The cobblestones were slick with rumor and scheming. The city was burning. Nero played his fiddle. Barbarians were at the gates of the city. Grain shipments from Egypt were disrupted. Jupiter herself was on fire. The air tasted of anxiety mixed with deceit. Legions at the gates. The Palatine Hill was engulfed in senatorial sparring matches. Royal blood flowed from the steps of the Forum. For many, these were the anxieties of citizens of Ancient Rome.
It is no secret that many events in the world shape our own fears and anxieties. In some ways, I can sympathize with the average citizen of Ancient Rome; and, although we aren’t facing hordes of Germanic tribes and plagues, we share a few realities that inflicted panic and unrest within history’s greatest empire.
The decline and fall of the Roman Empire has become a cliché for nations in our modern world. Indeed, many scholars have identified several inroads in which the United States is spiraling out of control toward its own decline and fall. Of course, these aspects are wildly different from our ancient counterparts. We have modern medicine, we understand solar eclipses as natural phenomena, and not as an angry god casting doom upon our world. Apart from simply reading the ancient sources, I wanted to manifest a deeper connection with the everyday citizens of Ancient Rome – to somehow travel back in time through a physical and tangible talisman. Thus, I started collecting ancient coins.
Earlier this year, I stumbled upon a book about collecting ancient coins. I had always assumed such items would be well beyond my budget – a realm reserved for museums and wealthy collectors. To my astonishment, I discovered one could own a silver denarius, struck before the birth of Jesus Christ, for less than a tank of gas costs. Thus, my numismatic journey found its impetus.
I began my collection with the Five Good Emperors: Nerva (reigned 96–98 ce), Trajan (98–117), Hadrian (117–138), Antoninus Pius (138–161), and Marcus Aurelius (161–180). These emperors ruled during what is widely understood as the golden age of Ancient Rome. This era was remarkably prosperous for most in the empire; food was plentiful, enemies were kept in check, and there was very little civil unrest. We remember Marcus Aurelius as the philosopher-emperor: humble, insightful, and charismatic.
Holding these coins in my hand, I’m transported – back to the roar of the Colosseum, or the bustling market square where a prominent citizen would purchase incense and silks, imported from the furthest reaches of the massive empire. I can almost feel the chill of the wind as the very coin in my hand was carried by a legionnaire, tasked with keeping any barbarian tribes in check, a silent witness to centuries of conquest and control.
One of the coolest things about these coins is that they provide a primary source of what the empire looked like. In fact, we know that statues stood under each arch surrounding the Colosseum; no other source in history denotes that (as the arches have been bare for millennia.) We know this because of coins struck to celebrate the opening of the great arena. We also have a first-hand account of what the rules of the empire looked like. We know that emperors did not sport beards in public until the reign of Hadrian (see below). Indeed, coins are some of the most pragmatic primary sources of the Roman Empire that we have.
My second favorite aspect of these coins is that I am merely a steward of them. Some of these beautifully crafted denarii have made their 2,000 year journey to me. In a mere blink of time, I will be long dead and they will again find their way to the next owner (hopefully someone who appreciates them as much as I do.)
Like a market-goer two thousand years ago, holding these coins forces us to confront our own fleeting place in history. What do our modern coins reveal about our struggles – about the social unrest and civil war that shaped the United States? About populism? And what will a collector in two thousand years think when they hold our modern nickels and dimes, a ghostly reminder of a world now lost to us?
Click here to view my full collection of coins
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