Myth: Money Doesn't Smell

2 years ago
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vespasian vespasian roman emperor vespasian and titus pecunia non olet money doesn't smell cassius dio suetonius suetonius the twelve caesars suetonius vespasian lives of the twelve caesars historical myths

That’s the popular saying and most probably you’ve heard it a hundred times. Which basically means that it doesn’t matter how you made money, it is still money. But while the initial meaning is quite close to the modern one, this is not exactly what the originator of this saying actually meant.

The originator of the saying is the Roman Emperor Vespasian. Or - to be more precise - the primary sources on his reign that we have: ancient historians Suetonius and Cassius Dio.

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