the mint, and there is little respecting the introduction of such officers apart from a very vague statement from Pomponius. It was thought by Niebuhr that they were introduced at the time when the Romans first began to coin silver, in 269 BC, but modern authors consider this too precise a reading of Pomponius. It is known that a college of three was in existence c. 150 BC. A fourth magistrate was briefly added by Julius Caesar in 44 BC during a time when the mint output was particularly large (in preparation for a war against Parthia).

These magistrates were responsible for the production of the Roman coinage. They were not simple mint workers (''monetarii''), they were officials who controlled the process, including the design on the coins themselves. Membership in the vigintisexvirate was for most of them the first step on the ''cursus honorum'', the age when the post could be held appears to have been approximately 30, although some held it at a greater age and there is some evidence that the position was appointed rather than elected.

Some coins appear to have been special issues bearing the legend S C or EX S. C. (''ex senatus consulto''). Some of these special issues do not bear the signature of a '' triumvir monetalis'', but the inscription CVR. X. FL. i. e. ''curator denariorum flandorum'', or are signed by praetors (P), aediles (CVR AED), or quaestors (Q). During the Roman Empire, this appears on the bronze coinage only (except during the first few years of hero's reign, when it is also found on the precious metal coinage), and it suggests that although the emperor kept the minting of gold and silver coins under his own authority, the Senate, as a sop to its pride, was allowed to retain nominal authority over bronze coinage.

In any case, the magistrate's control of the legend on the coinage lent itself to the production of coins often containing propagandistic political messaging. This served as self-advertising to further the potential political careers of the moneyers themselves, their families or that of their patrons.Luce, "Political Propaganda on Roman Republican Coins".

List of moneyers

:''This article incorporates text from Smith 1875, which is in the public domain.''

Legend:

:RRC #: Designation in Michael Crawford's ''Roman Republic Coinage'' (1974)
:Babelon #: Designation in Ernest Babelon's ''Monnaies de la Republique Romaine'' (1885)
:Career highlight: Highest known office held by moneyer
:Leg.: Legate
:Tr. Pl.: Tribune of the plebs
:Q.: Quaestor
:Pr.: Praetor
:Propr.: Propraetor
:Cos: Consul
:Cos.Suff: Suffect consul
:Cos desig.: Consul designate
:Procos.: Proconsul
:Pont.: Pontiff
:Rex.Sacr.; '' Rex Sacrorum''
:Praef: Prefect

211-188 BC: First Denarii to the Peace of Apamea

188-146 BC: Peace of Apamea - Sack of Carthage and Corinth

145-106 BC: To Marius' first consulate

106-92 BC: Marius' consulates to the Social War

92-79 BC: Social war through Sulla's dictatorship

78-59 BC: Pompey, Lepidus to Caesar's first consulship

58-49 BC: Caesar in Gaul

49-44 BC: Crossing the Rubicon to the Ides of March

44-42 BC: From the Ides of March to Philippi

42-31 BC: Philippi to Actium

See also

* List of Roman consuls

References

Bibliography

* Babelon, Ernest (1885-6). ''Description historique et chronologique des monnaies de la république romaine'', 2 Volumes.
* Broughton, T. Robert S. (1951). ''The Magistrates of the Roman Republic'', American Philological Association, 3 Volumes. Volume I (''509 B.C. - 100 B.C.'') . Volume II (''99 B.C. - 31 B.C.'') Philological Monographs Number XV, 1952. Volume III (''Supplement'') .
* Burnett, Andrew (1977). "The Authority to Coin in the Late Republic and Early Empire", ''Numismatic Chronicle'', Seventh Series 17 pp. 37–63.
* Burnett, Andrew (1987). ''Coinage in the Roman World'', Seaby.
* Crawford, Michael H. (1974). ''Roman Republican Coinage'', Cambridge University Press, 2 Volumes.
* Hamilton, Charles D. (1969),''The Tresviri Monetales and the Republican Cursus Honorum'', Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, 100 pp 181–199.
* Harlan, Michael (1996). ''Roman Republican Moneyers and their Coins 63 BC-49 BC'', Trafalgar Square Publishing. {
* Hornblower, Simon & Spaworth, Antony (1999). ''The Oxford Classical Dictionary.'' Third Edition.
* Melville Jones, John R., (1990), ''A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins'', Seaby.
* Luce, T.J. (1968). "Political Propaganda on Roman Republican Coins: Circa 92-82 B. C.", ''American Journal of Archaeology'' 72(1), pp. 25–39.
* Sear, David R. (1998). ''The History and Coinage of the Roman Imperators 49-27 B.C.'', Spink & Son.
* Smith, William (1875). ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'', John Murray, London.
* Stevenson, Seth William (1889). ''A Dictionary of Roman Coins, Republican and Imperial'', George Bell and Sons, London.
* Wiseman, T.P. (1971). ''New Men in the Roman Senate 139 B.C. - A.D. 14'', Oxford University Press, {{ISBN, 1-59740-224-9

Lists of office-holders in ancient Rome
Economy of ancient Rome
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