Made from the end of the 3rd century BC during the Second Punic War, the denarius was to serve as the basis for the monetary system of the Roman Republic at first, then of the Roman Empire. 

The denarius first replaced the quadrigate, a Roman coin produced a few years earlier. The denarius was initially worth ten bronze aces, hence the name 'denarius', which comes from the Latin deni, 'ten', and aes, 'bronze'.

The first denarii of the Roman Republic first depicted a personification of Rome in a helmet on the obverse, and the first denarii had a small "x" behind Rome's head to remind us of the equivalence with the ace, i.e. ten aces for one denarius. On the reverse, we have the Dioscuri, i.e. Castor and Pollux galloping on theright. A little later, Jupiter appears, again with a quadriga.

During the 2nd century BC, the denarius will diversify and represent other divinities such as Apollo for example. 

It was not until the 120s BC that the denarius was used as a basis for propaganda by the magistrates who were responsible for making coins and who did not hesitate to inscribe the names of their ancestors on them.

Finally, it was under Julius Caesar that the denarius took a major turn, as a living person appeared on a coin. 

Although it was initially intended to serve as a currency within the R

oman cultural era, the denarius quickly became very popular, well beyond the Roman Empire. 

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the denarius was taken up, used and adapted by different political and monetary systems. The denarius is, for example, the origin of the dinar, which is a gold unit of currency in the ancient Muslim world. The dinar can be found in many countries, such as Serbia for example. Find out more about it here. 

If nothing predestined the denarius to such a longevity, history will decide otherw

ise. It was not until the arrival of the Germinal franc that the denarius ceased to be used in France.