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[German version] Modern technical term for a type of Celtic golden rainbow cups ( c. 100 BC) from southern Bavaria, formerly attributed to the Vindelici. On the obverse they show the so-called ouroboros, a long, dragon-like creature rolled up along the curve of the coin, on the reverse a torques with 6 spheres or three lyre-shaped ornaments surrounding the centre. The southern Bavarian treasures troves of Gaggers, Irsching, Westerhofen and Sontheim contained ouroboros staters; additional pieces were found in elsewhere in southern Bavaria. The next smaller unit is the quarter stater. K…

[German version] (τρίχαλκον; tríchalkon). Coin of 3 chalkoí (Chalkos), recorded from the time of Theophrastus (Char. 10,6; 371-287 BC) onwards. The 4th-cent. BC bronze coin of Phocis with value mark T is probably a trichalkon, and it appears as an indication of value on Imperial period bronze coins of Chios (= 1/2  as ?). Klose, Dietrich (Munich)

[German version] Latin, 'third' of an as and hence of any twelve-part whole, 4 unciae ( triás ), used with this meaning in Roman currency from the earliest aes grave; in the Janus/ prora series with a head of Minerva on the obverse, four points as a value indicator. Trientes were first cast, then minted, most recently under Cornelius [I 90] Sulla. The triens also appears in other Italian aes grave; in the decimally divided eastern Italian series it is better to call it a quadrunx . It occurs minted in the Roman/Campanian coin series (obv. head of Juno, rev. He…

[German version] (τετράχαλκον; tetráchalkon). Coin of 4 chalkoí ( Chalkos ), in Athens 1/2 obolós , in Chios inscription on bronze coins of the Imperial period (= 2/3 as (?), in the Seleucid Kingdom value indicator  Χ Δ (4 chalkoí). Hesychius (s. v. πέλανορ) equates Spartan iron money with one tetráchalkon. Klose, Dietrich (Munich)

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] Ancient name for the staters of Lampsacus in Mysia. 1. χρυσοῦ στατῆρες Λαμψακηνοί/ chrysoû statêres Lampsakēnoí on stele with Parthenon architectural inscriptions, Athens, 447/6-434 BC (IG I2 339-353 = IG I3 436-451). The staters are of elektron, obverse Pegasus protome facing to the left, reverse quadratum incusum of four quarters. Three groups (525-500; 500-494; about 450 BC) can be differentiated. 2. στατῆρα Λαμψακηνὸν χρυσοῦν/ statêra Lampsakēnòn chrysoûn; χρυσίω Λαμψακανῶ στ[ατεῖρας]/ chrysíō Lampsakānô st[ateîras] or similar on inscriptions from…

[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…

[German version] (from tres and as). Late Antiquity gold coin, from AD 313 (RIC VII Trier no. 38) under Constantinus [1] the Great 3/8 (9 siliquae ; standard weight 1.71 g), from 383 1/3 (8 siliquae, standard weight 1.51 g), of a solidus . Initially rarely minted, from the end of the 4th cent. until the 7th cent. tremisses were very frequently minted, the last in the 9th cent. The reverse image was Victoria, from c. 610 a cross. The tremissis became the model for the majority of gold coins of the Germanic peoples in the migration period (Franks, Vandals, Ostrogoths and Vi…

[German version] (Φιλίππειος/ Philíppeios, sc. χρυσοῦς στατήρ/ chrysoûs statḗr; Diod. Sic. 16,8,5-6; Poll. 9,84; 9,59; Syll.2 588 Z. 7; Syll.3 285; Dareikoi Ph.: IG II 5, 845c Z. 8), Latin Philipp(e)us (Liv. 37,59; 39,5; 39,7; Hor. Epist. 2,1,234; gold coin in general circulation: Dig. 34,2,27,4), golden stater of Philip (Philippus [4]) II of Macedon. It was a didrachmon of the Attic standard, weighing approx. 8.6 g [2. 407-409]. The obverse has a head of Apollo with a laurel wreath, the reverse a carriage and pai…

[German version] Roman coin of value 3 asses (As) (from tres and as: Varro Ling. 5,169); as a cast coin with value indication III in the libral Roma-wheel series of aes grave (mid-3rd cent. BC [2. no. 24/1]) and in the post-semilibral Janus-prora series ( c. 215-212 BC [2. no. 41/3a]); 36-35 BC as minted coins with value indication Γ in the issues of Marcus Antonius [I 9]'s naval prefect from Sicily ( Sestertius ) and, usually without value indication, as a locally minted triassarion in the eastern parts of the Empire in the Imperial period (As). Coins from Vienna, Lugdu…

