Editing Caracalla (section)

=== Monetary policy ===
{{Coin image box 1 double
| header =
| image = Image:Caracalla-sol+.jpg
| caption_left = '''[[Obverse and reverse|O:]]''' [[laureate]] head of Caracalla
ANTONINVS [[Pius (epithet)|PIVS]] [[Augustus (honorific)|AVG.]] [[Germanicus (title)|GERM.]]
| caption_right = '''[[Obverse and reverse|R:]]''' [[Sol (Roman mythology)|Sol]] holding [[globe]], rising hand
[[Pontifex Maximus]], [[Tribune|TRibunus Plebis]] [[19 (number)|XVIIII]], [[Consul|COnSul]] [[4 (number)|IIII]], [[Pater Patriae]]
| width = 330
| footer = [[silver]] ''[[denarius]]'' struck in [[Rome]] 216 AD; ref.: RIC 281b, C 359
| position = right
| margin = 4
}}

The expenditures that Caracalla made with the large bonuses he gave to soldiers prompted him to debase the coinage soon after his ascension.{{sfn|Dunstan|2011|pp=405–406}} At the end of Severus' reign and early into Caracalla's, the Roman ''[[denarius]]'' had an approximate silver purity of around 55%, but by the end of Caracalla's reign the purity had been reduced to about 51%.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Oman|first=C.|date=1916|title=The Decline and Fall of the Denarius in the Third Century A.D.|journal= The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society|volume=16|pages=37–60|jstor=42663723}}</ref>{{sfn|Scott|2008|p=130–131}}

In 215 Caracalla introduced the ''[[antoninianus]]'', a coin intended to serve as a double ''denarius''.{{sfn|Scott|2008|p=123}} This new currency, however, had a silver purity of about 52% for the period between 215 and 217 and an actual size ratio of 1{{nbsp}}''antoninianus'' to 1.5{{nbsp}}denarii. This in effect made the ''antoninianus'' equal to about 1.5{{nbsp}}''denarii.''<ref name=":19" />{{sfn|Scott|2008|p=139}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Harl|first1=Kenneth|title=Coinage in the Roman Economy, 300 B.C. to A.D. 700|date=1996|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=0-801-85291-9|page=128|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5yPDL0EykeAC&q=antoninianus}}</ref> The reduced silver purity of the coins caused people to hoard the old coins that had higher silver content, aggravating the inflation problem caused by the earlier devaluation of the ''denarii''.{{sfn|Scott|2008|p=123}}<ref name=":19">{{Cite journal|last=Bergeron|first=David|date=2007–2008|title=Roman Antoninianus|journal=Bank of Canada Review}}</ref>