Did normal middle class people have gold coins in Ancient times?

Hmm I didn’t know about Herodotus being welcomed and fed & housed by other nations. That’s some good info!

I’m actually reading his book “The Histories”.

Yes I know I am bringing up different scenarios and situations but that’s just because I’m trying to figure out how to explain exactly what I mean.

I just mean that gold is easier to carry than silver and lighter and so that had to be useful for some situations that’s all. In which cause Aureii would be more useful than Denarii but of course having some denarii would be useful for small daily transactions.

 

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Perhaps this link might be useful in terms of the discussion.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_class_in_ancient_Rome

 

More than likely a monthly payment for those men who are static. The bigger question is how were the soldiers paid while they were on a two or more year campaign?

 

Your last paragraph is the basic answer.
Does the book cover all nine histories?

 

Nine histories?

 

If I recall correctly gold & silver were brought along on campaign to pay the soldiers.

I could've sworn I read in a book that at the end of the day soldiers lined up and were paid.

 

Yep.

 

So, after a few months, the soldiers are weighted down by their pay and cannot run?

 

Well no I believe they kept their pay in their tents and that's why enemies would often raid & pillage other army's camps in war.

That's why I figured it would be easier to keep a few aureii on their person rather than bags of denarii in their tent.

 

What do you mean "Nine Histories"?

Is that something Herodotus wrote?

 

The Histories contain 9 books that Herodotus wrote.

Regular wages was due at a fixed period of time, but in wartime it could be paid at other established intervals or postponed until the end of the campaign. Ofcourse they were need of provision money, not sure if that was done in gold coins.
However, according to Graham Webster in ,The Roman Imperial Army, the legionaries received donatives, which were even paid during the campaign: "Caligula after the abortive invasion of Britain gave all legionaries four gold pieces (100 denarii)". Lastly, upon discharge the legionaries could look forward to a cash or land settlement. "Augustus fixed the amount in A.D. 5 at 3,000 denarii and by the time of Caracalla it had risen to 5,000 denarii".

 

Thanks for the information!

If I recall correctly it wasn't just the legionaries who received donatives.

The Praetorian Guard also regularly received LARGE donatives (called "donativum") when a new Emperor came to power as a way to sort of buy their loyalty since the Praetorian Guard had a tendency to betray & assassinate unpopular Emperors.

For example: "In 41 AD, after the assassination of Caligula, the Guard supported Claudius, and the Senate briefly learned that the Guard had installed him on the throne. Claudius gave each member of the Praetorian Guard 150 gold pieces, or some 3,750 denarii to which the senator's 100 sesterces were added annually. The inevitable result of the custom of "donativum" was the Guard's auctioning of the empire to Didius Julianus in 193."

So let's say I am a legionary under Augustus. As you say he paid 3,000 Denarii upon discharge from the legions. Well 3,000/25 is 120 Aureii.

Doesn't it seem like it would be easier to safeguard and travel with 120 aureii in a bag than it would to carry around huge bags containing 3,000 denarii?

The Aureus was about 7.5 grams x 120 = 900 grams of gold or less than a kilogram (1.9 lbs to be precise).

The Denarius was about 3.5 grams x 3,000 = 10,500 grams of silver or 10.5 kilograms (23 lbs to be precise) which would be a lot harder to lug around.

But again that's just my theory and I might be totally wrong. Unfortunately my book "Coinage in the Roman Economy" doesn't give answers to this question.

 

Here is the list courtesy of Wikipedia. Which one are you reading?

 

Ohhh you meant the nine different books of The Histories.

I have all nine of them in mine.

Right now I am on book 3.

 

Yeah, right.

 

What do you mean yeah right?

 

Having collected gold coins from the U.S. and Great Britain, I would say that, until recent times (early 1900s), gold coins were not made to be owned and used by the "common folk." They were made for royalty and wealthy merchants who handled a lot of money.

President Andrew Jackson made an effort to get gold coins into the hands of "yeoman farmers" and wage earners in 1834 (When the legislation for the "Classic Head" gold coinage was passed.) because he thought that would bring economic stability to their lives. He certainly get more gold coins into circulation with his reforms, but I'm not sure how many of those coins got to people who were making $250 to $300 a year. A $2.50 or $5 gold coin was a lot more money in those days.

This coin a lot more buying power in the 1834 than a five dollar bill does today, and you had to work a lot longer to earn it.

 

Sorry for the perceived slight. I thought I wrote "Yeah,right on.