Ancient Wages and Prices
The Purchasing Power of Ancient Coins
Also see Doug Smith 's Buying Power of Ancient Coins
When examining an ancient coin, it is human nature to ponder what an ancient man or woman could have purchased with that coin. Unfortunately, that not an easy question to answer. The Roman denarius, for example, was used for centuries. The purchasing power of a denarius would have changed over that time. (Consider how much the value of a U.S. Dollar has changed in 100 years). Also, just as they do today, prices would have varied by place and time of year. Some things were probably more expensive in Rome than in a country village. Fruit would have been cheaper right after harvest. Our knowledge of ancient prices and the purchasing power of ancient coins is limited. Much is lost. For many coin types, we don 't even know ancient name for the denomination. Fortunately we do have some useful and interesting information.
The most widely quoted wages are a denarius a day for a common soldier and 2 denarii per day for a praetorian. Those wages were increased over time by some emperors, including Septimius Severus and Caracalla.
In his Coinage and History of the Roman Empire (vol. 2, p. 21), Vagi reports that "around the time of its destruction in A.D. 79 the average pay of a laborer in Pompeii was about 8 asses (half a denarius) per day, though actual salaries ranged from 5 to 16 asses per day. Skilled miners in rural Dacia earned wages of 6 to 10 asses, which were supplemented by free room and board values at 2 to 3 asses per day, bringing their true salaries more in line with the workers at the resort town of Pompeii."
Vagi (vol. 2, p. 23) reports that during the period of wage and
price controls initiated by
Diocletian, "a daily salary for a
baker was set at a maximum of 50
denarii, that of a farm worker at half that amount, 25 per day." and "a haircut would cost a maximum of two
denarii, a pound of pork 12
denarii, and approximately a liter of common wine 16
denarii. Better wine (called Falernian wine) would cost...a maximum of 60
denarii per liter."
According to an ad by the Jonathan Kern Company, during the
reign of
Severus Alexander "the
denarius at this time could buy twelve
large loaves of bread. A serving of table wine cost 1/16 of a
denarius,
while vintage wine cost 1/4
denarius. In the
holy land, an
amphora of
olive oil from Galilee cost one
denarius. A bunch of grapes or ten figs
cost 1/16
denarius. An ox sold for 100
denarii, a calf 20
denarii, and
a ram 8
denarii. 5 Sparrows cost 1/8
denarius. A scribe, a highly
educated man, earned 12
denarii a week. He ate and drank for 4
denarii a
week, and his clothing cost him about 200
denarii a year."
David Hendin 's Guide to Biblical Coins lists some 1st - 2nd century A.D. prices:
Olive oil, one amphora - 1 denarius
Wine, 100 ordinary bottles - 10 aurei.
Bread, one loaf - 1/12 denarii.
Ox - 100 denarii.
Calf - 20 denarii.
New born donkey foal - 2 to 4 denarii.
Ram - 8 denarii.
Lamb - 4 denarii.
Clothing made of sacking which could last for about four years - 4 denarii.
Some interesting information was discovered on wax tablets found in the gold mines at Alburnus Maior, Dacia.
A plate dated 135 A.D. is a contract for a girl slave named Passia, sold for 205 denarii. Another dated 142 A.D. is for a boy slave Apalaustus, sold for 600 denarii.
Another priced a woman at 420 denarii. (note: slaves in Egypt were cheaper).
A contract dated 20 May 164 A.D. hired Memmius, son of Asclepius, for mine work until the Ides of November (a total of 176 days). The contractor (Aurelius Adiutor) provided food and paid 70 denarii, plus a 10 denarii bonus for the labor of Memius ' children.
A half of a house was bought for 300 denarii in 159 A.D. (probably a humble house)
On some obscure occasion, someone bought 5 lambs for 18 denarii, a young pig for 5, and an unspecified quantity of white bread for 2 denarii.
2nd - early 3rd century A.D. inscriptions included the following:
A funeral monument and funeral (inscribed on the monument) - 400 denarii.
Paving a portion of a plaza - 50,000 sestertii.
At Apulum, the fronton of the building for the colegium fabri was 6000 sestertii.
At Ulpia Traiana, a flamen donated 80,000 sestertii for the annona on the occasion of his election.
