Hi all,
I'm only finished about 180 pages of this 830 page
work, but it's been a fascinating (but sometimes technical) book. The authors provide a very comprehensive literature review of previous works, which makes their book an excellent starting point for further reading if desired. I thought I'd share some of the interesting points I've noted so far, for those interested:
-Although the focus is on
Nero to
Trajan, the authors also analysed Antony's
legionary series, the
fineness of which is about 80%.
-The authors managed to test some of the
Julio-Claudian denarii, which were consistently about 100% pure silver bullion (which includes trace elements which the
Romans were unaware of, e.g. zinc, arsenic).
-Apparently
Republican denarii could not be guaranteed to be 100% pure, which necessitated further refinement if they were recycled.
-Hoard patterns:
Julio-Claudian denarii were largely absent from
hoards in
Italy, although they are present in
hoards from other western provinces such as
Britain. However
Republican denarii were plentiful from
hoards in
Italy.
-The authors managed to establish likely target
weights for gold and silver, for well preserved
aurei and
denarii.
-The authors also confirmed the existence of a deliberate silver enriched layer, which they also illustrated with cross-sectional images.
-Due to the thick enriched silver layer, non-destructive analytical methods will likely be inaccurate.
-The
mint move from
Lugdunum to
Rome can be marked by an increase in the trace elements in the
denarii. Specifically Nero's post reform
denarii have higher lead, arsenic and zinc content which are believed to be due to laxer refining standards at
Rome.