8/12/2019 Ancient NEWSmismatics: A Tribute [Penny] to Tiberius by L.A. Hambly

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Ancient NEWSmismatics: A Tribute [Penny] for Tiberiusby L.A. Hambly

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Three of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark andLuke) mention a curious episode in whichJesus, preaching before a crowd at the Templein Jerusalem, is confronted by a hostile group of“Pharisees and Herodians” who ask himwhether or not Jews should pay taxes (“tribute”)to the Roman state. Jesus understands thequestion is a trap – if he answers yes, he willseem to be siding with the hated Romans andalienate the Judean common folk who havesupported his mission; if he answers no, the

Roman authorities will arrest him for sedition. Ineach account, he asks for an audience member to

bring him a silver coin (the word used in Greek andAramaic is “denarion,” a variant on the Latin“denarius” and translated as “penny” in the King

James Version). He asks whose profile and nameappear on the coin, and the crowd responds“Caesar’s.” Jesus replies, “Render therefor toCaesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God thethings that are Gods.” It was an artful turn of phrasethat both neatly evaded the trap set by his enemiesand provided fodder for debate by philosophers,scholars, clergy and laypeople for the twentycenturies since. We will leave the meaning ofChrist’s immortal comment to others and turn to the actual coin in question. So, what wasJesus holding when he spake these words? Caesar, of course, was the family name of the

dynasty that ruled the Roman Empire. There had been three Caesars by the time of thisepisode – Julius, Augustus and Tiberius, the last of whom was still reigning. If we takethe accounts at their most literal, Jesus was brought a denarius of the current Caesar,Tiberius. That intensely conservative emperor has obliged modern numismatists andtruth-seekers by minting only a single denarius type for almost the entirety of his 23-yearreign, depicting himself on the obverse and a seated personification of Pax (Peace),usually described (for some reason that is unclear to this writer) as his mother Livia in theguise of Pax, on the reverse. Of course it is possible that the name “Caesar” was used in

Tiberius (AD 14-37). AR denarius (3.64 gm). Lugdunum, AD 18-35. Laureate

head right / Livia (as Pax) enthroned right, holding olive branch and scepter. RIC 3. Very Fine.

8/12/2019 Ancient NEWSmismatics: A Tribute [Penny] to Tiberius by L.A. Hambly

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Ancient NEWSmismatics: A Tribute [Penny] for Tiberiusby L.A. Hambly

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only a general sense, meaning “the Emperor,” and the coin could have borne the image ofone of the previous Caesars; it is also quite possible that some other denomination wasused. Numismatists have pointed out that the silver denarius was a Latin denominationmore commonly used in the Roman West; the silver coinage most commonly circulatingin Judea would have included the ubiquitous shekels of Tyre, the tetradrachms of nearbyAntioch, and the drachms and didrachms of Caesarea in Cappadocia. The first of these

bore no Imperial image and can be ruled out (although they have their own vital part inthe New Testament!), and the term “denarion” would seem to preclude a largerdenomination like a tetradrachm, but the drachm of Caesarea was virtually the same sizeand weight as a denarius and might merit the same description. On the other hand,Roman soldiers stationed in Jerusalem would have been paid in silver denarii, and wouldsurely spent them at the local bazaars and taverns, so it is not at all implausible thatsomeone in Jesus’ audience might have had one in his pouch. With that in mind, the Pax-reverse denarius of Tiberius must remain the most likely candidate for the Biblical“Tribute Penny” and it is very fortunate that this nearly 2,000-year-old coin is commonenough today that Christians of all denominations, and those otherwise intrigued byBiblical history, can obtain an attractive specimen!