Gossellin have endeav-
oured to show that there were different stadia em-
ployed among the Greeks, but their remarks have
been completely refuted by Wurm.
oured to show that there were different stadia em-
ployed among the Greeks, but their remarks have
been completely refuted by Wurm.
Charles - 1867 - Classical Dictionary
Wurm.
His determinations are given In the old
French measures, weights, &c , . mil have been reduced lo the
English am! American standards by a comparison or the " Man-
aal des Poida et MesureV' of M. Tarbe, and Mr. Hassler*s able
report to Ihe Treasury Department in 1833. Other works have
been con<<uTied, of which may be mentioned those of Greaves,
Hooper, and AtImihnot. ihe paper* of Rarwr In the Philosophi-
cal Transactions of the Roynl Society of London lor Ihe years
1700 and ITT I. and the profound reporter President A Jains lo
tor f^nste of the United Stales i I 1821.
1 Mee the section i"i Roman \' eights.
the Greek -? ? ; > re It is sometimes improperly cert-
founded with Ulna. Ulna is the Greek opyvia ("dic-
ta ulna uird ruv id. evuv,id cat a brachiis; proprit eil
spatium in quantum utraque extenditur mama. "--Ser-
vms ad Virg. , Eel. , 3, 105. ) Pes testcrliu*=2l pcd.
is rendered by Boethius and Frontinus grains 01
"step," a term, however, not found in any classics. !
writer. Passua (*' a pasgis pcdibus") was a pace, equal
? ? to five pcdei. Deeempeda or Pcrtica (modern Perch)
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? 1440
MEASURES. WEIGHTS, AND MONEYS
quently makes cadus synonymous with it, and by the
Greeks it was called Kepufiicv, a/ifopiic, and Aterpiynjc
'IraXtubc. The greatest liquid measure was the Cu-
lms or Culleus=W amphora:. The divisions of the
amphora; are easily inferred from the plebiscitum just
mentioned, and from the following passage of Volusius
Mecianus: "Quadrantal, quod,nune plerique ampho-
ram vocant, habet urnas 2, modios 3, semimodios 6,
eongios 8, sextarios 48, hemiruu 96, quartarios 192,
tya'tkos 576. " The Urna was bo called, according
to Varro, "ah urinando, quod in aqua hauriendd, uri-
nal, hoc est mergitur, ut urinator. " Congius was the
cube of half a pes; one of Vespasian's is still extant,
narked with the letters P. X. , which denote pondo
decern, ten being the number of pounds it contained by
law. Congii of wine or oil were given to the people by
tho emperors and chief magistrates on holydays, which
gifts were hence called congmru, and persons frequent-
ly derived surnames from the number of congii of wine
they were in the habit of drinking at a draught; hence
Ciccro'a son wa>> called Bicongius, and Novellus Tor-
quatus, a Milanese, Tricongius. (Plin. , 14, 22. )
Sextarius was j of the congius=2 hemi>kt. --\ quar-
fani=12 cyatki; hence the sextarius, from the fact
of its containing 12 cyaihi, was regarded as the a* or
unit of liquid measures, and its uncia or cyathi were
denominated, according to their numbers, sextans,
quadrant, &c. It may be remarked that the ancients,
at their entertainments, were in the habit of drinking
as many cyathi as there were letters in the names of
their mistresses. (Martial, Epig. , 9, 93; 1, 72. )
There were two kinds of tcxtarii, the castrensis and
urbtcus, the former being double of the latter, or com-
mon sextarius. Acetabulum was half the quartarius,
and wa9 so called, in imitation of the Greeks (to whose
b(v6a$ov it corresponded), fro. n acetum, since it was
first used for holding sauce for meat. Ligula or lin-
gula at first simply signified a spoon, but was after-
ward regarded by the Latin physicians as a fourth of
the cyathus; Fliny and Columella make cochlear or
cochleare synonymous with it.
2. For things dry. The unit of this measure was
the modms, which contained two semimodii, and was
J of the amphora, as is apparent from the passage of
Volusius Mscianus above quoted. The remaining
measures, sextarius, hemina, (See, bear the same re-
lation to the amphora in the dry as in the liquid
measure.
$ 4. DITERM1NATI0N OF THE ROHAN MEASURES.
The measures of Length, Extent, and Capacity are
to intimately connected that the determination of their
values will easily be deduced from that of the pes.
Various measurements have been made, and various
modes of investigation been pursued, for the purpose
of assigning the value of the Roman foot, which, from
the imperfection of instruments, the want of accuracy
of observation, and of attention paid to the degree of
injury which the specimens examined may have suf-
fered, differ considerably in their results. We shall
give a brief account of most of these observations, and,
as far as possible, assign to each its proper degree of
credence. All that has served as a means of calcula-
ting the value of the Roman foot mav be arranged un-
der the following classes: (a) Specimens of the pes
found on tombstones, (4) Foot-rules, (e) Milestones,
(d) Distances of places, (c) Congii. ,/) Dimensions
of ancient buildings at Rome.
? ? (a) There remain four celebrated specimens of the
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? OF THE GREEKS AND ROMAN'S.
