When quantification makes a difference: a preliminary attempt to arrange early victoriati by extensive die studies

Abstract

In this paper we present the results of ten years of die studies on the Roman silver coinage of the Second Punic War. For the first time a correspondence between coinage production and War costs is attempted. A special focus is placed on the victoriatus. In fact the preliminary results of the ongoing Victoriatus Project point to a much larger size of this denomination than believed so far. This has a direct impact also on the way this coinage has to be regarded and its role during the War, which will be discussed with some detail in the paper.