The libral standard compares the weight of
coins to the bronze ''
as'', which originally weighed one
Roman pound, but decreased over time to 1/2 pound (the semi-libral standard). It is often used in discussions of ancient cast coinage of central Italy, especially
Etruscan coins and
Roman Republican coinage. The adjective ''libral'' is related to ''libra'', the
Ancient Roman
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
unit of weight, and is not related to the word ''
liberal''.
The libral standard began with the era of the so-called
aes grave (heavy bronze) cast coinage of Rome, from circa 280 BC, where one ''as'' weighed one Roman pound (
libra), or twelve Roman ounces (
unciae). This changed when the weight of the aes grave was decreased to approximately 10 unciae (the "light libral standard") circa 265-217 BC, remaining at that level until about 217 BC. It then suddenly fell to 6 unciae (the "semi-libral standard") around the start of the second Punic war in about 217 BC, before finally falling still further until about 141 BC.
[Crawford 1974:131-236]
The libral/semi-libral standards were followed by the triental standards and the sextantal standard.
Many Greek city states (colonies) were founded on the Italian peninsula and Sicily during this time period; these are collectively referred to as
Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; these re ...
. The coinage of those city-states is more closely related to the rest of the ancient Greek world (which included many colonies along the
Mediterranean and
Black Sea coasts), and generally has no relationship to the Etruscan/Roman units.
Notes
References
* Crawford, Michael H. (1974). ''Roman Republican Coinage'', Cambridge University Press, 2 Volumes.
Coins
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