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[German version] Reward to the ferryman Charon for the journey across the river of the underworld (ναῦλον, πορθμήϊον; naûlon, porthmḗïon). A coin was placed under the tongue of the corpse or between its teeth [1. 349; 2; 3. 193f., 249f.]. The coin is often old, in bad condition or foreign; antique fakes or coin-like discs were also used, as in Greek graves of the 4th-2nd cents. BC [3. 250].  Charon [1];  Dead, cult of the Mlasowsky, Alexander (Hannover) Bibliography 1 J. Marquart, Das Privatleben der Römer, 21886 2 Schrötter, 100, s.v. Charonsfährgeld 3 D. C. Kurtz, J. Boardman, Th…

[German version] (Εὐαίνετος; Euaínetos). The most famous and best of the Syracusan coin-engravers, who in the latter third of the 5th cent. BC initially worked in Catana and also in Camarina, and then from c. 410 BC in Syracuse. Alongside splendid dekadrachmas, E. also signed smaller silver denominations as well as gold and bronze coins, occasionally taking turns with Euclidas and Eumenus.  Dekadrachmon;  Euclidas;  Eumenus Mlasowsky, Alexander (Hannover) Bibliography R. Weil, Die Künstlerinschr. der sicilischen Münzen, in: 44. Winckelmannsprogramm der Arch. Ges.…

[German version] (δεκανουμμίον; dekanoummíon). According to sources from late antiquity and Byzantium, the dekanoummion is a copper coin bearing a varying relationship to the denar unit. Despite this lack of certainty, it seems to be established that the dekanoummion was introduced in the reform of Anastasius in AD 498 as a 10-nummus piece with the denomination I (or X) and a weight of c. 2.25 g. In later coinage reforms the weight increased to 6.24 g, to sink again under Constantine IV to some 4.5 g and then towards the end of the 7th cent. AD to c. 2.1 g. Shortly thereafter the denomin…

[German version] [1] Spoon, smallest unit of Roman hollow measures (χήμη, chḗmē, ‘Spoon’). Smallest unit of Roman hollow measures, especially for medicines. Exceptionally, cochlear(e) is calculated differently: in the Carmen de ponderibus as 1/6 of the mystum (1.9 ml); in Isidorus (Orig. 16,25) the cochlear(e) amounts to 2.3 ml.  Acetabulum;  Amphora;  Congius;  Culleus;  Cyathus;  Hemina;  Hollow measures;  Modius;  Quadrantal;  Quartarius;  Semodius;  Sextarius;  Urna 1 cochlear   11.4 ml 4 cochlearia 1 cyathus 45.5 ml 6 cochlearia 1 acetabulum 68.2 ml 12 cochlearia 1 qua…

[German version] (Decus). The decussis stands in general for the figure 10 (symbol: X), and the term is derived from the corresponding amount or value in asses. On the basis of the libral standard weight (1 Roman pound = 1 as = 327.45 g), the decussis weighs ten times one as, and as a value represents 5/8 of a denarius of 16 asses. Numismatically speaking, the decussis is significant only as a bronze 10-as piece in the semilibral standard, cast during the years 215-212 BC (  aes grave ). The ‘Roma in Phrygian helmet/prora’ coin exists contemporaneously with the …

[German version] (ἀσσάριον; assárion). Greek term for the Latin as [4], with 16 assaria corresponding to 1 denarius [2. 32]; attested epigraphically and from stamps. In the course of the Imperial period and until the cessation of bronze coining in c. AD 275 the bronze assarion develops alongside the chalkos and the obolos to become the most important coin of the Greek East, meeting the need for small coinage in that region. Conversion of the three bronze denominations was variously implemented; in Chios for example 1 obolos = 2 assaria = 8 chalkoi [1. 192, n. 8]. There are denominations of 1/…

[German version] Silver alloy containing an admixture of more than 50 per cent copper and other base metals; whereas copper with very small proportions of silver is called white copper [1. 36]. Thinning out silver with copper is a common practice especially in late antiquity to balance the increased demand for currency [2. 401ff.].  Antoninianus;  Inflation;…