1441
git. , the congius contains 199. 876921 cubic inches,
anil, consequently, its >ido is 5. 8468 inch. But the
? ide of the congius was half the Roman foot; hence
the value of the Roman foot, as deduced from the con-
gius, is 11. 6936 inch. Though this result is very
near the correct one, much reliance cannot be placed
on this mode of arriving at it, in consequence of the
weight of the ancient wine (80 libra of which were
contained in the congius) being unknown. But, as
Khomnius Fannius informs us that the ancients ac-
counted no difference to exist in the specific gravities
>>f wine and water, we have considered them equal, and
mpposed distilled water of maximum density to be of
the same specific gravity with that employed by them,
which was very probably pure rain-water. There re-
raiin two congii, of which the most celebrated was
placed by Vespasian in the Capitol, as its inscription
imports, and is commonly called the Farnesian; the
other is preserved at Paris. These have been filled
with water and weighed by Psetus, Villalpandus, Au-
zout, and others, who have hence sought to determine
the libra and pes; but the results of their experiments
lire so much at variance as to render any inferences
drawn from them objectionable.
( f) The last method we shall notice, and which
(cads to the most satisfactory conclusion, consists in
the measurement of the ancient buildings now stand-
ing at Rome; and though many have ascertained the
length of some single parts of them, yet no one has
-. ompared the measures of the principal parts with so
much assiduity and success as Mr. Raper. Having
carefully examined the work entitled " Let Edifices
ai. tn/iics de Rome," by M. Desgodetz, he very inge-
niously deduced the value of the Roman foot from
65 dimensions--. 97075 ft. From this value of the
pet, which is the one now generally adopted in Ger-
nuxy and France, are easily deduced all the measures
pf length. (See Tables I. and II. ) The jugerum
being 28800 pcd. quad. , equals 27139 sq. h ---2 roods,
i 9 poles, and 187 ft. ; whence the superficial measures
11 Tables III. , IV. , and V. have been calculated. The
tmphora being the cube of the pea, equals 1580. 75
cub. inch. ; but as a cubic inch of distilled water at
BUimum density weighs 252. 632 grs. , and a gallon
lOlbs. avoirdupoisu or 70,000 gis. , the amphora equals
6 galls. , 2 qts. , 1. 64 pts. ; whence the Capacious meas-
ures in Tables VI. and VII. have been computed.
$ 5. ROHAN WEIGHTS.
The unit of weight was originally denominated At,
and subsequently Libra or As Lib-alls. It correspond-
ed nearly with our Troy pound. Its multiples were
Dupondius (2 pondo or libra). Sestertius (2i asses),
Tn'. isi. i (3 asses), Quatrusiii. t, Qttingttcssis, and so
on till Ccnhutu. The term as, though properly ap-
plied to a piece of copper of the weight of a Roman
pound, was extended not only to all the Roman meas-
ures expressing their units, but also denoted the entire
(mount of inheritances, interest, houses, farms, and all
things which it was customary to divide; and refer-
ence being constantly made hy authors to it and its
subdivisions, it is important that they should be thor-
oughly understood. The following table exhibits the
relations subsisting between the as and its several
puts.
Jttcix
A.
Uncic
? ? Ai
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? 1 -442
MEASURES, WEIGHTS. AN'D MONEYS
usaj Aistcrs. The entire mint was under the genera
f upenntendence of three men, appointed by the people
? t the Comitia Tributa, denominated Triumviri Mon-
xaics. The Romans counted by usscs, sestertii,
denarii, and aurci. The as (originally assis, from
aes), or assipondium, was at first libralis, and bore
the impression of Janus geminus, or bifrons, on one
side; on the reverse, the rostrum of a ship, and was at
first, as we have noticed, libralis; but in the first Punic
war, in consequence of the scarcity of money, the re-
public ordered asses to be struck weighing 2 uncie,
by which, as Pliny informs us, it gained J and dis-
charged its debt; it was subsequently reduced, when
Hannibal invaded Italy, to the weight of an uncia, and
lastly by the Papirian law to that of a semiuncia; and
though this rapid diminution of its weight was required
by the necessities of the commonwealth, it would
eventually have been accomplished by the increasing
abundance of silver and gold. The as thus reduced
was, in reference to its original weight, denominated
lilirlla, and the older coins are distinguished from it
by later writers when they speak of as grave. Be-
sides the ns, its subdivisions, viz. , semisses, trientes,
fuadrantes, sextantes, stipes unaales, semiuncia, and
sexlula (the smallest of the Roman coins according to
Varro), and its multiples, dupondii, quatrusses, and
decusses, were coined; specimens of which remai. i at
the present day, and are to be found in the most valu-
able collections of ancient coins. But those pieces
less than the as which were most frequently coined,
were the semissis and gitadrans, bearing the impress
of a lioat instead of the rostrum of a ship; the former
was (,lso named sembella (quasi semilibella), the lat-
ter ti:ru. nr. ius. The sestertius, quinarius, and dena-
rius were silver coins, and called bigati or quail-
rigati, from the impression of a chariot drawn by two
or fo jr horses, which they bore on one side, that on
the leverse being the head of Roma with a helmet.
