The chief positive objection to a sixth century date for even the most primitive form of metallic currency is the fact that down to the time of the XII tables (450 B.C.) all fines were paid in cows and sheep[1149]. But evidence of this sort may be given too much weight. As pointed out by Ridgeway[1150], “even in a great commercial Greek city like Syracuse, the cow formed the basis of assessment in the reign of Dionysius (405–367 B.C.).” Syracuse had minted masterpieces of silver coinage some time before Dionysius was born. Enough has been said to indicate the possible significance of the accounts of king Servius and his copper coins. Too little is known about either the king himself or the sixth century currency to build much upon their reputed connexion. The matter is not one of first importance for our enquiry. There can be no question of a revolution in the currency, such as there are reasons for attributing to Gyges, Pheidon, Peisistratus, and probably others of the early Greek tyrants[1151]. [Sidenote: The census of Servius.] Reforms or innovations in the currency are quite in keeping with the other activities ascribed to Servius. The step most commonly associated with his name is the institution of a census, “ex quo belli pacisque munia non uiritim, ut antea, sed pro habitu pecuniarum fierent[1152].” [Sidenote: Servius and the collegia opificum.] Another institution that has been attributed to Servius is that of the collegia opificum or unions of workmen[1153]. The early history of these collegia is obscure: Plutarch attributes the eight earliest of them (carpenters, potters, tanners, leather-workers, dyers, coppersmiths, goldsmiths, flute-players) to Numa[1154]. The two versions may both have a historic basis if we suppose that the collegia as private corporations go back into the early regal period and that later they passed under state control[1155]. This view is of course incapable of proof. The evidence limits us to conjecture[1156]. But one point seems fairly certain. The collegia must have lost importance when slave labour came to be much used[1157]. Servius is constantly accused of having secured the support of the poor by gifts and benevolences[1158], and special mention is made of his distributions of corn and land to the plebs[1159]. [Sidenote: His methods of purchasing the support of the lower classes:] In short, king Servius, if he be regarded as a historical personage, appears to have inherited the policy as well as the position of his predecessor, and his violent accession and no less violent end to have been due mainly to feuds within the palace. [Sidenote: his relations with the Tarquins.] The same conclusion is the most natural one to draw from his Etruscan name of Mastarna[1160], quite apart from the etymological value of Gardthausen’s suggestion[1161] that the name Mastarna is a prefixed form of Tarquin.