View source for Victoriatus

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| caption_left = Iupiter right
| caption_right = [[Victoria (mythology)|Victory]] placing a wreath upon a trophy; in exergue ROMA.
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The '''''victoriatus''''' was a [[silver coin]] issued during the [[Roman Republic]] from about 221&nbsp;BC to 170 BC. The obverse of the coin featured the bust of [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]] and the reverse featured [[Victoria (mythology)|Victory]] placing a wreath upon a trophy with the inscription "ROMA" in exergue. The name ''victoriatus'' is an ancient term, attested by several contemporary texts and inscriptions. The coin was known as a ''tropaikon'' (τροπαικον, due to the trophy on the reverse) among [[Greek language|Greek]] speakers.

The coin originally weighed about 3.4&nbsp;[[gram]]s (3 [[Apothecaries' system|scruples]]), meaning that it was half the value of the ''[[quadrigatus]]'', a coin weighing 6 scruples that was by this time no longer produced. The ''victoriatus'' was made of a more debased silver than the ''[[denarius]]'', which was introduced at about the same time. Hoard evidence indicates that the coin circulated in southern Italy and later Gaul, indicating that the coin was intended as a replacement for the [[Ancient drachma|drachma]] or half-[[nomos (currency)|nomos]] instead of as part of the normal Roman coin system. When first issued the ''victoriatus'' had a value of about 3/4 of a ''denarius'', however when the ''[[quinarius]]'' was reintroduced in 101 BC with a similar type, it was valued at 1/2 a ''denarius''. This indicates that ''victoriati'' that were still in circulation at this time were worn and considered to be worth only half a ''denarius''. The reintroduced ''quinarius'' was produced mainly for Cisalpine Gaul, where the ''victoriatus'' and its imitations were popular. The reintroduced ''quinarius'' may have continued to be called a ''victoriatus'', although there is no written evidence of this.

The ''victoriati'' abruptly cease to be deposited in Italian hoards in the mid-second century BC, probably indicating that they were officially withdrawn from circulation.{{sfn|Buttrey|1999|p=528}}

The term ''victoriatus'' can still be found today in the family name Vettorato in the [[province of Venice]], or Greekized to Vittoratos / Vitoratos in [[Cephalonia|Kefalonia]].

==See also==
* [[Roman currency]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Literature ==
*{{cite journal |last1=Buttrey |first1=T. V. |title=The Content and Meaning of Coin Hoards |journal=Journal of Roman Archaeology |date=1999 |volume=12 |pages=526–532|doi=10.1017/S1047759400018298 }}
* [[Michael Crawford (historian)|Michael Crawford]] ''Roman Republican coinage'' (London: Cambridge University Press, 1974)
* John Melville Jones,<!-- {{Q|106635697}} --> ''A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins'', London 1990.

==External links==
{{Commonscatinline}}
{{Roman coinage}}

[[Category:Coins of ancient Rome]]


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[[Category:221 BC]]