[German version] Coins minted in lower Italy (Sybaris, Croton, Caulonia, Metapontum, Tarentum, Louse, Siris-Pyxus, Posidonia, Velia, Rhegium, and others) c. 550-440 BC, where on the reverse, the image of the obverse appears as a depression. This is a conscious effort to produce a view of the rear, not merely a duplication. Its meaning is debated. On the one hand, purely technical reasons are suggested; i.e. with hammer-struck coins, one attempted to strike clean, precisely centred coins. Others assume a philosophi…

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] (Lat. for ‘lump’); a formless mass especially of crude metal (such as massa auri, obryzae, argenti, ferri, etc.) in contrast to ramentum (small piece) and regula (bar). The bullion gold that went into the Imperial Roman treasury was entrusted to an authority called the scrinium aureae massae, with a primicerius sacrae massae, under the supervision of the comes sacrarum largitionum ( Comes A.; Cod. Iust. 12,23,7,7; 12,23,7,16 from 384; Not. Dign. Occ. 11,92; 11,95; Not. Dign. Or. 13,26; 13,29); and bullion silver to the scrinium ab argento. Klose, Dietrich (Munich) Bibl…

[German version] (τετρᾶς/ tetrâs; suffix probably Siculan [1. 57]). Sicilian bronze coin, part of a lítra . According to Pollux (on the triás ; 9,80 f.) and Hesychius [1] (s. v. τετρᾶντα) the tetras was interpreted as 4 unciae = 1/3 lítra, the triâs as 3 unciae = 1/4 lítra [1. 53 f.]. Linguistically this is not tenable, the suffix -ᾶς in fact describes parts of a whole, therefore t. describes 1/4 lítra, hence 3 unciae, and corresponds to the Roman quadrans [1. 54-58]. Accordingly, the coin described in numismatics as a triâs is in fact a tetras . (and vice versa; an alteration to the e…

[German version] (πεντανούμμιον; pentanoúmmion). Copper coin with a value of 5 nummi (Nummus) in a Byzantine copper issue, introduced by Anastasius [1] I in AD 498, with a value numeral of Ε (Greek) or V (Latin), minted until the time of Heraclius [7] I (610-641). Literary mention in the lexicon of Zonaras (Zonarae Lexicon); the numerical relationships are unclear. Klose, Dietrich (Munich)

[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…

[German version] Akkadian word for an ancient oriental weight from which the Hebrew term shekel and síglos (Siclus) derive, 1/60 of the manû (Mina [1]) and 1/3600 of a biltu (Talent). The šiqlu is recorded in hundreds of cuneiform accounts from the 3rd mill. BC onwards. In the Mesopotamian system of weights the manû weighed 499.98 g, the šiqlu 8.333 g [3. 510]. A shekel of 11.4 g, corresponding to the Phoenician shekel [2. 21], is recorded in Judaea and Samaria in c. 738 BC [1. 612]. The Persians adopted the Babylonian system; under Darius [1] I, the manû was increased to 504 g, and the šiqlu…

[German version] Coins of Numidian and Libyan mercenaries rebelling against Carthage 241-238 BC ( ‘Mercenaries' War’, Pol. 1,65-88), mostly minted over pieces of Carthaginian type. Treasure finds (Inv. of Greek Coin Hoards 2213, Sicily; 2281-82, Tunisia) confirm the classification. Reverse legend ΛΙΒΥΩΝ, types: 1. double shekel, obverse head of Zeus, reverse butting bull; 2. shekel ( Siqlu); 3. half shekel, obverse head of Hercules with the coat of a lion, reverse pacing lion; 4. bronze Hercules a…

[German version] Reduction stage of the Roman-Italic aes grave amounting to 1/6 of the original libral as, introduced at Rome c. 214-212 BC along with the denarius , which was worth 10 sextantal asses (As) (Fest. 468: during the 2nd Punic War). Bronze and silver were hereby set at a fixed rate to one another for the first time. A novel feature are the minor types (letters or symbols). They partly correspond to those of the silver coinage in the denarius system. This was also the time of the first minting of the large bronze nominals. Some coins (asses and fractions) were und…

[German version] (κόλλυβος; kóllybos). Greek for the corn of grain or pulse, then a weight between barleycorn and tetartemorion (Theophr. Lapides 46). From this, the name for a particularly small coin, attested in Athens from the 420s BC (Aristoph. Pax 1198; Eupolis 233; Callim. Fr. 85). Also two- and three-fold kollyboi are mentioned (Poll. 9,63.72). The tiny AE coins of the 2nd half of the 5th cent. BC are considered to be Attic kollyboi. From the notion of it being the smallest coin, the kollybos (Latin collybus) assumed additional meanings [5]: change; the money-changer's fee…