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[German version] (Greek μιλιαρήσιον/ miliarḗsion). Late Roman silver coin of 1/72 Roman pound = 4.55 g (light miliarensis) and 1/60 Roman pound = 5.45 g (heavy miliarensis; it is uncertain whether miliarensis was the ancient name [3. 15]); minted from AD 324. The miliarensis is first mentioned in the year 384 (Cod. Theod. 6,30,7 = Cod. Iust. 12,23,7). Dardanius gives the miliarensis the value of 1,000 (bronze) oboli, which would mean a 1:125 ratio of silver to bronze [1. 125f.]. A gold to bronze proportionate value from the year 396/7 of 1 solidus = 25 pounds of bron…

[German version] (τετρώβολον). Coin of 4 obols ( Obolós ), 2/3 of a drachmḗ [1] or 1/3 of a dídrachmon , or of a statḗr . These third-staters were also called drachmai, e.g. in Corinth, Mende, where the stater was equal to three (instead of two) drachmai. The tetrobolon . occurs in the Attic, Phoenician/Rhodean and Persian coinage standards (Coinage, standards of). The Athenian t. is mentioned by Aristophanes (Pax 254); Pollux (9,63) describes the Athenian tetrobolon of the 4th cent. BC somewhat incorrectly as having a head of Zeus on the obverse (in fact of…

[German version] The checking of coins by special coin checkers (Greek argyroskópos, argyrognṓmōn, dokimastḗs, Lat.   nummularius a money-changer in general -- or spectator, probator [1. 19]) played an important role in the protection against underweight value or counterfeit money ( Coins, counterfeiting of). It is often mentioned in literature, in inscriptions and papyrus [1. 13-20, 24-28; 2. 1, 4-10; 5. 358-362], first in an inscription dated 550-525 BC from Eretria [1. 13]. Coin checkers were employees of private ba…

[German version] (πεντάδραχμον/ pentádrachmon, πεντεδραχμία/ pentedrachmía; Xen. Hell. 1,6,12), a Greek coin with a value of five drachmai (Drachme), often mentioned in ancient texts: 1) used as pay at Chios in 406 BC (Xen. ibid.), it cannot be clearly identified [3]. 2) 'Old' pentedrachmia as a Macedonian coin in the time of Perdiccas [3] III (365-359 BC; Polyaenus, Strat. 3,10,14), probably the older Macedonian tetradrachma (Tetradrachmon), regionally divided into 5 drachmai [1]. 3) At Cyrene (Poll. 9,60), it may be the Attic tetradrachmon, presumably divided there into five drac…

[German version] Roman coin of 5 asses (As), modern word formed in analogy to quadrussis. As a cast coin (Aes grave) each with the value indication V: Rome c. 225 BC, weight c. 1400 g ( as on the libral standard, cf. Libra [1]), obverse head of Janus, reverse prora ('prow') (on authenticity: [1]); Rome c. 213 BC, weight 365 g ( as on the quadrantal standard); obverse Diana or Ilia, reverse prora [3. 32]; Etruria, weight 748 g and 707 g (Etruscan as of 151.6 g), obverse wheel, reverse anchor [2. 265]. Earlier numismatic literature described Roman heavy bronze ingots decorate…

[German version] (τετράδραχμον/ tetrádrachmon or τετρᾶχμον/ tetráchmon; Latin tetradrachmum, tetrachmum, Cic. Fam. 12, 13,4; Liv. 34,52,6). Coin of 4 drachmai (Drachme [1]), the usual large silver coin in the Attic and Phoenician/Rhodean coinage standards (Coinage, standards of), approximately 14-17 g in weight; the standard coin was a statḗr . Tetrádrachma minted from the late 6th cent. BC until the end of the 4th in Athens (Owls (coins)) and tetradrachma minted in accordance with the Attic coinage standard by Alexander [4] the Great (obv. bust of Heracles, r…

[German version] In the early period of the history of Greek money, despite the limited number in circulation, there was no shortage of small coins, since to a great extent everyday dealings were probably still conducted without coins. A shortage arises in developed money economies when the minting or supply of small coins fails. This could happen more easily in ancient economies than in the present day since minting served the needs of the state (seigniorage, payments to mercenaries) more than th…

[German version] Paduans were imitations of large Roman bronze coins (sestertia and medaillons), dating from the 16th cent. AD. Padua was one of the manufacturing centres, hence their name . Some are exact copies, others variations from the original and others completely made-up (e.g. sestertia of Otho). The best known paduans are those by the Paduan goldsmith and medallist Giovanni Cavino (1500-1570). Fifty four of his coin punches are preserved in the Cabinet des Médailles in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris [4.111-124]. It has been a matter of debate since Cavino’s …

[German version] (τρίδραχμον; trídrachmon). Coin of 3 drachmai (Drachme [1]), mentioned by Pollux (9,60). The trídrachma Maronitiká in Attic inscriptions are probably the tetradrachma (Tetradrachmon) of Maronea [1] in accordance with the 'Phoenician' coinage standard (Coinage, standards of), which because of their decrease in weight were later worth only 3 Attic drachmai. As minted coins tridrachma are very rare: early 'Aeginetan' tridrachma of Delphi; the coins of the Ionian symmachía of 394-387 were simultaneously Aeginetan didrachma (Didrachmon) and Rhodian tridrachma (…

