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Roman Money, Weights And Measures
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Money before coins in early Rome
The Roman historian Livy (about 59 BC - AD 17) mentions that before the
Roman bronze money ingot (aes signatum), early 3rd century BC, Length:
170 cm, Weight: 1746 g . The elephant design on this example was
probably inspired by the war-elephants in the army of the Greek king
Pyrrhus who invaded Italy and attacked the Romans in 280 BC. This was
the first time the Roman army had ever faced elephants in battle.
Pyrrhus defeated the Romans twice, but he lost so many of his own men
in the process that he eventually lost the war, hence the phrase a
'Pyrrhic victory'. The pig on the other side may refer to a bizarre
occasion when, in one of the battles, Pyrrhus' elephants were
frightened away by the grunting of pigs kept by the Roman army.
http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk
invention of silver coinage, when money consisted of 'heavy bronze',
wealthy Romans of the fourth century BC transported their money from
one place to another in wagons. The 'heavy bronze' took the form of
cast ingots weighing about 1600 grams (around 5 Roman pounds). They had
a variety of designs on either side. They seem to have been used as a
means of making official payments, such as taxes or judicial fines.
Their value was used as a unit to assess a citizen's wealth.
The ingots were no longer made after the mid-third century BC, when the
Romans moved over entirely to silver coins. But bronze remained
important within the Roman monetary system. The Latin word for bronze,
aes, was the colloquial word for money.
Coins
The principal Roman coins were the as, of copper; the sestertius, quinarius, denarius, of silver; and the aureus, of gold.
1. The as, the unit of the Roman currency, contained originally a pound
of copper, but it was diminished from time to time till at last it
contained only 1/24 of a pound.
Note.--An as, whatever its weight, was divided into twelve unciae.
2. The sestertius contained originally 2 1/2 asses, the quinarius 5,
and the denarius 10; but as the as depreciated in value, the number of
asses in these coins was increased.
3. The as is also used as a general unit of measure. Thus--
a) In Weight, the as is a pound, and the uncia an ounce.
b) In Measure, the as is a foot or a jugerum, and the uncia is l/12 of a foot or of a jugerum.
c) In Interest, the as is the unit of interest --
i.e., 1 percent a month or 12 percent a year; the uncia is l/12 percent
a month, or 1 percent a year; and the semis is 6/12 percent a month, or
6 percent a year, etc.
d) In Inheritance, the as is the whole estate, and
the uncia 1/12 of it. Hence heres ex asse, heir of the whole estate;
heres ex dodrante, heir of 9/12.
Silver republican denarius
Computation of Money
1. In all sums of money the common unit of computation was the
sestertius, also called nummus; but four special points deserve notice:
a) In all sums of money, the units, tens, and
hundreds are denoted by sestertii with the proper cardinals. Thus --
quinque sestertii = 5 sesterces;
viginti sestertii = 20 sesterces;
ducenti sestertii = 200 sestertes.
b) One thousand sesterces are denoted by mille sestertii, or mille sestertium.
c) In sums less than 1,000,000 sesterces, the
thousands are denoted either (1) by milia sestertium (gen. plur.), or
(2) by sestertia:
duo milia sestertium, or duo sestertia = 2,000 sesterces;
quinque milia sestertium, or quinque sestertia = 5,000 sesterces.
Note.--With sestertia the distributives are generally used, as -- bina sestertia.
d) In sums containing one or more millions of
sesterces, sestertium with the value of 100,000 sesterces is used with
the proper numeral adverb, decies, vicies, etc. Thus--
decies sestertium = 1,000,000 (10 x 100,000) sesterces;
vicies sestertium, 2,000,000 (20 x 100,000) sesterces.
In the examples under d), sestertium is treated as a neuter noun in the
singular, though originally it was probably the genitive plural of
sestertius, and the full expression for 1,000,000 sesterces was decies
centena milia sestertium. The words centena milia were afterward
generally omitted, and finally sestertium lost its force as a genitive
plural, and became a neuter noun in the singular, capable of declension.
2. Sometimes sestertium is omitted, leaving only the numeral adverb: as, decies = 1,000,000 sesterces.
3. The sign HS is often used for sestertii, and sometimes for sestertia, or sestertium:
decem HS = 10 sestercies (HS = sestertii).
dena HS = l0,000 sesterces (HS = sestertia).
decies HS = 1,000,000 sesterces (HS = sestertium).
Weights and Measures
The following weights and measures deserve mention:
1. The Libra, also called As or Pondo, equal to about 11 1/2 ounces, is the basis of Roman weights.
a) The libra, like the as in money, is divided into 12 parts.
2. The Modius, equal to about a peck, is the basis of dry measure.
3. The Amphora, containing a Roman cubic foot, equivalent to about seven gallons, is a convenient basis of liquid measure.
4. The Roman Pes or Foot, equivalent to about 11.6 inches, is the basis of long measure.
Note.-- Cubitus is equivalent to 1 1/2 Roman feet, passus to 5, and stadium to 625.
5. The Jugerum, containing 28,800 Roman square feet, equivalent to about six tenths of an acre, is the basis of square measure.
6. The stade - a Greek measure of distance - was 177,60 metres
Weights and measures
Latin terms used by Cato (italic)
English approximations used in this translation (roman)
Metric equivalent Imperial equivalent
Linear measure 1 foot (pes) = 4 palms (palmae) = 12
inches (pollices) = 16 fingers (digiti) pes: 24
centimetres 11.5 inches
Area 1 iugerum [= 240 x 120 pedes] iugerum: 0.25 hectare 0.6 acre
Dry volume 1 peck (modius) = 2 gallons (semodii)
= 16 pints (sextarii) modius: 8.75 litres 2 UK gallons
2.4 US gallons
Liquid volume 1 culleus = 20 amphorae or quadrantalia = 40 urnae = 160 congii
= 960 pints (sextarii) culleus: 525 litres (5.25 hectolitres) 115 UK gallons
139 US gallons
Volume: smaller units 1 pint (sextarius) = 2 heminae
or cotulae = 3 tertiarii = 4 quartarii = 8 acetabula = 12 cyathi
sextarius: 0.55 litre 1 UK pint
1.2 US pints
Weight 1 lb. or libra = 12 ounces (unciae)
libra: 0.325 kilogram 13 ounces
Apothecaries’ weight 1 pound (mina) =
100 drams (drachmae) mina: 0.44 kilogram
15.4 ounces |
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