294 AD

Diocletian reforms the monetary system in Rome

Dio­cletian com­pleted the mon­etary reforms intro­duced by Aurelian in 274. A three-​​metal system of gold, silver and bronze was rein­tro­duced with the cre­ation of argentium (90% minimum silver content) and three bronze coins. The issuance of gold coins (aureus), which had restarted under Aurelian, was continued.

But this reform failed to halt price inflation which, to the con­trary, accel­erated. In 301, Dio­cletian attempted to control inflation by issuing a maximum price edict and salaries of workers. Mean­while, it rad­ically restruc­tures the tax system, largely by changing the property tax base and strength­ening the system of perception.