The sestertius (or tsmistertius) was so called by a
figure borrowed from the Greeks, and equalled 24
tuts; its symbol is H. $. , abbreviated from L. L. IS. ,
tee iinui. s of libra, libra, semis. The sestertium,
K 1000 sestertii, was expressed by the symbol HS;
it was not a coin, but was employed by the Romans,
together with the sestertius, in computing large sums
of money. Their method of notation was effected by
combining the symbols with their numeral characters;
thus HS. MC. indicates 1100 sestertii; but if the
numerals have a line over them, ccntena millia or
100,000 is understood; thus HS. MC. means 110
millions of sestertii. When the numerals are separ-
ated by points into two or three orders, the 1st on
the right hand denotes units, the 2d, thousands, the
3d, hundred thousands; thus, III. XII. DC. HS. de-
notes 300,000+12,000-|-600=312600 sestertii. The
following illustration may be also added. Pliny says,
that seven years before the first Punic war there were
in the Roman Treasury " auri pondo XVI. DCCCX. ;
argenti pondo XXII. LXX. ; et in numerate LXII.
LXXV. CCCC. " (33, 3); that is, 16,810 pounds
of gold, 22,070 pounds of silver, and 6,275,400 ses-
tertii of ready money. The quinarius was equal to 5
asses, and marked V; by the Clodian law it was im-
pressed with the figure of Victory, and hence called
Vietoriatus. The denarius, at its first institution,
equalled 10 asxcs, and was stamped with the numeral
X or ^. But when the Romans were pressed by Hai>
? ? nibal, A. U. C. 537, the a* having been made uncialis,
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? OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANS.
U43
oeds. 'Ofryvin, or falhom, from opiyu, "to extend,"
a the distance from the hands, when the arms are
raised and extended, measured along the breast, and
equals 6 Trddtc; hence it has received from Herodo-
tus the epithets rerpain)x>>t and i^areodnc. The
measure from which the Romans probably borrowed
their decempeda waa ixaiva or icdAa/iOC=10 Trader;
six of these cor. s'i'uled the 'Aft/ta, which, together
with the TrXi? r>ci'=100 jroiiff, and the KaAauu(, was
ised principally in the measurement of lands. The
jaost ancient itinerary measure of the Greeks was the
aridiov, which appears to have had a very rude ori-
gin. ' It is said to have been the invention of Hercu-
. cs, whose athletic exertion it exhibited, since it com-
prehended the distance which ho was able to run with-
out taking breath. Isidorus informs us that it took
its name from lorrifit, "to stand," and assigns as a
reason, "quod in fine respirasset simulque sletisset. "
It was established as the measure of the length of the
aitec, or foot-course, at the Olympic games; and from
the respect in which these exercises were held, it be-
came an itinerary measure. This distance, the hero
who instituted it measured by the length of his foot,
which he found equal to one six hundredth part of the
eourse Censorinus and M.
Gossellin have endeav-
oured to show that there were different stadia em-
ployed among the Greeks, but their remarks have
been completely refuted by Wurm. 'Imwtov, or the
distance a horse could run, "sub uno spiritu," equals 4
errdiia, and AdAi;yoc has been variously assumed as 6,
7, 8, and even 21 orddia, but more correctly as 12.
Those linear measures which were known to the
Greeks by their intercourse with other nations, were
Mt'Atov, or the Roman mile--S orddia; Tlapaody-
yj7f=30 orudia, according to Herodotus (2, 6) and
Xenophon (Anal'. , 6, 7), though Straho makes it, in
different places, W and 60 orudia; and Zxolvoc, an
Egyptian measure, whose value is differently assigned
to be 60, 40, and 32 orddia.
y 8. DETERMINATION Or THE GREEK FOOT.
There are two methods of investigating the value of
;he rrove proposed to us: the first consists in its de-
termination by its ratio to the Roman foot; the sec-
ond, by means of the public edifices of the Greeks
which are yet standing.
1. All authors agree that the ratio subsisting be-
tween the Roman and Greek foot is 24 : 25, as might
also be inferred from the value the Greeks assigned
to /iDuov, which we have mentioned was 8 orddta=
4800 7rdd>r=5000 pedes. Now the Roman foot hav-
ing been determined^. 97075 ft,, the value of the
Greek foot hence deduced is 1. 0111812 ft.
2. Mr. Stuart, who examined the temples remain-
ing at Athens, found the average ratio of the Greek
to I he Roman foot to be 26. 04 : 24. (Quarterly Re-
view, No. 10, p. 280. ) The Greek foot would hence
-=1. 0128168 ft.
The mean of these two values is 1. 011999 ft. We
prefer, however, adopting Wurm's determination, who
has examined Mr. Stuart's measurements with great
accuracy, and has equalled the Greek foot to 136 65
Par. lin. =1. 0I146 ft. (See Tab. XIII. and XIV. )
V 9 GRECIAN MEASURES Or EXTENT.
lTie uni". or extent was 'kpovpa, being a square
whose side U 50 nbicc; it was divided into sixths and
twelfths, respectively called hm and i/iieicTot. The
wteBpov contained 4 ipovoat, and is the measure
? ? most frequently mentioned in the superficial measure-
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? iM4 MEASURES. WEIGHTS. AND MONEYS OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANS.
assumed it=82} Par. grs. =;o7. 3349 grs. The values
of the remaining weights are easily calculated, and
my bo aeen in Tables XVIII. and XIX.
V 12. GRECIAN COINS.
