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[German version] (later Greek ξέστης/ xéstēs, 'a sixth'). Roman unit of fluid and dry capacity equalling 1/48 of an amphora [2], 1/6 of a congius, 2 heminae , 4 quartarii and 12 cyathi (Cyathus [2]; see table); a sextarius corresponds to approximately 0,546 l. As a measure of volume sextarius also occurs on ancient measuring vessels. Colloquially sextarius was also used for 1/6 of anything. The sextarius was the largest measure of both fluid and dry capacity; higher units had distinct names. Roman units of fluid and dry capacity and their relationships: sextarius      Unit:     cyathus  …

[German version] Gallo-Roman unit of measurement of Celtic origin for measuring and displaying distances on roads in Aquitania from the 2nd cent. AD and in the other Gaulish as well the two German provinces from the beginning of the 3rd cent. One leuga is equivalent to 1.5 Roman miles and corresponds to c. 2,200 m. Whilst in the 1st and 2nd cents. in these provinces the distance indications on the miliaria ( Milestones) were provided exclusively in Roman miles (abbreviation M P = milia passuum), the measures generally appeared in leugae (abbreviation L) from the time of Septimius Sev…

[German version] Fossilised ablative of limitation of Latin pondus, -i, 'in weight'. Often used instead of libra [1] as a basic Roman unit of weight in the sense 'at a weight of 1 pound'. Schulzki, Heinz-Joachim (Mannheim) Bibliography F. Hultsch, Griechische und römische Metrologie, 21882.

[German version] (ὠλένη/ ōlénē, literally 'elbow'). A measure of length based on one of the proportions of the human body which appears primarily in poetry (cf. e.g. Hor. Epod. 4,8; Verg. Ecl. 4,105; Verg. G. 3,355); its extent is inconsistent. Whereas the term is occasionally used as a synonym for cubitus (ell = 11/2 feet), it is also found in Plinius [1] the Elder as a translation of ὄργυια/ órgyia (fathom = 6 feet; cf. Plin. HN 36,87 with Hdt. 2,148,7), the length a human can span with both arms (Plin. HN 16,133; 16,202). Use as an official measure of length is improbable. Schulzki, Heinz-Jo…

[German version] [1] Unit of weight (also pondus, ‘pound’, metonymic ‘what has been weighted’; Greek equivalent: λίτρα/ lítra). Terminus technicus for the unit of weight of 327,45 g of the Roman measuring system; a libra corresponds to the as , which in the duodecimal system was divided into 12 unciae of 27,28g [2. 706 fig. XIII]. The standard very likely remained unchanged until early Byzantine times, as evidenced by weighing coins of precious metals and silver implements. [3. 222]. As weights, we find librae of bronze and of lead, also of stone. They are to be differentiated…

[German version] (πῆχυς; pêchys). Greek measure of length derived from the proportions of the human body, from the tip of the longest finger to the elbow ('ell' or 'cubit', Latin Cubitus), equal to 2 σπιθαμαί ( spithamaí/'handspans' ), 6 παλαισταί ( palaistaí/'handbreadths'; cf. Latin Palmus) as well as 24 δάκτυλοι ( dáktyloi/'fingerbreadths'; cf. Latin digitus), corresponding to 1 1/2 feet (cf. Vitr. De arch. 3,1,8). Depending on the foot measure (Pous) that was used, its length was c. 40-52 cm. According to a metrological relief from the island of Salamis, the Attic pechys measured …

[German version] I. Ancient Orient Measures of volume were used to measure liquids and especially grain and other bulk solids (dates, etc.). Therefore, they were employed in the administration of grain, including the issuing of rations. According to cuneiform sources, ordinary measuring vessels (especially the sea) were made of wood. Special measures for liquids can only be identified locally with a standard ‘vessel’ usually containing 20 or 30 litres. Despite all temporal and local differences, a relatively constant absolute size of the small unit (Sumerian sìla, Akkadian qû = c.…