[German version] Trial mintings of coins and medals, as a rule made from inferior metal. Esp. TMs of Roman gold and silver coins exist in bronze and lead [2.64]. They often represent the only record of lost originals or of an issue that was never minted [1.1 ff.]. Coins with a very wide edge, probably special occasional mintings for particular events, can also be described as TM [3.32]. Coin production Mlasowsky, Alexander (Hannover) Bibliography 1 A. Alföldi, Zur Kenntnis der Zeit der römischen Soldatenkaiser III, in: ZfN 40, 1930, 1-15 2 M. R. Alföldi, Zum Lyoner Bleimedaillon, in: SM 8, 1958, 63-68 3 Göbl. R. Bogaert, …

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[German version] According to Plin. HN 33,43, the aes grave, influenced by Greek minting in southern Italy, refers to the oldest, cast bronze Italian coins which replaced the   aes rude . In hoard finds, aes grave occurs at the same time as the   aes signatum as well as the   didrachmon [1.98 ff.] and, shortly after 290 BC until 212 BC, it is cast in Rome and in various towns of central and southern Italy [5.9 f., 64; 2.28 ff.; 7.230 ff.]. It is divided into seven standard weights, from the as up to half an uncia, and it carries a …

[German version] A jug or drinking vessel that, derived from Greek κύαθος, is especially a Roman measure of capacity for dry goods and liquids of 45.6 ml. The cyathus amounts to 1/12 of the sextarius (= 0,55 l). The number of cyathi drunk is counted as a multiple of uncia, e.g. four cyathi are called trientes (= 1/3 of the sextarius) or 11 cyathi are called deunx. According to a Roman custom popular at banquets, people had to drink as many cyathi as the number of letters in the name of the one to be honoured. Larger goblets were also used that were a multiple of the cyathus.  Deunx;  Banquet;  Measure of volume;  Cyathus;  Sextarius;  Uncia Mlasowsky, Alexander (Hannover)…

[German version] (δανάκη; danákē). In ancient written sources (Hsch. 219; Poll. 9,82 i.a.) the danake is a silver Persian coin ─ the name derives from danak ─ which weighed slightly more than an Attic obolós ( c. 0.9g). Together with the silver half- danake (ἡμιδανάκιον; hēmidanákion), the danake should probably be linked to coins from Sidon (1/16 shekel) and Aradus, as a provincial coinage, since the coins are mainly found in the Levant. The danake was occasionally used as an obolos for the dead.  Charon's fare;  Obolos;  Siqlu Mlasowsky, Alexander (Hannover) Bibliography…

[German version] (χαλκοῦς; chalkoûs). In Pollux (4,175; 9,65f. 81) generally described as a bronze coin, the chalkous was the smallest fraction of a coin in Greek poleis. In Athens one obolos makes 8 [1. 47], in Delphi and Epidaurus 12 [1.56ff.], in Priene 16 chalkoi [1. 61f.]. The weight of the chalkos varied; the bronze coins from Seleucia/Tigris having an Χ (= Chalkos) under Antiochus IV weigh c. 2.8-5 g [2. 271f.]; a Neronian coin with the value marking ΧΑΛΚΟΥΣ in Antiochia/Orontes weighs c. 2.5 g [3].  Obolos Mlasowsky, Alexander (Hannover) Bibliography 1 M. N. Tod, Epigraphical Notes on Greek Coinage II. CHALKOUS, in: NC 6.6, 1946, 47-62 2 E. T. Newell, The Coinage of the Eastern Seleucid Mints from …

[German version] A double-sided aureus minted from about AD 210 with a weight of around 10-15 g; replaced by the double-sided solidus after the Constantine coin reform (AD 310).  Aureus;  Medaillon;  Coinage reforms;  Solidus Mlasowsky, Alexander (Hannover) Bibliography F. Kenner, Der röm. Medaillon, in: NZ 19, 1887, 1-173 especially 13-27 F. Gnecchi, I medaglioni romani, 1912 K. Menadier, Die Münze und das Münzwesen bei den Scriptores Historiae Augustae, in: ZfN 31, 1914, 1-144 especially 9-12 Schrötter, s.v. Binio, 75 J. M. C. Toynbee, W. E. Metcalf, Roman Medaillons, 1986, especially 22-24.