It is a matter of doubt when the Greeks commenced
the coinage of metallic ores. The Oxonian marbles
render it apparent that Phido, king of the Argives,
about 700 B. C. struck some silver pieces, and there
ret remain many Macedonian coins purporting to be
? truck five centuries B. C. Of all the Greek cities,
Athens was most celebrated for the fineness of her sil-
ver, and the justness of its weight; and Xenophon
mentions, that wherever Attic silver was carried, it
sold to advantage. Indeed, their money deserves our
particular attention, since we have unexceptionable
evidence of its standard weight, and since it furnishes
us with the knowledge we possess of the moneys of
the other Greek cities. . Copper was not coined till
the 26th year of the Peloponnesian war, when Callias
was a scccil time archon. It was soon after publicly
cried down by a proclamation, which declared silver
the lawful money of Athens; it, however, was shortly
after again introduced. The common opinion, that
the Athenians coined gold, is considered by some to
be without sufficient authority. That they had no
gold coin at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war,
appears from the account given by Pliny of the treas-
ure amassed in the Acropolis, which consisted of sil-
ver in coin, and gold and silver in bullion. Athenaius
. '. ? lis us that gold was very sparingly circulated in
Greece, until the Phocians despoiled and plundered
the temple at Delphi. But the gold-mines in the
ceighbourhood of Philippi were so improved by Philip
:. f Macedon as to yield 1000 talents yearly, from
vhich were struck the Philippics. When Greece be-
:ame subject to the Romans, the standard of the con-
piercrs was introduced, and there remain some gold
:oina which were struck subsequently to this event,
>l the weight of the aureus; one of these is preserved
n the British Museum, which, though a little worn,
bears the evidence of elegant workmanship: its im-
press on one side is the head of Minerva, and on the
other an owl and oil-bottle, with the inscription A6H,
Ml, the last two letters being placed under the oil-
bottle. The Persian daric seems to have been the
gold coin best known at Athens when in her lofty state
of independence, and was called crarqp, probably be-
cause it was originally the standard by which the
Spaxpij wu adjusted; and subsequently the Philippics
were standarded by means of the daric or the drachma.
The Greeks counted by means of Takavra, pval, rer-
puipaxpa, and ipaxpai, and tbeir method of standard-
ing excelled the Roman in point of ease and conve-
nience, aince their coins were weights also.
The brazen coins were XaA<<oi"c~i 66oaoc; and
Xbrrov=\ XaXxovr. The tifoXdc was so called, be-
cause, previously to the introduction of coined mon-
cy, it was in the form of a small spit. The silver
coins referring to the ofoAor are, Ttrpbtohni,. TpiMo-
W, Si66oXov, riftio66? . iov, and Sixafaov; but those
ire most celebrated which refer to the ipaxpfi, viz. ,
tiipaxpov, rpiipaxpov, TtTpa. ipa. xpm>. Rome de l'lsle
ncntions a Greek coin of silver, =11 ipaxpai, and
'lato and Julius Po'lux speak of the KtvniKovTaipax-
pov, which, were it a coin, must have been verj largs
bpaxnv quasi dpaypj, is interpreted a handful of I
bfjoAal, which were equal to it in value; it wis em-
ployed in the computations of the Greeks, as the ses-
? ? tertius was by the Romans, ? Plutarch affording ui
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? ROMAN MEASURFS OF LENGTH AND EXTENT.
1445
TABLE I.
Sextul
Feet. Incbe<<.
a . . _ . _ . IK
I. ROMAN MEASURES OF LENGTH.
1. Measure* below the foot. (Unit: Pcs=lll inch. )
rt
Sicili
2
3
Semiuiicia ii
4
3
1| Digitus 7T
6
4
2 1J Uncia. . . . 97
18
12
643 Palmus 291
72
43
24 Ifi 12 4 Pes 1165
10 . . . 9 849
100 . . . . 97 0 9
1000 970 9.
2. Measures above the foot. (Unit: MMia,re--\\ mile. )
Milei. Ydr Feet.
Pes . . 97
TABLE II.
I. ROMAN MEASURES OF LENGTH.
Palmipes
Jl
11
"21
1 v Oubitus
1 46
2 13 Pes Seslertius
. . . 243
5
10
4 3J 2 Passus
1 i 85
8 6} 4 2 Dccemjicda.
3 0. 71
120
96 80 48 24 12 Actug
38 2. 49
5000
4000 3333 J 2000 1000 500 41. )
Milliare 1617 2. 75
7500
SOOO J5000 0000 1500 750 621
11 Lcucra 1 C66 2. G2
10 Milliaria 9 339 0. 5
00 do 91 1631 2.
1
00 do 919 476 2.
1C
?
II. ROMAN MEASURES OF EXTENT.
TABLE III.
Pes qn
I. Meaturet below the Jugenim. (Unit: Jugerum--2l roodt. )
Roods Perches. 3q Ft.
idralus. . . . . . . . . . 31
100
? ? Deccmpeda qnadrata
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? ,146
ROMAN MEASURES OF EXTENT AND CAPACITY.
TABLE IV.
II. ROMAN MEASURES OF EXTENT
2. Uncial Subdivisions of the Jugtrum.
Uiicia
2
ltno. it Torches Sq. Ft. 8 83 63
Seilan* 1 fi 1 (57 31
3
H
Quad
rans ed 5. in or.
4
2
1*
Trien
s . . . . . . na fisafi
5
Z*
li
li
Quinc
unx i i idling
6
3
2
It
U
Semi
8 . . . 1 P 229 fi7
7
3*
2J
ii
If
1*
Septa
nx 1 18 4107
8
9
10
4
2J
2
If
11
M
Bes . . . 1 26 124 73
4i
3
2}
1J
H
i?
li Dodrans 1 34 20838
5
3J
*t
2
l!
i?
li lj Dextans 2 3 1978
11
5i
33
2J
H
if
? ? 14
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? ROMAN MEASURES OF CAPACITY.
