Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 2 - Government, Society, and Culture in the Roman Empire

Cash Distributions in Rome 93

Butletusadmitthatwiththepassageoftimetheemperorswereprogres-
sivelymoreinapositiontoexploit‘‘imperial’’minesdirectlyandtoacquire
stocksofmetalfromthem.Howweretheorestransportedfromthemines
to be refined and then minted? Was it by means of wagons moving along
theroads?Inthatcase,whoprotectedsuchwagonsagainstrobbers?Orwas
it,ifgeographypermitted,byboat?
As regards the western part of the Empire in the period from the first
tothethirdcentury,thereisatleastonequestionwhichcanbeanswered.
ThegoalofanysuchprocessoftransportmusthavebeenRomeitself.For
itseemscertainthatafterthereignofNerothesolemint(ormints)which
producedcoinsingoldandsilverfortheRomanWestwas(orwere)situated
inRome.^14
Therefore, the monetary system of the Empire depended absolutelyon
thearrivalinRomeofthenecessarystocksofmetal.Butitdoesnotfollow
fromthatthatwhatwasconcernedwasalwaysnewlyminedore,ormetal
newly refined from ore.There was another possibility, the re-minting of
alreadyexistingcoinswhichhadarrivedinRomeintheformoftaxes.But
thatpossibilityraisesanevenmoredifficultquestion.Isittruethatalarge
partofthetaxationrevenueoftheEmpireactuallywastransportedtoRome
intheformofcoin?Letusrecallthe‘‘model’’ofthefinancesoftheEmpire
offeredbyKeithHopkins.^15 Themodelisasfollows.The50millioninhabi-
tantsoftheEmpirepaidsome10percentofthe‘‘grossnationalproduct’’in
taxes.Thesetaxesweretransportedfromthericherprovincestothepoorer
oneswhere(onthewhole)thearmywasstationed,thusproducingasortof
integratedinter-regionalmarket,orsystemofcirculation.
Hopkins has nothing to say about the means by which so enormous a
quantityofcoinscouldhavebeentransported.Ifwefollowhiscalculations,
wearetalkingofanannualrevenueofsome824millionsestertii,or206mil-
lion denarii. If we think of denarii, the total weight of silver would have
been of the order of 775,000 kilograms.^16 To transport such a quantity all

14. See,e.g.,J.P.C.Kent,‘‘TheMonetarySystem,’’inJ.Wacher,ed.,TheRomanWorldII
    (1987),568–85.Itmustbeadmittedthatweunderstandverylittleabouttheactualworking
    ofthemintatRome.SeeR.A.G.Carson,‘‘SystemandProductintheRomanMint,’’in
    R.A.G.CarsonandC.H.V.Sutherland,eds.,Essays in Roman Coinage Presented to Harold
    Mattingly(1956),227–39;M.Peachin,‘‘TheProcuratorMonetae,’’Numis. Chron.146(1986):
    94–106.


15. K.Hopkins,‘‘TaxesandTradeintheRomanEmpire(200bc–ad400),’’JRS70(1980):
    101–25.


16. AccordingtoKent(n.14),570,thedenariusweighedonaverage3.76grams.