[German version] In the Roman system of weights and measures, dextans describes 10/12 of the whole and is derived from deesse and sextans, i.e. 1 as (12 unciae) less 1 sextans. The dextans was used in the measurement of length ( pes), the measurement of area ( iugerum), in the law of succession and in the calculation of hours. Based on the Roman pound ( libra: 327.45 g), the dextans weighs 272.88 g [1. 296]. Bronze mintings of 10 unciae in the sextantal or somewhat lighter standard were issued in Luceria as a compensatory coin for the Roman as shortl…

[German version] (δίδραχμον; dídrachmon). A unit of weight and a silver coin worth two drachmas, the didrachmon was the largest value in circulation, mostly struck in Asia Minor, southern Italy, Rome and part of Sicily, as well as Corinth, Elis and on Aegina, seldom in Athens, and rated variously at 12.48 g in Aegina, at 8.73 g in Attica or at the south Italian standard of 7.9 g, later 6.6 g. As a unit it represented a stater, so esp. for gold coinage. Rhodian 1st-cent. bronze coins and Neronian coins from Antioch on the Orontes bear the legend ΔΙΔΡΑΧΜΟΝ; DIDRACHMON [1; 2].  Drachma;  Stater Ml…

[German version] (Εὔμενος; Eúmenos). One of the earliest Syracusan stamp cutters, manufactured around 415-400 BC, initially influenced by Sosion, predominantly tetradrachmas of varying quality. E. signed alternately with Sosion, Phrygillus, Evaenetus and Euth[...]. In the older research he is occasionally referred to as Eumenes.  Evaenetus;  Phrygillus;  Sosion;  Tetradrachmon Mlasowsky, Alexander (Hannover) Bibliography R. Weil, Die Künstlerinschr. der sicilischen Münzen, in: 44. Winckelmannsprogramm der Arch. Ges. zu Berlin, 1884, esp. 5-7 L. Forrer, Biographic…

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[German version] Culleus properly designates a leather sack made of cowhide; it was used by the Romans as the largest unit for measuring fluid capacity (especially with wine). Probably originally based on the volume of the stitched cowhide, the culleus amounts to 524 l; 20 amphorae, 40 urnae or 160 congii constitute the culleus, with 1 congius corresponding to 3,275 l.  Amphora;  Congius;  Measure of volume;  Urna Mlasowsky, Alexander (Hannover) Bibliography F. Hultsch, Griech. und röm. Metrologie, 21882 F. Olck, s.v. C. (no. 2), RE 4.2, 1901, 1746-1747 O. A. W. Dilke, Mathematik, Maße und Gewichte in der Antike, 1991.

[German version] (δίχαλκον; díchalkon). A Greek measure of weight and bronze coin worth twice as much as a chalkous. It corresponded to 1/4 (Athens), 1/6 (Delphi, Epidaurus) or 1/8 (Priene) of an obolos [1]. Variants of the mark of the value were e.g. B X (stamp of Antiochus IV, Seleucea on the Tigris at about 9.6 g) [2. 271f.] or ΔΙΧΑΛΚ(on) (stamp of Apollonia Pontica at 2.1 g) [3].  Chalkous;  Obolos Mlasowsky, Alexander (Hannover) Bibliography 1 M. N. Tod, Epigraphical Notes on Greek Coinage, in: NC 6.6, 1946, 47-62 2 E. T. Newell, The coinage of the Eastern Sel…

[German version] Originally the expression for ‘one’ or ‘unit’; in the Roman system of measurement the basic unit in measures of length (1 pes = 29.57 cm), measures of area (1 iugerum = 2,523 m2) and of weight (1 libra, ‘pound’ = 327.45 g). In inheritance and property law the entire estate is called as; the heir to the estate is thus called heres ex asse. In the system of weights the as is divided duodecimally, some part units also representing denominations of coinage ( Aes grave). However the quincunx, bes, dodrans and dextans denominations occur infrequently [1. 39]. The earliest l…

[German version] Silver coins minted with the reduced Chian-Rhodian or Ptolemaic weight standard of 12.75 g that Eumenes II issued as local currency between about 175-160 BC to substitute for Seleucid coins and the Philhetairos tetradrachmes [3. 62; 4. 10ff.; 5. 45ff.]. Borrowed from the mystery cult in Pergamum, the name refers to the obverse motif of the Dionysian cista mystica consisting of an ivy reef from which a snake appears. The reverse side shows a goryt with two snakes. Cistophori were minted at various times by the more important towns of …

[German version] denotes the elbow, i.e. the forearm up to the tip of the middle finger and, along with the usual Roman unit of measurement, the pes, was used as the ‘ell’, amounting to 1 1/2 feet (444 mm). In Greek the cubitus is translated as πῆχυς ( pêchys) .  Measures;  Pes Mlasowsky, Alexander (Hannover) Bibliography F. Hultsch, Griech. und röm. Metrologie, 21882, 76f., 98 H. Nissen, Metrologie2 = HB Altertumswiss. I2, 1892, 838, 865 A. Oxé, Die röm. Meile eine griech. Schöpfung, BJ 131, 1926, 213-244, especially 233ff.

