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Costs of Living in Roman Palestine Iii by Daniel

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Costs of Living in Roman Palestine Iii by Daniel COSTS OF LIVING IN ROMAN PALESTINE III BY DANIEL SPERBER THIRD CENTURY PRICE-LEVELS Continued *) Glancing back over our price-lists, it will be seen that while I and II cent. prices are relatively simple to analyse and compare with one another, (thanks to the general economic stability of the period), the material for the III and IV cent. presents a considerably different pic- ture. For this was a phase of monetary deterioration and economic flux. Thus, even a dated III cent. price given in denarii is of little use until we determine how much silver was in a denarius of that date. And even then one cannot easily compare the resultant price (now in terms of pure silver) with those of a former century. For the value of the denarius does not seem to have declined in an exact ratio to its diminu- tion in silver content. Rather it would appear, in an attempt to stem its rapid fall in value, silver was somewhat overvalued in relationship to gold; in other words, there appears to have been a shifting silver-gold ratio throughout the period.') Only when all these factors have been taken in account, can one attempt to compare III and IV cent. prices to those of the preceding centuries. Elsewhere 2) I have examined the problems of III and early IV cent. currency developments and metrological terminology in considerable detail. Here I shall do no more than give a brief summary of some of my findings. *) See vol. IX, pp. I82-2II 1) For the problems of gold and silver "standards" during this time, and the con- temporary Rabbinic appreciation of these economic concepts, see my forthcoming article in Numismatic Chronicle 196 8, entitled "Rabbinic attitudes to Roman currency". 2) In two articles, in Archiv Orientdlni 1969, and in Athenaeum. - --- 234 In the year 2 i 5 Caracalla introduced a new denomination which scholars call the antoninianus (= ant.). Its value was 2d. Thus there were now od. (= 200 sestertii) in an aureus. This probably continued to be the relationship between the denarius and the aureus until the time of Philipp the Arab (244-9), when there were only q.od. per aureus (or perhaps till only Gordian III, c. 238). Trajan Decius seems to have altered the ratio of the denarius to the aureus to o or 60 : i. This con- tinued to be the case till the end of the reign of Gallienus, when the great collapse of this "classical" system came about. For c. 266 we find a 3 grm. ant. with only 2% silver content, and there were probably as many as 500 of them to the aureus, i.e. 1000 d. aureus. (For this we have the evidence of J. Ketubot 11.2, 3 48 , ). Hereafter there was no (apparent) attempt made to keep a constant relationship between the denominations. No doubt values and relationships were given out at various intervals in the forms of official edicts. In Aurelian's pre-reform period there were 500 ant. per aureus, and in his reformed systcm 2jo ant. (= S ood.) per aureus. (Hence libra aurei = 25000 d.). Throughout this period the probable pattern of ratios between silver and gold appears to have been : In Diocletian's reformed system (i.e. post c. 295), the aureus was struck at - libra aurei, and hence had a (theoretical) weight of 5.4 grms. N(IOo I) These calculations are computed by the formula PQ + PR) : 1, a modi- I o,ooo Y PQN PRN fication of + = Y, where N = No. of ant. in aureus; P = weight 100 100 X 100 of ant., Q = % of silver in ant., R = % copper in ant., Y = weight of aureus. The ratio of copper to silver was I oo :I . .
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