[German version] (μέδιμνος; médimnos) is the largest Greek unit of measurement for dry substances, with a volume of 6 hekteis ( Hekteus), equivalent to 48 choinikes ( Choinix) and 192 kotylai ( Kotyle [2]). According to Hultsch, it equals c. 52.5 l, according to Nissen c. 51.8 l with considerable regional differences. Measures of volume Schulzki, Heinz-Joachim (Mannheim) Bibliography 1 F. Hultsch, Griechische und römische Metrologie, 21882, 108, 703 tab. X 2 M. Lang, M. Crosby, Weights, Measures and Tokens (The Athenian Agora 10), 1964, 41ff. 3 H. Nissen, Griechische und römische M…

[German version] The quadrantal (cubic foot) was the basic Roman unit of volume (Measure of volume) for liquids, identical in measurement to the amphora [2], equal to 2 urnae, 8 congii, 48 sextarii, 96 heminae, 192 quartarii etc. (cf. table). Calibrated to water, the quadrantal was equal to 80 librae (1 libra = 327.45 g), i.e. 26.2 litres. The quadrantal was probably standardized in the late 3rd cent. BC by a lex Silia de mensuris et ponderibus (Fest. 288). The Roman measures of volume and their relationships     Unit of volume    acetabulum     quartarius     hemina     sextarius    …

(Cyprus) [German version] [1] [German version] I. Neolithic I (Khirokitia culture, c. 7000-6000 BC) and II (Sotira culture, 4500-3900 BC) The settlement of K. (for the history see also Cyprus II) began relatively late and differed significantly from that of the neighbouring regions Anatolia, Syria, and Palestine. While small groups of hunter-gatherers there gradually became settled farmers around 9000/8000 BC, the earliest inhabitants of the island of K. were, from the beginning, farmers, herders, hunters, and fis…

[German version] ('A small sixth' = 1/6 of the u ncia ; cf. Varro Ling. 5,171: aeris minima pars sextula, quod sexta pars unciae). Roman unit of measurement constituting 1/72 of a bigger whole. As unit of weight, the sextula corresponds to 1/72 of the libra [1] = 4,55 g, as unit of area to 1/72 of the iugerum = 35 m2. In the Late Roman and Byzantine weight system, the sextula was equivalent to four scripula (value symbol Δ; scripulum ) or one solidus (value symbol N). Sextula also appears as part of the declared weight on silver crockery from Late Antiquity (CIL XIII 3100,5; 10026,25; 29a). Schulzki…

[German version] Latin name for a square measure comprising a rectangle of 120 × 240 feet = 35,52 × 71,04 m = 2523 m2 = 1/4 ha, made up of two squares ( Actus [2]) [1. 84f.; 3. 9f.], according to Plin. HN 18,3,9 the area which could be ploughed in one day by one yoke of oxen, in a figurative sense a ‘day's work’. Division according to the duodecimal system into 2 actus, 12 unciae, 288   scripula , with 1 scripulum corresponding to 100 square feet. A full calculation of the sub-units is given by Columella 5,1,4-5,2,10 [2. 627]. Varro, Rust. 1,10,2 mentions   heredium (2 I.), centuria (200 I.) and   sa…

[German version] (κάδος; kádos, Latin cadus, ‘jug, pail’). Graeco-Latin term for a vessel, usually earthen, for storing fluids. In Athens, kados was also the term for the biggest unit in the measure of volume, synonymous with metretes, equal to 39,4 l. [1. 101-102; 703 table X A]. In Rome, kados was the measure of Greek wines, as opposed to Italian wines, which were measured by the amphora [2]. In Roman literature, kados is a technical term for wine jug, often used metonymically for wine by the poets of the Augustan period. Records show that satirists also used the…

[German version] Roman measure of length ('palm'; cf. the Greek palaistḗ) of 4 digiti, corresponding to 1/4 foot and a length of c. 74 mm (cf. Vitr. De arch. 3,1,8: "relinquitur pes quattuor palmorum, palmus autem habet quattuor digitos."). Like digitus ('finger width') and pes ('foot') this unit of length is based on the proportions of the human body. Schulzki, Heinz-Joachim (Mannheim) Bibliography 1 F. Hultsch, Griechische und römische Metrologie, 21882, 74f. 2 H. Nissen, Griechische und römische Metrologie (Handbuch der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft 1), 21892, 842f.

