So I was thinking, in Italia and the western portion of the Roman Empire, they used the Roman monetary standard of dupondii, sestertii and denarii, but the eastern provinces such as Roman Syria and Roman Egypt used the original Greek monetary standard of drachmae. Wouldn’t it be easier for Rome to establish their own monetary standard on these eastern provinces, both as a way to show dominance over the peoples living there as well as Romanizing them. Also, it would greatly benefit the convenience of trade between Rome and the Eastern Provinces as Roman traders didn’t have to convert their denarii into drachmae to be used in the eastern provinces.
This, and I think it is important for people to remember that Rome often ruled its conquered provinces with a very light hand. They would install their own people at the top, but as long as the conquered governments weren’t failing, they would leave them mostly the same. It was part of their great success. Why change a monetary system that worked, maybe even better than their own.
yeah they should have adopted the eastern system entirely
The coinage was in fact standardized in 296 under Diocletian.
Even though the metal weight values between Roman and Greek coinage was slightly different (there was no 1 for 1 denomination) they both used the duodecimal system which means all denominations multiply or divide into 12 instead of the decimal system we have today.
Apparently the duodecimal system is great for handling a wider range of fractions, making it especially useful in everyday tasks like dividing goods, making precise measurements, and doing business transactions. This is because 12 can be split into more equal parts (like halves, thirds, and quarters) compared to 10, which means less messy math and easier calculations.
Fun fact unrelated to OP post - The Brits carried on using the Roman influenced duodecimal system until the 60s, their symbol for 'penny' used to be a 'd' instead of 'p' until then. This symbol was derived from 'Denarius'
The Romans must have enjoyed the challenge of doing currency conversions while conquering the world.
Difficulty.
That’s the long and short of it. Rome was BIG, and took a long time for news to get around, then someone would have to come up with a plan send news back out, and enforces the plan.
Then you have the language and culture barriers of how different Gaul and Egypt were for example.
Back in those days when currency value based on it’s own material value, not truth.
Think about that, currency was only a common measure for gold/silver, it’s pointless to standardize them as long as your empire uses a common standard measurement.
The East had a thriving monetary system that had worked very well for centuries. The Romans did not want to interfere and damage it. It would not be easier for them to completely change the monetary system of a massive and diverse area. This would be an enormous undertaking. Forcing them to switch would be an extremely logistically challenging and lengthy process for little to no benefit. The coins of the East still bore the portrait and titles of the emperor. They still had imperial propaganda on them. The size and weight of the coin matter little for propaganda and Romanizing purposes.