The ''victoriatus'' was a

silver coin Silver coins are one of the oldest mass-produced form of coinage. Silver has been used as a coinage metal since the times of the Greeks; their silver drachmas were popular trade coins. The ancient Persians used silver coins between 612–330 B ...

issued during the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

from about 221 BC to 170 BC. The obverse of the coin featured the bust of

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

and the reverse featured

Victory The term victory (from ) originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes a strategic vi ...

placing a wreath upon a trophy with the inscription "ROMA" in exergue. The name ''victoriatus'' is an ancient term, attested by several contemporary texts and inscriptions. The coin was known as a ''tropaikon'' (τροπαικον, due to the trophy on the reverse) among

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

speakers. The coin originally weighed about 3.4

gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined in 1795 as "the absolute Mass versus weight, weight of a volume ...

s (3 scruples), meaning that it was half the value of the ''

quadrigatus The quadrigatus was a medium-sized silver coin produced by the Roman Republic during the 3rd century BC. The obverse featured a young janiform bust and the reverse featured Victory driving a quadriga (four-horse chariot), giving the coin its Roma ...

'', a coin weighing 6 scruples that was by this time no longer produced. The ''victoriatus'' was made of a more debased silver than the ''

denarius The ''denarius'' (; : ''dēnāriī'', ) was the standard Ancient Rome, Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the ''antoninianus''. It cont ...

'', which was introduced at about the same time. Hoard evidence indicates that the coin circulated in southern Italy and later Gaul, indicating that the coin was intended as a replacement for the

drachma Drachma may refer to: * Ancient drachma, an ancient Greek currency * Modern drachma The drachma ( ) was the official currency of modern Greece from 1832 until the launch of the euro in 2001. First modern drachma The drachma was reintroduce ...

or half- nomos instead of as part of the normal Roman coin system. When first issued the ''victoriatus'' had a value of about 3/4 of a ''denarius'', however when the '' quinarius'' was reintroduced in 101 BC with a similar type, it was valued at 1/2 a ''denarius''. This indicates that ''victoriati'' that were still in circulation at this time were worn and considered to be worth only half a ''denarius''. The reintroduced ''quinarius'' was produced mainly for Cisalpine Gaul, where the ''victoriatus'' and its imitations were popular. The reintroduced ''quinarius'' may have continued to be called a ''victoriatus'', although there is no written evidence of this. The ''victoriati'' abruptly cease to be deposited in Italian hoards in the mid-second century BC, probably indicating that they were officially withdrawn from circulation. The term ''victoriatus'' can still be found today in the family name Vettorato in the

province of Venice The province of Venice () was a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital was the city of Venice. It had an area of 2,467 km2, and a total population of 836,916 (2021). The province became the Metropolitan City of Venice by 1 Janu ...

, or Greekized to Vittoratos / Vitoratos in

Kefalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia (), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallonia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th-largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It is also a separate regio ...

References

Literature

* *

Michael Crawford Michael Patrick Smith (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English actor, comedian and singer. Crawford is best known for playing the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom '' Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'', Cornel ...

''Roman Republican coinage'' (London: Cambridge University Press, 1974) * John Melville Jones, ''A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins'', London 1990.

External links

Coins of ancient Rome {{AncientRome-stub 221 BC

See also

References

Literature

External links