French measures, weights, &c , . mil have been reduced lo the
English am! American standards by a comparison or the " Man-
aal des Poida et MesureV' of M. Tarbe, and Mr. Hassler*s able
report to Ihe Treasury Department in 1833. Other works have
been con<<uTied, of which may be mentioned those of Greaves,
Hooper, and AtImihnot. ihe paper* of Rarwr In the Philosophi-
cal Transactions of the Roynl Society of London lor Ihe years
1700 and ITT I. and the profound reporter President A Jains lo
tor f^nste of the United Stales i I 1821.
1 Mee the section i"i Roman \' eights.
the Greek -? ? ; > re It is sometimes improperly cert-
founded with Ulna. Ulna is the Greek opyvia ("dic-
ta ulna uird ruv id. evuv,id cat a brachiis; proprit eil
spatium in quantum utraque extenditur mama. "--Ser-
vms ad Virg. , Eel. , 3, 105. ) Pes testcrliu*=2l pcd.
is rendered by Boethius and Frontinus grains 01
"step," a term, however, not found in any classics. !
writer. Passua (*' a pasgis pcdibus") was a pace, equal
? ? to five pcdei. Deeempeda or Pcrtica (modern Perch)
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? 1440
MEASURES. WEIGHTS, AND MONEYS
quently makes cadus synonymous with it, and by the
Greeks it was called Kepufiicv, a/ifopiic, and Aterpiynjc
'IraXtubc. The greatest liquid measure was the Cu-
lms or Culleus=W amphora:. The divisions of the
amphora; are easily inferred from the plebiscitum just
mentioned, and from the following passage of Volusius
Mecianus: "Quadrantal, quod,nune plerique ampho-
ram vocant, habet urnas 2, modios 3, semimodios 6,
eongios 8, sextarios 48, hemiruu 96, quartarios 192,
tya'tkos 576. " The Urna was bo called, according
to Varro, "ah urinando, quod in aqua hauriendd, uri-
nal, hoc est mergitur, ut urinator. " Congius was the
cube of half a pes; one of Vespasian's is still extant,
narked with the letters P. X. , which denote pondo
decern, ten being the number of pounds it contained by
law. Congii of wine or oil were given to the people by
tho emperors and chief magistrates on holydays, which
gifts were hence called congmru, and persons frequent-
ly derived surnames from the number of congii of wine
they were in the habit of drinking at a draught; hence
Ciccro'a son wa>> called Bicongius, and Novellus Tor-
quatus, a Milanese, Tricongius. (Plin. , 14, 22. )
Sextarius was j of the congius=2 hemi>kt. --\ quar-
fani=12 cyatki; hence the sextarius, from the fact
of its containing 12 cyaihi, was regarded as the a* or
unit of liquid measures, and its uncia or cyathi were
denominated, according to their numbers, sextans,
quadrant, &c. It may be remarked that the ancients,
at their entertainments, were in the habit of drinking
as many cyathi as there were letters in the names of
their mistresses. (Martial, Epig. , 9, 93; 1, 72. )
There were two kinds of tcxtarii, the castrensis and
urbtcus, the former being double of the latter, or com-
mon sextarius. Acetabulum was half the quartarius,
and wa9 so called, in imitation of the Greeks (to whose
b(v6a$ov it corresponded), fro. n acetum, since it was
first used for holding sauce for meat. Ligula or lin-
gula at first simply signified a spoon, but was after-
ward regarded by the Latin physicians as a fourth of
the cyathus; Fliny and Columella make cochlear or
cochleare synonymous with it.
2. For things dry. The unit of this measure was
the modms, which contained two semimodii, and was
J of the amphora, as is apparent from the passage of
Volusius Mscianus above quoted. The remaining
measures, sextarius, hemina, (See, bear the same re-
lation to the amphora in the dry as in the liquid
measure.
$ 4. DITERM1NATI0N OF THE ROHAN MEASURES.
The measures of Length, Extent, and Capacity are
to intimately connected that the determination of their
values will easily be deduced from that of the pes.
Various measurements have been made, and various
modes of investigation been pursued, for the purpose
of assigning the value of the Roman foot, which, from
the imperfection of instruments, the want of accuracy
of observation, and of attention paid to the degree of
injury which the specimens examined may have suf-
fered, differ considerably in their results. We shall
give a brief account of most of these observations, and,
as far as possible, assign to each its proper degree of
credence. All that has served as a means of calcula-
ting the value of the Roman foot mav be arranged un-
der the following classes: (a) Specimens of the pes
found on tombstones, (4) Foot-rules, (e) Milestones,
(d) Distances of places, (c) Congii. ,/) Dimensions
of ancient buildings at Rome.
? ? (a) There remain four celebrated specimens of the
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? OF THE GREEKS AND ROMAN'S.
