Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 1 - The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution

 The Roman Republic

vation.The geographer Strabo, for instance, repeatedly says that the Gauls
have now (under Augustus) given upwarand taken to agriculture.^19 That
doesindeedsuggestlargechanges;butweknowboththattheGaulsalready
practisedagricultureandthattherewasawholeseriesofrevoltsdowntothe
s..Sohowmuchissuchageneralizationworth?
In the case of Gaul, however,we can gain some elements of an answer
fromarchaeology,andespeciallynumismatics.IncentralGaulamarkedphase
of urbanization had been under way since the early first century..The
Galliccommunities—whichCaesarcallscivitatesandwhichitismisleading
tocall‘‘tribes’’^20 —mintedcoinsinvariouscombinationsofgold,silver,and
bronzeortin-copperalloy.Inthesthemintingofprecious-metalcoin-
agegreatlyincreased,apparentlyforthepaymentoftroops.Afterwardsgold
coinsceased,andsilverwasgreatlyreduced.Twoexplanationsareoffered:
firstly, silver, and even more gold, was soaked up by indemnities paid to
RomeaftertheconquestbyCaesarinthes;secondly,troopswerenolonger
needed,sopreciousmetalcoinagewasnolongerstrucktopaythem.Inthe
urbanized central areas Celtic bronze coins, in small denominations, con-
tinuedtobeminted,implyingthattheywereindailyuse.Butspecifically
RomancoinsarehardlyfoundinthecentralpartofGauluntilthemiddleof
thefirstcentury..Wheretheywereinusewasinthenorth-east,where
thelegionswerestationed.^21
Hereatleastwehavesignificantevidence,whichhashowevertobeinter-
pretedinthelightoflarge-scalehypothesesbothaboutthenatureofRoman
rule,andthestructureofthelocalcommunities.WecanalsoseeGallicsol-
diers,mainlycavalry,servingallovertheMediterraneanintheperiodofthe
civil wars, in a varietyof Roman forces,with Juba I in Africa and notably
with Cleopatra; these last were transferred by Octavian to King Herod of
Judaea in .., and a Gallic unit was still in his servicewhen he died in
..^22 Againwecannottellwhateffects,ifany,thisserviceabroadhadon

. Strabo,,,();,();,–(–);,();,(–).
. SoJ.Harmand,‘‘LaGauleindépendanteetlaconquête,’’inC.Nicolet,ed.,Rome et
la conquête du monde méditerranéenII(–),.
. D.Nash,‘‘Plusçachange...:CurrencyinCentralGaulfromJuliusCaesartoNero,’’
in R. A. G. Carson and C. M. Kraay, eds.,Scripta Nummaria Romana: Essays Presented to
Humphrey Sutherland(),–.Forthebackground,seeD.Nash,Settlement and Coinage
in Central Gaul,c. – B.C.,vols.(BARSupp.ser.,).
. E.g.,Suetonius,DJ(VAlauda);Caesar,BC,,;,,;,,;,–;[Caesar],
B. Alex.,;[Caesar],B. Afr.,;,–;;Appian,BC,/,and,/.ForJuba
I’s,SpanishandGalliccavalry,seeCaesar,BC,,.ForOctavian’stransferof