Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c24.9

v1.c24.9

Warmington (1928) has discussed in detail the Romans' addiction to the varieties of Indian gems, and how this caused steady drainage of Roman gold currency into India. As early as a generation before the *Periplus*, the emperor Tiberius wrote to the Roman Senate: "How are we to deal with the peculiar articles of feminine vanity, and in particular with that rage for jewels and precious trinkets, which drains the empire of its wealth?" (Tacitus, *Annals*, iii, 53) Rome used to send gold coins in return of Indian commodities. These gold coins were melted and recast as Indian coins by the Kuṣāṇas, but in the South India, the coins were used as such as legal money.