1441
git. , the congius contains 199. 876921 cubic inches,
anil, consequently, its >ido is 5. 8468 inch. But the
? ide of the congius was half the Roman foot; hence
the value of the Roman foot, as deduced from the con-
gius, is 11. 6936 inch. Though this result is very
near the correct one, much reliance cannot be placed
on this mode of arriving at it, in consequence of the
weight of the ancient wine (80 libra of which were
contained in the congius) being unknown. But, as
Khomnius Fannius informs us that the ancients ac-
counted no difference to exist in the specific gravities
>>f wine and water, we have considered them equal, and
mpposed distilled water of maximum density to be of
the same specific gravity with that employed by them,
which was very probably pure rain-water. There re-
raiin two congii, of which the most celebrated was
placed by Vespasian in the Capitol, as its inscription
imports, and is commonly called the Farnesian; the
other is preserved at Paris. These have been filled
with water and weighed by Psetus, Villalpandus, Au-
zout, and others, who have hence sought to determine
the libra and pes; but the results of their experiments
lire so much at variance as to render any inferences
drawn from them objectionable.
( f) The last method we shall notice, and which
(cads to the most satisfactory conclusion, consists in
the measurement of the ancient buildings now stand-
ing at Rome; and though many have ascertained the
length of some single parts of them, yet no one has
-. ompared the measures of the principal parts with so
much assiduity and success as Mr. Raper. Having
carefully examined the work entitled " Let Edifices
ai. tn/iics de Rome," by M. Desgodetz, he very inge-
niously deduced the value of the Roman foot from
65 dimensions--. 97075 ft. From this value of the
pet, which is the one now generally adopted in Ger-
nuxy and France, are easily deduced all the measures
pf length. (See Tables I. and II. ) The jugerum
being 28800 pcd. quad. , equals 27139 sq. h ---2 roods,
i 9 poles, and 187 ft. ; whence the superficial measures
11 Tables III. , IV. , and V. have been calculated. The
tmphora being the cube of the pea, equals 1580. 75
cub. inch. ; but as a cubic inch of distilled water at
BUimum density weighs 252. 632 grs. , and a gallon
lOlbs. avoirdupoisu or 70,000 gis. , the amphora equals
6 galls. , 2 qts. , 1. 64 pts. ; whence the Capacious meas-
ures in Tables VI. and VII. have been computed.
$ 5. ROHAN WEIGHTS.
The unit of weight was originally denominated At,
and subsequently Libra or As Lib-alls. It correspond-
ed nearly with our Troy pound. Its multiples were
Dupondius (2 pondo or libra). Sestertius (2i asses),
Tn'. isi. i (3 asses), Quatrusiii. t, Qttingttcssis, and so
on till Ccnhutu. The term as, though properly ap-
plied to a piece of copper of the weight of a Roman
pound, was extended not only to all the Roman meas-
ures expressing their units, but also denoted the entire
(mount of inheritances, interest, houses, farms, and all
things which it was customary to divide; and refer-
ence being constantly made hy authors to it and its
subdivisions, it is important that they should be thor-
oughly understood. The following table exhibits the
relations subsisting between the as and its several
puts.
Jttcix
A.
Uncic
? ? Ai
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? 1 -442
MEASURES, WEIGHTS. AN'D MONEYS
usaj Aistcrs. The entire mint was under the genera
f upenntendence of three men, appointed by the people
? t the Comitia Tributa, denominated Triumviri Mon-
xaics. The Romans counted by usscs, sestertii,
denarii, and aurci. The as (originally assis, from
aes), or assipondium, was at first libralis, and bore
the impression of Janus geminus, or bifrons, on one
side; on the reverse, the rostrum of a ship, and was at
first, as we have noticed, libralis; but in the first Punic
war, in consequence of the scarcity of money, the re-
public ordered asses to be struck weighing 2 uncie,
by which, as Pliny informs us, it gained J and dis-
charged its debt; it was subsequently reduced, when
Hannibal invaded Italy, to the weight of an uncia, and
lastly by the Papirian law to that of a semiuncia; and
though this rapid diminution of its weight was required
by the necessities of the commonwealth, it would
eventually have been accomplished by the increasing
abundance of silver and gold. The as thus reduced
was, in reference to its original weight, denominated
lilirlla, and the older coins are distinguished from it
by later writers when they speak of as grave. Be-
sides the ns, its subdivisions, viz. , semisses, trientes,
fuadrantes, sextantes, stipes unaales, semiuncia, and
sexlula (the smallest of the Roman coins according to
Varro), and its multiples, dupondii, quatrusses, and
decusses, were coined; specimens of which remai. i at
the present day, and are to be found in the most valu-
able collections of ancient coins. But those pieces
less than the as which were most frequently coined,
were the semissis and gitadrans, bearing the impress
of a lioat instead of the rostrum of a ship; the former
was (,lso named sembella (quasi semilibella), the lat-
ter ti:ru. nr. ius. The sestertius, quinarius, and dena-
rius were silver coins, and called bigati or quail-
rigati, from the impression of a chariot drawn by two
or fo jr horses, which they bore on one side, that on
the leverse being the head of Roma with a helmet.
The sestertius (or tsmistertius) was so called by a
figure borrowed from the Greeks, and equalled 24
tuts; its symbol is H. $. , abbreviated from L. L. IS. ,
tee iinui. s of libra, libra, semis. The sestertium,
K 1000 sestertii, was expressed by the symbol HS;
it was not a coin, but was employed by the Romans,
together with the sestertius, in computing large sums
of money. Their method of notation was effected by
combining the symbols with their numeral characters;
thus HS. MC. indicates 1100 sestertii; but if the
numerals have a line over them, ccntena millia or
100,000 is understood; thus HS. MC. means 110
millions of sestertii. When the numerals are separ-
ated by points into two or three orders, the 1st on
the right hand denotes units, the 2d, thousands, the
3d, hundred thousands; thus, III. XII. DC. HS. de-
notes 300,000+12,000-|-600=312600 sestertii. The
following illustration may be also added. Pliny says,
that seven years before the first Punic war there were
in the Roman Treasury " auri pondo XVI. DCCCX. ;
argenti pondo XXII. LXX. ; et in numerate LXII.
