Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

182 AURUM. AUSPICIUM.
came into circulation in Greece in the time of
Philip, and continued in use till the subjection of
Greece to the Romans. [DARICUs; STATER.]
ROMAN GOLD MONEY. —The standard gold
coin of Rome was the aureus nummus, or denariaus
aureus, which, according to Pliny (H. N. xxxiii. 3.
s. 13) was first coined 62 years after the first silver
coinage [ARGENTUM], that is in the year 207 B.C.
The lowest denomination was the scrauplzun, which
was made equal to 20 sestertii. The weight of the Alexander Severus coined pieces of one-half and
scrupulunl, as determined by Mr. Hussey (Ancient one third of the aureus, called Semissis and tresmisWeiglits and Money) was 18-06 grs. In the British sis (Lamprid. Alex. Sev. c. 39), after which time
Museum there are gold coins of one, two, three, the aureus was called solidcs.
and four scrupula, the weights of which are 17'2, Constantine the Great coined aurei of 72 to the
34-5, 518', and 68'9 grains respectively. They pound; at which standard the coin remained to
bear a head of Mars on one side, and on the other the end of the empire. (Cod. x. tit. 70. s. 5;
an eagle standing on a thunderbolt, and beneath Hussey, On Ancient Weights rands Money; Wurm.
the inscription "' RomUA." The first has the mark De Pond. &c.) [P. S.]
xx (20 sestertii); the second, xxxx (40 sestertii); AURUM CORONA'RIUM. When a general
the third, 9/ x (60 sestertii). Of the last we sub- in a Roman province had obtained a victory, i t
join an engraving: - was the custom for the cities in his own provinces,
and for those from the neighbouring states, to send
golden crowns to him, which were carried before
him in his triumph at Rome. (Liv. xxxviii. 37,
xxxix. 7; Festus, s. v. Triump7hales Coronae.) This
practice appears to have been borrowed from the
4\) -\tgz><' /i? \ Greeks; for Chares related, in his history of Alex~ / A u tander (ap. Athen. xii. p. 539. a.), that after the
conquest of Persia, crowns were sent to AlexPliny adds that afterwards aurei were coined of ander, which amounted to the weight of 10,500
40 to the pound, which weight was diminished, talents. The n/umber of crowns which were sent
till under Nero (the reading of this word is doubt- to a Roman general was sometimes very great.
ful) they were 45 to the pound. This change is Cn. Manlius had 200 crowns carried before him in
supposed, from an examination of extant specimens, the triumph which he obtained on account of his
to have been made in the time of Julius Caesar. conquest of the Gauls in Asia. (Liv. xxxix. 7.)
The estimated full weight of the aurei of 40 to the In the time of Cicero, it appears to have been
pound is 130-1 grains, of those of 45 to the pound usual for the cities of the provinces, instead of
115-64 grains. No specimens exist which come sending crowns on occasion of a victory, to pay
up to the 130-1 grains; the heaviest known is one money, which was called aurumn coronarium. (Cic.
of Pompey, which weighs 128-2 grains. The aver- Leg. Age. ii. 22; Gell. v. 6; Monum. Ancyr.)
age of the gold coins of Julius Caesar is fixed by This offering, which was at first voluhmtary, came
Letronne at 125'66 grains, those of Nero 115-39 to be regarded as a regular tribute, and seems to
grains. Though the weight of the aureus was have been sometimes exacted by the governors of
diminished, its proportion to the weight of the de- the provinces, even when no victory had been
narius remained about the same, namely, as 2: 1 gained. By a law of Julius Caesar (Cic. in Pis.
(or rather, perhaps, as 2-1: 1). Therefore since 37), it was provided that the aurum coronariunl
the standard weight of the denarius, under the should not be given unless a triumph was decreed;
early emperors, was 60 grains, that of the aureus but under the emperors it was presented on many
should be 120. The average weight of the aurei other occasions, as, for instance, on the adoption of
of Augustus, in the British Museum, is 121'26 Antoninus Pius. (Capitolin. Anton. Pius, c. 4.) It
grains: and as the weight was afterwards dimi- continued to be collected, apparently as a part of
nished, we may take the average at 120 grains. the revenue, in the time of Valentinian and TheoThere seems to have been no intentional alloy in dosius. (Cod. 10. tit. 74.)
the Roman gold coins, but they generally contained Servius says (ad Virg. Aen. viii. 721), that
a small portion of native silver. The average alloy auruni coronarium was a sum of money exacted
is I1b. The aureus of the Roman emperors, therefore, from conquered nations, in consideration of the
contained 20- -4 of a grain of alloy, and there- lives of the citizens being spared; but this statefore 119'6 grains of pure gold. Now a sovereign ment does not appear to be correct.
contains 113-12 grains of pure gold. Therefore the AURUM LUSTRA'LE was a tax imposed by
value of the aureus in terms of the sovereign is Constantine, according to Zosimus (ii. 38), upon
Hi]: li = 1'0564 = 11. is. Id. and a little more all merchants and traders, which was payable at
than a halfpenny. This is its value according to every lustrum, or every four years, and not at every
the present worth of gold; but its current value in five, as might have been expected from the original
Rome was different from this, on account of the dif- length of the lustrum. This tax was also called
ference in the worth of the metal. The aureus auri et argenti collatio or praestatio, and thus in
passed for 25 denarii; therefore, the denarius Greek X eVVTErlAeLa 1 -roi XpvaepyvSpov. (Cod. 11.
being 81d., it was worth 17s. 81d. The ratio of the tit. 1; Cod. Theod. 13. tit. 1.)
value of gold to that of silver is given in the article AURUM VICESIMA'RIUM. [AERARIIM.
ARGENTusf. The following cut represents an p. 23, b.]
aureus of Augustus in the British Museum, which AUSPEX. [AUGUR.]
weighs 121 grainsi -AUSPI'CIUM. [Aurua.J