The History of the Drachma – Part 2: From Rome to the Kingdom

The History of the Drachma – Part 2: From Rome to the Kingdom

Only 14 days left until our Drachmen Fest on September 29! Yesterday we told you how the drachma was born in antiquity. Today the time-travel continues — through Rome, Byzantium, and centuries of foreign rule.

Part 2: From Rome to the Kingdom

When Rome conquered Greece in 146 BC, the drachma by no means disappeared right away. Many Greek cities were allowed to keep minting their own drachmas under Roman rule, which stayed in circulation alongside the Roman denarius — a remarkable piece of monetary continuity for a defeated nation.

Under the Byzantine Empire the picture changed: officially, coins like the solidus and later the hyperpyron took the drachma's place. But the name itself never quite vanished from everyday speech — to this day, Greeks sometimes say "drachmes" simply to mean "money," much like we might colloquially say "bucks" or "dough."

Almost 400 years of Ottoman rule followed, during which Greeks paid with Turkish lira and piastres — the drachma existed during this time only as a memory and a longing for a coin of one's own.

Only with independence did the country's own money return: in 1828, founding statesman Ioannis Kapodistrias first introduced the "phoenix." But already in 1832, the Bavarian prince Otto ascended the Greek throne as its first king — and with him, the drachma officially returned, now stamped with his portrait on the coins. After almost two millennia, the drachma was once again Greece's official currency.

Tomorrow the story continues: how the drachma survived wars, crises, and reforms — until it finally had to give way to the euro in 2002. Stay tuned!

Mastiha Mezedopolio – Taverna Restaurant, Arndtstr. 12, 10965 Berlin-Kreuzberg