LXXV. CCCC. " (33, 3); that is, 16,810 pounds
of gold, 22,070 pounds of silver, and 6,275,400 ses-
tertii of ready money. The quinarius was equal to 5
asses, and marked V; by the Clodian law it was im-
pressed with the figure of Victory, and hence called
Vietoriatus. The denarius, at its first institution,
equalled 10 asxcs, and was stamped with the numeral
X or ^. But when the Romans were pressed by Hai>
? ? nibal, A. U. C. 537, the a* having been made uncialis,
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? OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANS.
U43
oeds. 'Ofryvin, or falhom, from opiyu, "to extend,"
a the distance from the hands, when the arms are
raised and extended, measured along the breast, and
equals 6 Trddtc; hence it has received from Herodo-
tus the epithets rerpain)x>>t and i^areodnc. The
measure from which the Romans probably borrowed
their decempeda waa ixaiva or icdAa/iOC=10 Trader;
six of these cor. s'i'uled the 'Aft/ta, which, together
with the TrXi? r>ci'=100 jroiiff, and the KaAauu(, was
ised principally in the measurement of lands. The
jaost ancient itinerary measure of the Greeks was the
aridiov, which appears to have had a very rude ori-
gin. ' It is said to have been the invention of Hercu-
. cs, whose athletic exertion it exhibited, since it com-
prehended the distance which ho was able to run with-
out taking breath. Isidorus informs us that it took
its name from lorrifit, "to stand," and assigns as a
reason, "quod in fine respirasset simulque sletisset. "
It was established as the measure of the length of the
aitec, or foot-course, at the Olympic games; and from
the respect in which these exercises were held, it be-
came an itinerary measure. This distance, the hero
who instituted it measured by the length of his foot,
which he found equal to one six hundredth part of the
eourse Censorinus and M.
Gossellin have endeav-
oured to show that there were different stadia em-
ployed among the Greeks, but their remarks have
been completely refuted by Wurm. 'Imwtov, or the
distance a horse could run, "sub uno spiritu," equals 4
errdiia, and AdAi;yoc has been variously assumed as 6,
7, 8, and even 21 orddia, but more correctly as 12.
Those linear measures which were known to the
Greeks by their intercourse with other nations, were
Mt'Atov, or the Roman mile--S orddia; Tlapaody-
yj7f=30 orudia, according to Herodotus (2, 6) and
Xenophon (Anal'. , 6, 7), though Straho makes it, in
different places, W and 60 orudia; and Zxolvoc, an
Egyptian measure, whose value is differently assigned
to be 60, 40, and 32 orddia.
y 8. DETERMINATION Or THE GREEK FOOT.
There are two methods of investigating the value of
;he rrove proposed to us: the first consists in its de-
termination by its ratio to the Roman foot; the sec-
ond, by means of the public edifices of the Greeks
which are yet standing.
1. All authors agree that the ratio subsisting be-
tween the Roman and Greek foot is 24 : 25, as might
also be inferred from the value the Greeks assigned
to /iDuov, which we have mentioned was 8 orddta=
4800 7rdd>r=5000 pedes. Now the Roman foot hav-
ing been determined^. 97075 ft,, the value of the
Greek foot hence deduced is 1. 0111812 ft.
2. Mr. Stuart, who examined the temples remain-
ing at Athens, found the average ratio of the Greek
to I he Roman foot to be 26. 04 : 24. (Quarterly Re-
view, No. 10, p. 280. ) The Greek foot would hence
-=1. 0128168 ft.
The mean of these two values is 1. 011999 ft. We
prefer, however, adopting Wurm's determination, who
has examined Mr. Stuart's measurements with great
accuracy, and has equalled the Greek foot to 136 65
Par. lin. =1. 0I146 ft. (See Tab. XIII. and XIV. )
V 9 GRECIAN MEASURES Or EXTENT.
lTie uni". or extent was 'kpovpa, being a square
whose side U 50 nbicc; it was divided into sixths and
twelfths, respectively called hm and i/iieicTot. The
wteBpov contained 4 ipovoat, and is the measure
? ? most frequently mentioned in the superficial measure-
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? iM4 MEASURES. WEIGHTS. AND MONEYS OF THE GREEKS AND ROMANS.
assumed it=82} Par. grs. =;o7. 3349 grs. The values
of the remaining weights are easily calculated, and
my bo aeen in Tables XVIII. and XIX.
V 12. GRECIAN COINS.