(δάκτυλος; dáktylos). [German version] [1] Measure of length The daktylos, Latin digitus, as a measure, is the term for the fingers' width, with four dáktyloi constituting a palm (παλαιστή; palaistḗ, Latin palmus), 16 daktyloi a foot (πούς; poús, Latin pes) and only in Greece 12 daktyloi making a span (σπιθαμή; spithamḗ). In Rome however the daktylos can also, according to the duodecimal system, be equated with the uncia and be counted up to the as (= pes). The guide for the daktylos is the foot that measures between 29.4 and 35.4 cm. It therefore fluctuates between 1.84 and…

[German version] Famous silver coin from Syracuse with a weight of 10 Attic drachmas or 50 litrai (42.3 gm). After the victory of Gelon I over the Carthaginians at Himera in 480 BC, the latter donated to his wife Demarete, who had pleaded for lenient treatment on their behalf, a gold crown worth 100 talents in gratitude (Diod. Sic. 10,26,3). Shortly after 480/479 BC the coins were minted from the proceeds and 18 copies are known to us today. The obverse shows a chariot driver on a quadriga, the horses of which …

[German version] (δεκάλιτρον; dekálitron) Exceptionally in Sicily, the Corinthian stater is associated not with the Euboean stater, later equated with the Attic didrachmon and divided accordingly, but with the litron system specific to the island, ten silver litra being equal to one stater (= 8.73 g according to the Attic standard). The dekalitron, also minted in silver, corresponds to the value of ten pounds of copper (109.15 g weight), and to a proportion of 1:250.  Didrachmon;  Stater Mlasowsky, Alexander (Hannover) Bibliography F. Hultsch, Griech. und röm. Metrologie, …

[German version] (Εὐαρχίδας; Euarchídas). Syracusan coin-engraver, who at the end of the 5th cent. BC signed tetradrachmas together with Phrygillos.  Tetradrachmon Mlasowsky, Alexander (Hannover) Bibliography L. Forrer, Biographical Dictionary of Medallists 2, s.v. E., 1904, 50-51 L. Tudeer, Die Tetradrachmenprägung von Syrakus in der Periode der signierenden Künstler, in: ZfN 30, 1913, 1-292, esp. 36ff., 228.

[German version] (ἄμμα; ámma). According to Hero of Alexandria, amma i…

[German version] (χοῖνιξ; choînix). Greek term for a dry measure, especially for grain. Depending on the region, a choinix amounted to 1.01 l (Attica), 1.1 l (Aegina) or 1.52 l (Boeotia, Laconia). Under the Ptolemies, a choinix was equivalent to 0.82 l. The measure was based on the idea of the daily ration for a man. As a rule four kotylai (in late Egypt three) amounted to one choinix, whilst eight choinikes made a hekteus and 48 choinikes one medimnos (= 48.48 l or a maximum 72.96 l). According to Viedebantt the choinix amounted to 0.906 l. Nissen gives the Attic choinix in the time of …

[German version] [1] Storage and transport vessel (ἀμφορεύς; amphoreús). Two-handled, bulbous storage and transport vessel with a narrow neck. The predominant form of storage vessels in antiquity, these have survived mainly in clay, rarely in bronze, precious metals, glass or onyx. Among  household equipment regarded as undecorated ceramics for everyday use ( Clay vessels II). Painted amphoras served ritual purposes as ornamental items on graves, urns for storing ashes, food storage vessels for the dead…

(Εὐκλείδας; Eukleídas; Paus. 2,9,1; 3: Epicleidas). [German version] [1] Spartan king about 227-222 BC Spartan king c. 227-222 BC, son of Leonidas II, Agiad. His brother Cleomenes III elevated him as king after the murder of the Eurypontid Archidamus III to formally preserve the double monarchy. Tradition attributes the Spartan catastrophe against Antigonus [3] Doson (222) at Sellasia to his tactical incompetence. E. was killed in this battle (Plut. Cleom. 11,5; 28,3; 6f.; Phil. 6; Paus. 2,9,1; 3; Pol. 2,65-68). Meier, Mischa (Bielefeld) [German version] [2] Syracusan die cutter…

