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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ignoramus Maximus, post: 4530254, member: 104741&quot;]What a nice idea for a thread.</p><p><br /></p><p>I think I happily qualify as an ancient idiot (in doubt, just check my username<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />).</p><p><br /></p><p>So my question:</p><p><br /></p><p>Was the denarius really the basic monetary in Rome as is suggested in most sources/books? Like, say, the dollar or the Euro today?&nbsp; Both officially and in the daily life of the average citizen?</p><p><br /></p><p>Not only does its etymologically mean a &#039;tenner&#039; (as in ten asses), suggesting the as as the original unit. But also, considering the purchasing power of a denarius and the average income of, say, a common soldier, wouldn&#039;t a denarius in his mind represent more like 50 or 100 todays dollar/euro and wouldn&#039;t he more likely think in terms of asses or even quadrantes?</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;Interestingly, I also just finished reading Suetonius&#039; &#039;12 Ceasars&#039;, who, whenever he mentions money almost invariably uses sestertii and, save one or two exceptions,never denarii.</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;- &#039;He (...) extracted an annual tribute of 40 million sesterces&#039; (divus Julius 25.)</p><p><br /></p><p>&nbsp;- &#039;Every infantryman (...) earned a reward of 24.000 sesterces&#039; (divus Julius 38.)</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>- &#039;Suffice it to record that in less than a year he squandered Tiberius&#039; entire&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; fortune of 2.700 million sesterces, and an enormous amount of other treasure as&nbsp;&nbsp; besides&#039;. ( Gaius Caligula 37. )</p><p><br /></p><p>etc.etc.etc.</p><p><br /></p><p>This could of course just be Suetonius&#039; idiosyncracy, but the fact that he consequently uses sesterces even when talking about huge sums of money suggests that in his (and his contemperaries&#039; ???) perception the sestertius and not the denarius or was the unit of (ac)counting.</p><p><br /></p><p>Simply put, if I were to buy myself a domus&nbsp; with a view of the Forum would this set me back 5 millon denarii or 20 million sestertii?</p><p>And, if I was less fortunate and had to serve in the regiments would I earn 300 denarii per annum or 1200 sesterces?</p><p><br /></p><p>Any thoughts anyone?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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