Diocletian, in a failed attempt to curb the rampant inflation of the times, issued an Edict on Maximum Prices. This document survives and gives the price of goods from all over the Empire at that time. Silk was by far the costliest textile, but cloaks from the Nervii retailed for 10,000 denarii against cloaks from Africa which retailed at 1,500 denarii. The rates of pay, for various professions, are also recorded. For example, laborers, herdsmen, mule-drivers and sewer-cleaners got 20 - 25 denarii per day, enough to buy two pounds of pork, or three pints of plain wine. Three days work would buy a cheap pair of shoes, nearly a month, a shirt. Carpenters, bakers, plasterers and tessellated floor workers all get double this, about the same as an elementary school teacher, who is paid 50 denarii a month per pupil. A scribe of the best writing got 25 denarii per 100 lines. With rarer skills and higher education the rates rise considerably. A figure painter earned 150 denarii a day, a teacher of rhetoric 250 a month per pupil, an advocate 1,000 for pleading a case. In practice, most likely a herdsman would be paid below his maximum, whereas the tessellated floor worker or figure painter could probably expect to exceed theirs. It should be noted that the denarii mentioned in Diocletian 's edict were money of account and not actual silver denarii, which no longer circulated. It is not yet known how many of these "denarii" a large follis was worth, but the advanced figure is five. An argenteus was worth five folles or 25 denarii. The prices for the sale of individual items which no one may exceed are listed below:
Denarii
I. Wheat 1 army modius 100
Barley 1 army modius 60
Rye 1 army modius 60
Millet, ground 1 army modius 100
Millet, whole 1 army modius 50
Panic grass 1 army modius 50
Spelt, hulled 1 army modius 100
. . . . . . . .
Beans, crushed 1 army modius 100
Beans, not ground 1 army modius 60
Lentils 1 army modius 100
Pulse 1 army modius 80
Peas, split 1 army modius 100
Peas, not split 1 army modius 60
. . . . . . . .
Rice, cleaned 1 army modius 200
Barley grits, cleaned 1 modius 100
Spelt grits, cleaned 1 modius 200
Sesame 1 army modius 200
. . . . . . . .
II. Likewise, for wines:
Picene 1 Italian sextarius 30
Tiburtine 1 Italian sextarius 30
Sabine 1 Italian sextarius 30
. . . . . . . .
Falernian 1 Italian sextarius 30
Aged wine, first quality 1 Italian sextarius 24
Aged wine, second quality 1 Italian sextarius 16
Ordinary 1 Italian sextarius 8
Beer, Gallic or Pannonian 1 Italian sextarius 4
Beer, Egyptian 1 Italian sextarius 2
. . . . . . . .
III. Likewise, for oil:
From unripe olives 1 Italian sextarius 40
Second quality 1 Italian sextarius 24
Salt 1 army modius 100
Spiced salt 1 Italian sextarius 8
Honey, best quality 1 Italian sextarius 40
Honey, second quality 1 Italian sextarius 24
. . . . . . . .
IV. Likewise, for meat:
Pork 1 Italian pound 12
Beef 1 Italian pound 8
. . . . . . . .
Leg of pork, Menapic or
Cerritane, best 1 Italian pound 20
Pork mincemeat 1 ounce 2
Beef mincemeat 1 Italian pound 10
Pheasant, fattened 250
Pheasant, wild 125
. . . . . . . .
Chickens 1 brace 60
. . . . . . . .
Venison 1 Italian pound 12
. . . . . . . .
Butter 1 Italian pound 16
. . . . . . . .
V. Likewise, for fish:
Sea fish with rough scales 1 Italian pound 24
Fish, second quality 1 Italian pound 16
River fish, best quality 1 Italian pound 12
River fish, second quality 1 Italian pound 8
Salt fish 1 Italian pound 6
Oysters 100 100
. . . . . . . .
VII. For wages:
Farm laborer, with maintenance (daily) 25
. . . . . . . .
Carpenter, as above (daily) 50
. . . . . . . .
Wall painter, as above (daily) 75
Picture painter, as above (daily) 150
. . . . . . . .
Baker, as above (daily) 50
Shipwright working on a seagoing ship, as above (daily) 60
Shipwright working on a river boat, as above (daily) 50
. . . . . . . .
Muleteer, with maintenance (daily) 25
Veterinary, for clipping and preparing hoofs (per animal) 6
Veterinary, for bleeding and cleaning the head (per animal) 20
Barber (per man) 2
. . . . . . . .
Sewer cleaner, working a full day, with maintenance (daily) 25
. . . . . . . .
Scribe, for the best writing (per 100 lines) 25
Scribe, for second-quality writing (per 100 lines) 20
Notary, for writing a petition or legal document (per 100 lines) 10
. . . . . . . .
Elementary teacher per boy (monthly) 50
Teacher of arithmetic, per boy (monthly) 75
Teacher of shorthand, per boy (monthly) 75
. . . . . . . .
Teacher of Greek or Latin language
and literature, and teacher of geometry, per pupil (monthly) 200
Teacher of rhetoric or public speaking, per pupil (monthly) 250
Advocate or jurist, fee for a complaint 250
Advocate or jurist, fee for pleading 1000
Teacher of architecture, per boy (monthly) 100
Check room attendant, per bather 2
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