It is a matter of doubt when the Greeks commenced
the coinage of metallic ores. The Oxonian marbles
render it apparent that Phido, king of the Argives,
about 700 B. C. struck some silver pieces, and there
ret remain many Macedonian coins purporting to be
? truck five centuries B. C. Of all the Greek cities,
Athens was most celebrated for the fineness of her sil-
ver, and the justness of its weight; and Xenophon
mentions, that wherever Attic silver was carried, it
sold to advantage. Indeed, their money deserves our
particular attention, since we have unexceptionable
evidence of its standard weight, and since it furnishes
us with the knowledge we possess of the moneys of
the other Greek cities. . Copper was not coined till
the 26th year of the Peloponnesian war, when Callias
was a scccil time archon. It was soon after publicly
cried down by a proclamation, which declared silver
the lawful money of Athens; it, however, was shortly
after again introduced. The common opinion, that
the Athenians coined gold, is considered by some to
be without sufficient authority. That they had no
gold coin at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war,
appears from the account given by Pliny of the treas-
ure amassed in the Acropolis, which consisted of sil-
ver in coin, and gold and silver in bullion. Athenaius
. '. ? lis us that gold was very sparingly circulated in
Greece, until the Phocians despoiled and plundered
the temple at Delphi. But the gold-mines in the
ceighbourhood of Philippi were so improved by Philip
:. f Macedon as to yield 1000 talents yearly, from
vhich were struck the Philippics. When Greece be-
:ame subject to the Romans, the standard of the con-
piercrs was introduced, and there remain some gold
:oina which were struck subsequently to this event,
>l the weight of the aureus; one of these is preserved
n the British Museum, which, though a little worn,
bears the evidence of elegant workmanship: its im-
press on one side is the head of Minerva, and on the
other an owl and oil-bottle, with the inscription A6H,
Ml, the last two letters being placed under the oil-
bottle. The Persian daric seems to have been the
gold coin best known at Athens when in her lofty state
of independence, and was called crarqp, probably be-
cause it was originally the standard by which the
Spaxpij wu adjusted; and subsequently the Philippics
were standarded by means of the daric or the drachma.
The Greeks counted by means of Takavra, pval, rer-
puipaxpa, and ipaxpai, and tbeir method of standard-
ing excelled the Roman in point of ease and conve-
nience, aince their coins were weights also.
The brazen coins were XaA<<oi"c~i 66oaoc; and
Xbrrov=\ XaXxovr. The tifoXdc was so called, be-
cause, previously to the introduction of coined mon-
cy, it was in the form of a small spit. The silver
coins referring to the ofoAor are, Ttrpbtohni,. TpiMo-
W, Si66oXov, riftio66? . iov, and Sixafaov; but those
ire most celebrated which refer to the ipaxpfi, viz. ,
tiipaxpov, rpiipaxpov, TtTpa. ipa. xpm>. Rome de l'lsle
ncntions a Greek coin of silver, =11 ipaxpai, and
'lato and Julius Po'lux speak of the KtvniKovTaipax-
pov, which, were it a coin, must have been verj largs
bpaxnv quasi dpaypj, is interpreted a handful of I
bfjoAal, which were equal to it in value; it wis em-
ployed in the computations of the Greeks, as the ses-
? ? tertius was by the Romans, ? Plutarch affording ui
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? ROMAN MEASURFS OF LENGTH AND EXTENT.
1445
TABLE I.
Sextul
Feet. Incbe<<.
a . . _ . _ . IK
I. ROMAN MEASURES OF LENGTH.
1. Measure* below the foot. (Unit: Pcs=lll inch. )
rt
Sicili
2
3
Semiuiicia ii
4
3
1| Digitus 7T
6
4
2 1J Uncia. . . . 97
18
12
643 Palmus 291
72
43
24 Ifi 12 4 Pes 1165
10 . . . 9 849
100 . . . . 97 0 9
1000 970 9.
2. Measures above the foot. (Unit: MMia,re--\\ mile. )
Milei. Ydr Feet.
Pes . . 97
TABLE II.
I. ROMAN MEASURES OF LENGTH.
Palmipes
Jl
11
"21
1 v Oubitus
1 46
2 13 Pes Seslertius
. . . 243
5
10
4 3J 2 Passus
1 i 85
8 6} 4 2 Dccemjicda.
3 0. 71
120
96 80 48 24 12 Actug
38 2. 49
5000
4000 3333 J 2000 1000 500 41. )
Milliare 1617 2. 75
7500
SOOO J5000 0000 1500 750 621
11 Lcucra 1 C66 2. G2
10 Milliaria 9 339 0. 5
00 do 91 1631 2.
1
00 do 919 476 2.
1C
?
II. ROMAN MEASURES OF EXTENT.
TABLE III.
Pes qn
I. Meaturet below the Jugenim. (Unit: Jugerum--2l roodt. )
Roods Perches. 3q Ft.
idralus. . . . . . . . . . 31
100
? ? Deccmpeda qnadrata
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? ,146
ROMAN MEASURES OF EXTENT AND CAPACITY.
TABLE IV.
II. ROMAN MEASURES OF EXTENT
2. Uncial Subdivisions of the Jugtrum.
Uiicia
2
ltno. it Torches Sq. Ft. 8 83 63
Seilan* 1 fi 1 (57 31
3
H
Quad
rans ed 5. in or.
4
2
1*
Trien
s . . . . . . na fisafi
5
Z*
li
li
Quinc
unx i i idling
6
3
2
It
U
Semi
8 . . . 1 P 229 fi7
7
3*
2J
ii
If
1*
Septa
nx 1 18 4107
8
9
10
4
2J
2
If
11
M
Bes . . . 1 26 124 73
4i
3
2}
1J
H
i?
li Dodrans 1 34 20838
5
3J
*t
2
l!
i?
li lj Dextans 2 3 1978
11
5i
33
2J
H
if
? ? 14
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? ROMAN MEASURES OF CAPACITY.
