92 The Imperial Government
ones,wereontheonehandthatofbeingbroughttothemilitarycampsfor
distribution to the soldiers asstipendium(pay)ordonativum(largesse), and
on the other that of being distributed incongiariato the Roman plebs. In
myview,thislatterfunctionremainsmoremysteriousthanpeoplehavebe-
lieved.
It has to be admitted that when I begin to read the major numismatic
collections,andeventheintroductionstoRomancoinagedesignedforstu-
dents,suchastheexcellentonepublishedbyAndrewBurnett,^11 Ifindmyself
stillquiteconfused.Ifindmyself inaworldwhichIunderstandonlyvery
partially,andinwhich,asitseems,noonedirectstheirenergiestoclarifying
theparticularquestionswhichinterestme.The‘‘berchemian’’willtoenvis-
ageconcretelythevariousaspectsoftheRomanmonetarysystemseemsto
belargelyabsent.
Letmegiveoneexample.Inordertomintitscoins,thestate,obviously
enough,hadtoprocurevastquantitiesofgold,silver,copper,orotherbase
metals.How?Theanswerisnotasclearasonemightsuppose.Wasitperhaps
bythedirectexploitationofimperialmines?Perhaps,incertaincases.
WecouldthinkofthecopperminesatPhaeno(whichinthefourthcen-
turylaywithinthebordersof Palaestina,andarenowwithinthoseofJor-
dan).Theywereexploitedbythestateintheearlyfourthcenturyandwere
usedforthedetentionofChristianmartyrswhowereputtoforcedlabour.^12
Butdidthestateutilisethecopperforitsownminting?Theanswerisnot
certain.Inthesecondcenturyatanyrate,weknowthattheimperialmines
inLusitaniahadbeenexploitedbyleasingthemouttocontractorsagainsta
paymentincash;evenasregardsthe50percentoftheorewhichthestate
claimed,itseemsthatthestateinpracticetookitsshareincash.^13 Andifwe
gofurtherback,tothebeginningsoftheimperialsystem,thereisnorea-
sontothinkthat,underAugustus,forexample,acategoryofimperialmines
existed.Fromwhere,andthroughwhatmeans,didAugustus,ortheRoman
stateof histime,obtainthesilverwhichwasrequiredformintingdenarii?
Idonotknow.And,sofarasIknow,thequestionhasnotbeenasked.
- A.Burnett,Coinage in the RomanWorld(1987).NotealsonowC.J.Howgego,Ancient
History from Coins(1995). - Ontheexploitationofthesemines,andonthecondemnedChristianswhoworked
there,seeF.Millar,‘‘CondemnationtoHardLabourintheRomanEmpire,fromtheJulio-
ClaudianstoConstantine,’’Papers of the British School at Rome52(1984):124–47,esp.140–41
(chapter7inthisvolume). - See esp. C. Domergue,La mine antique d’Aljustrel (Portugal) et les tables de bronze de
Vipasca(extraitdeConimbriga22,1983).