[German version] I. Middle East Elektron as a natural alloy of gold and silver that was mostly worked as found in the Middle East and Egypt. According to analysis, objects seemingly consisting of gold usually contain a large amount of silver, which may constitute more than 40% (e.g., vessels from the royal graves of Ur, c. 2600 BC). Later, elektron was also artificially produced as an alloy. Elektron is harder than gold and, therefore, was preferred for jewellery, display weapons, statues, plating, inlays and units of value (e.g., as rings).  Gold;  Amber Wartke, Ralf-B. (Berlin) Bibliogr…

(δραχμή; drachmḗ). [German version] [1] Coin According to finds from the Argive Heraeum and Sparta, six small iron spits each in the value of one obol, form a ‘handful’ drachmaí (derived from δράττεσθαι), both hands encompassing 12 pieces and resulting in one didrachme. The first silver drachmai are minted in the Aeginetic standard of coinage at 6.24 g. Other standards are the so-called Phoenician at 3.63 g, the Chian-Rhodian at 3.9 g (and less), the Corinthian at 2.8 g and the Attic standard, which became dominant since th…

(χοῦς, χοεύς; choûs, choeús). [German version] [1] Jug or decanter Jug or decanter (height a little over 20 cm); used on the second day of the  Anthesteria during the wine-drinking competition. Probably used as a measure of volume for the prescribed quantity of wine. On Choes Day the three-year-old children receive a small choes decanter (H 6-8 cm) as a symbol of their entry into life. [2, 50f.; 1, 96ff.]. As a measure of volume for liquids the chous is divided into 12 kotylai and 72 kyathoi and amounts to 1/12 of the metretes. Depending on the region, the chous contained 4.56 l (Laconia), 3.…

[German version] I. Historical Damnatio memoriae (DM) was the process of erasing from the (public) memory of a person (usually a Roman emperor) whose name and images are removed from public inscriptions and buildings. Underlying this measure was the religious assumption, widespread in the Roman-Hellenistic world, that meritorious rulers, like heroes, had come from the realm of the gods and returned there after their death (Cic. Rep., somnium Scipionis; Verg. Aen. 6,734ff.). If divine origin was not sufficiently evident in the successes, good deeds and virtues of…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Arabia (Aksum). City on the Abyssinian plateau. Founded around the time of the birth of Christ, during the 1st cent. AD the kings of A. already managed to extend their area of influence as far as Adulis by the Red Sea. A. was Christianized by Alexandria under King Ēzānā in the mid 4th cent. In the 6th cent., King Kālēb Ella Aṣbeḥā conquered the kingdom of the Jewish king of the Ḥimyars, Yūsuf Asar Yaṯar (Ḏū-Nuwās) with Byzantine support. A. c…

[German version] [1] Roman coinage In the Roman system of weights and measures the bes ( binae partes assis) represents 2/3 (8/12) of the as and, on the basis of the Roman pound (327.45 g), weighs 218.30 g [1. 72]. In Roman minting the bes was stamped with S as its symbol of value; only issued by C. Cassius in 126 BC in bronze (with the head of Liber/ prora) [2. 290].  As;  Small coin, shortage of;  Libra Mlasowsky, Alexander (Hannover) Bibliography 1 Schrötter, s.v. Bes 2 M. H. Crawford, Roman Republican Coinage, 21987. [German version] [2] Dwarfish Egyptian god with hideous face (Egyptia…

[German version] I. Eastern Mediterranean, Greece, and Rome Unworked metal of various weights cast into various shapes which has served since the Bronze Age as raw material for further processing or as a pre-monetary method of payment. From earliest times gold, silver, and electrum occur in the eastern Mediterranean as crude lumps, small round ingots (perhaps crucible remnants), and round or shaped bars with division notches. Alloyed bronze, tin, and particularly copper appear as crude lumps, round ingo…

[German version] [1] Legal action An action, especially a legal action (Dig. 49,1,12) i. a. defining characteristic of   alienatio : omnis a., per quem dominium transfertur, Cod. Iust. 5,23,1. Formal legal actions in accordance with the old   ius civile , e.g. the   mancipatio , are described as acti legitimi. Any added condition renders them ineffective. Additionally, actus…