[German version] Egyptian hollow measure for fluids and dry materials of 1/10 ḥqt ( hekat) in the Old Kingdom or 1/40 jpt ( oipe) in the New Kingdom, corresponding to c. 0.48 l [3. 1201], with minimal differences upwards [1. 1644] and downwards [2. 1152]. The hin is the only remaining unit from the Demotic period, corroborated by extant measuring vessels. Its relations to the  artabe and  choinix are contentious [3. 1210]. Measuring vessels based on the hin have also been handed down from the New Kingdom: mḥt = 1 hin, pg = 1/4 hin, mnḏqt = 50 hin, which seem, however, not to have h…

Roman surname. [German version] [1] M., Q. Horse breeder Cited by Varro (Rust. 2,7,1) as a distinguished horse breeder. His (probably invented) cognomen Equicolus, which indicates this activity, may have been interpreted by Varro as Aequicolus, so that a later period reveals a Septimus M. as the first king of the Aequiculi (Lib. de praenominibus 1). Elvers, Karl-Ludwig (Bochum) [German version] [2] M. Fabidius Founder of the city of Cures Son of a virgin of the Aborigines who comes to dance in the sanctuary of Quirinus in the territory of Reate, but is then seized…

[German version] Technical term used in ancient numismatics to describe multiples of a particular denomination or of a larger format minting from precious or non-precious metals. Frequently multiplum is used erroneously as a synonym for the term 'medallion'; the latter, however, excludes any function as a means of payment, whereas multipla are a fundamental part by weight of the current coin system. In the Greek sphere, the oktadrachmon and the dekadrachmon can be spoken of as multipla, as their minting can as a rule be seen in connection with particular events. In Rome we encounter the b…

[German version] [1] see Gefäße, Gefäßformen/-typen see Skyphos Schulzki, Heinz-Joachim (Mannheim) [German version] [2] Dry measure (κοτύλη/ kotýlē; Latin cotula, cotyla). Graeco-Latin name for a measure of volume for liquids equalling 1/144 metretes or 1/12 chous [1], the equivalent of 4 oxybapha or 6 kyathoi. Also the name for a dry measure of a volume of 1/192 medimnos or 1/32 hekteus . According to Hultsch, conversion is c. 0.27 l [1. 108, 703, table X], according to Viedebantt c. 0.22 l [2. 1547f.] with fairly large regional variations. Schulzki, Heinz-Joachim (Mannheim) Bibliogr…

[German version] Roman unit, 1/24 of a larger whole. As a weight a semuncia corresponds to half an ounce/ uncia ( “semuncia, quod dimidia pars unciae”, Varro Ling. 5,171) and hence to 1/24 of a libra [1] = 13·64 g (value indicator S or Σ), as a measure of length to 1/24 of a pes = 12·3 mm, as a unit of square measure to 1/24 of a iugerum = 105.1 m2, as a measure of time to 1/24 of an hour, as an interest rate to 1/24 of a centesima (1 % a month, 12 % a year) = 1/2 %. In the late Roman and Byzantine system of weights a semuncia corresponds to 12 scripula (value indicator  XII, IB; s cripulum ) or 3 solidi …

[German version] is a technical term from Roman surveying ( Limitatio), and denotes the perpendicular lines ( limites) in a rectangular surveying system; originally it was a term from cosmology, for the east-west axis as sighting line for the apparent movement of the heavens [1. 199]: counterpart of the   cardo , which as north-south axis divides the world into the hemisphere of the sunrise and that of the sunset, or diurnal and nocturnal hemispheres [2. 147]. In the practise of land-surveying the decumanus maximus was established as an axis of orientation on the basis of to…