[German version] Lowest fractional level of Roman bronze coinage, with an as of just 1/4 ounce (Uncia) = c. 6.8 g, first used in the middle of the 1st cent. BC in the bronze coins of the quaestors in Sicily, as well as in Paestum and Regium and elsewhere. However, these fractions need not always have been official. The heavy brass coinage of the fleet prefects of Marcus Antonius [I 9] can only loosely be connected to the QS [1. 86 f.; 3. 88, n. 114]. The QS can also be assumed for some local coinage in the Greek …

[German version] Final series of Roman-Campanian didrachms (Didrachmon) on the lower Italian standard prior to the introduction of the denarius (Liv. for 216 BC: 22,52,3; 22,54,2; 22,58,4 f.), showing the head of Janus on the obverse and Jupiter in a quadriga on the reverse. The nominal weight was 6 scripula (Scripulum) of 1.137 g. The quadrigatus was introduced at the same time as the new bronze coin on the libral standard (which also had the head of Janus on the obverse) in c. 235 BC [4. 708] or 225 BC [2. 146] (or as early as 250 BC? [3]) and was initially minted in Rome …

[German version] [1] Animal (χελώνη/ chelṓnē, ἐμύς/ emýs: Aristot. Hist. an. 5,33, 558a 7-11, cf. Arr. Ind. 21; Latin testudo, in Plin. HN 9,71 and 166 mus marinus, literally 'sea mouse'). The following are known: 1.) the Hermann's Tortoise, χελώνη (χελών, χελύς, χελύνη) χερσαία/ chelṓnē ( chelṓn, chelýs, chelýnē) chersaía; 2.) the very similar Spur-Thighed Tortoise, χ. ὄρειος ( ch. óreios) in Ael. Nat. 14,17 and Plin. HN 9,38: chersinae; 3.) the Pond Terrapin, ἐμύς ( emýs) or χ. λιμναία ( ch. limnaía); 4.) the Loggerhead Sea-Turtle, Thalassochelys caretta, χ. θαλαττία ( ch. thalattía) …

A board of three Roman magistrates with a defined area of competence. Distinction is made between ordinary annual officials, who had ordering functions within the group of viginti(sex)viri , and the extraordinary tresviri, who are known, on occasion, to have amassed a great deal of power. [German version] [1] Tresviri capitales Created c.290 BC, their office belonged to the lowest grade on the Republican career path (Cursus honorum; Liv. Per. 11). At first they were appointed by the praetor , and after 242 BC elected in the comitia tributa (Fest. 468 L). They were responsible for t…

[German version] [1] Bellows (φῦσα / phŷsa, bellows). The blacksmith's tool already mentioned in Homer (Il. 18, 372; 412; 468-70) is associated in Greek art in particular with  Hephaestus (Siphnian Treasury, Delphi), but rarely appears in depictions of workshops. There were two (Hdt. I 68) or more (Hom. Il. 18,468-470) folles in a workshop. In Roman art the follis is also depicted relatively rarely; on a blacksmith's gravestone in Aquileia (Mus. inv. no. 166) the worker at the follis holds a protective shield in front of himself; a fresco in the house of the Vettii in Po…

(στατήρ/ statḗr). [German version] I. Weight In contrast to other Greek units of weight, the stater lacked an exactly defined norm. Instead, the term stater referred to the most common weight pieces at hand. In Athens, inscriptions on a few exemplars show that the stater was a two mina piece adorned by an astragal (Ornaments) with a relief. The Attic stater could be doubled or subdivided into fractions - attested are thirds, sixths and twelfths, but also fourths, eighths and sixteenths. Peculiar is that the mina [1] was not understood to be half a stater but was seen as an independent u…

[German version] [1] A formal resolution of the Roman Senate (SC; sometimes senatus sententia: ILS 18; 35a; 8208; informally also senatus decretum, e.g. Cic. Mil. 87; Cic. Sest. 32, or in archaic form senati decretum: Sall. Cat. 30,3 and passim). The formal resolution by which the Roman Senate pronounced advice or instructions at the request ( consulere) of magistrates; while not binding legally, it was in practice: in the Imperial Period, to some extent it even acquired force of law (Gai. Inst. 1,4; Pompon. Dig. 1,2,12; cf. [3. 432]). An SC that was…

I. Classical Antiquity [German version] A. Coins and coinage. General Coins, a particular, developmentally late form of money, are handy, usually are round pieces of metal made of gold, electron, silver, copper or copper alloys. The metal exhibits a prescribed composition (fineness), and the coins a weight defined by the applicable standard (Coinage, standards of). Coins bear signs on their obverse and the reverse: a design and usually an inscription. Through their characteristics, coins could be recognized as the product of those authorities (society or ruler) wh…

[German version] [1] Nomos, nomoi (ὁ νόμος/ ho nómos, pl. οἱ νόμοι/ hoi nómoi). Siewert, Peter (Vienna) [German version] A. General In Greek, nómos (pl. nómoi) refers to customary conduct or a behavioural norm observed by members of a community; depending on the context it can be translated with ‘custom’, ‘habit’, ‘practice’, ‘rule’, ‘order’, ‘institution’, ‘constitution’, ‘law’ etc. (cf. [1. 20-54; 2. 14-19]). The size of the communities where a nómos applied could vary considerably: from married couples and families to cult and settlement communities, from cit…