Abstract

Summary This article, in order to advance the debate about the nature of Roman money, sets out the strongest arguments in favour of the crucial importance of credit-money in the Roman economy. It invokes some texts that were not employed in previous discussions. The article also replies to the chief arguments of those scholars who have more or less maintained the traditional view that all, or almost all, Roman money consisted of coins. The most important question here concerns trust and information: to what extent did Romans know enough about those who owed them money to accept payment in documentary form? On this question, the author takes the ‘optimistic’ view.