Two Random Denarii, Julius Caesar, Titus

According to Thomas Burns (2003) in "Rome and the Barbarians, 100 B.C.-A.D. 400", "Shifts of carefully supervised slaves were set to the task of striking and engraving coins in Roman mints." (P. 105).

 

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I believe it, but does he cite a contemporary source for that information, or some sort of archaeological evidence?

 

To be fair they probably were better fed and taken care of than your average farmer for the time. I would imagine competent engravers and mint workers were highly valued.

I'm a bit surprised though because during Emperor Aurelian's triumph in Rome, the mint workers who had grown accustomed to pocketing some silver from the coins, went into revolt. From the historical passage it sounds like they had little to no supervision and were left to their own devices.
I do know that under Diocletian the mints were strictly regulated( for the time) and placed under direct supervision of an Imperial official who reported to the Prefect of the Diocese, who himself was appointed by the Emperor.

 

Suetonius said that Julius Caesar "...appointed special slaves over the mints and public revenues". (Suetonius as cited in "A Dictionary of Roman Coins, Republican and Imperial" by Charles Roach Smith (Ed) 1889, P. 817)

 

Very interesting! I did know that Emperor Claudius appointed recently minted (pun intended) freedmen to high positions in the government. That always ticked the Patricians off something fierce.
I wonder if the Romans continued to use slaves in the mints during the crisis of the third century and beyond?

 

Sorry, I do not know the answer to that one. I do know, however, that it would make a very interesting PhD dissertation. Can you imagine "The history of the roles of slaves in Roman mints"?

 

Can you imagine how difficult it would be to find the information necessary for such a dissertation? However, having read (or tried to read) my son's PhD dissertation entitled "Protest in the Postcommunist Context: A Comparative Study of Protest Behavior in Postcommunist European and Advanced Industrial Societies in the mid 1990s", one can write anything they wish because no one reads it or understands it.

 

Call me crazy, but that dissertation actually sounds interesting to me.

 

I'll send you a copy. I'm sure there a a couple lying around here covered in dust. My son will be pleased (or surprised) that someone might find that interesting.

 

Why yes @Bing, I can in fact imagine the difficulties. I did not say it would be easy I just said it would be interesting. While very few people may actually read these, they do have some value. I will tell you a short story to illustrate. Several years ago I was giving a paper at a European conference. I was standing by the publisher's table when a young scholar asked the person a question about a paper published a year or so before by the publisher. The representative pointed out a copy of the book on the table. In complete shock I realized the paper the young scholar was referencing from the book was in fact written by yours truly. It was the first and last time this has happened to me. Up to that point I was totally convinced that no-one had ever read anything that I had written.

 

If there is another spare one, I'd too would be interested.

 

You guys are truly geeks!!!!!!!!

 

@Bing Make that three, I always have a soft spot for communist and post communist Eastern Europe!

 

Yep, for my undergrad I did a double bachelor in International Relations and History, with a Minor in Asian studies and a Minor in Religion. And then of course my Juris Doctor. That's more degrees than a Celsius thermostat.

I was also born and lived in a Communist country, so I have a personal interest in reading that.

 

This is astounding. I never in my wildest dreams thought any of you might remotely be interested in my son's dissertation. I know I have the one copy sitting here on my desk that is personally dedicated to his mother and me, but I think I have at least one more on one of the book shelves. If you guys are serious, I'll see what I can find. He lives in Poland and is deploying to Afghanistan in a month, so there will be no way to get any from him.

 

There is a good podcast called the Eastern Boarder, the guy( who is a Latvian) talks about how crazy the Soviet system was and how it really screwed up Latvia and the Baltic states after it collapsed.
It's pretty funny at times, the Episode entitled "Very Old Men" had me crying with laughter.
Definitely worth a listen!
http://theeasternborder.lv/podcast/episode-8-very-old-men/

 

The reason that dissertation interests me is that I sponsored a Polish man to come to the US in the 90's. He was imprisoned as a Solidarity protestor and had the choice of serving 5 years or being exiled to the US. (Talk about a no-brainer.) The church my mother belonged to was looking for sponsors and I agreed to help - set him up with an apartment and some job applications. He went on to become a US citizen, got married, had some kids, all that stuff...

 

I'm serious about it Bing. Doesn't even have to be book form. I'd he happy with a PDF.

 

This particular son, my yougest, has his Bachelors from Texas A&M, one Masters from Florida State, a second Masters from the University of California at Irvine, and finally his PhD from UC Irvine. Talk about degrees!

My other son, the oldest, has his Bachelor from Univ. of Maryland and his Masters from Colorado State. I guess they both got around.

 

Let me see what I can find.