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[German version] (Latin, 'whole', of metals 'solid', e.g. aurei solidi: Apul. Met. 10,9), main coin of Roman currency of Late Antiquity. A lighter gold coin introduced by Constantine (Constantinus [1] I) to replace the aureus because of rising gold prices. It was introduced from AD 309 at Trier, from 313 in Constantine's entire half of the Empire and from 324 throughout the Empire. Greek χρύσιον νόμισμα/ chrýsion nómisma (lit. 'golden' coin; from the 7th cent. only nomisma; numerous bynames referring to its high quality or to coin images [5. 1229]). The solidus weighed 1/72 Roman pound…

[German version] (τρίχρυσον; tríchryson). Triple chrysoûs (gold coin, particularly gold stater) is the name given in a papyrus (P CZ 59021,13; 59022,6-16, 3rd cent. BC) to the coin known today as a pentádrachmon , an early Ptolemaic gold coin of approximately 17.8 g with a value initially of 60 Phoenician-Ptolemaic silver drachmai; this corresponds to a gold-silver proportion of 12 : 1. According to the papyrus, however,  the trichryson was traded with a premium of 6 2/3 silver drachmai, the gold-silver ratio had therefore risen to 13 1/3 : 1  [1. 70-73]. It may be that the trichryso…

[German version] (τριώβολον/ triṓbolon; Poll. 9,62). Coin with the value of 3 oboloi ( Obolós ) = 1/2 drachmḗ [1] = 1/4 statḗr , common in almost all Greek coinage systems. In Athens approximately 2.18 g of silver, the daily allowance for attendance at the People's Assembly and the pay for judges (Aristoph. Eccl. 293; 308; Aristoph. Equ. 51; 800), in the Peloponnesian War the daily pay for sailors (Thuc. 8,45,2; Xen. Hell. 1,5,7). Triṓbola with value marks: 3 acorns in Mantinea, Τ in Sicyon. Gold triobola are mentioned in the Eleusis temple inventories (329/8 BC; IG II2 1672 Z. 300) and we…

[German version] (Lat., in full pecunia maiorina or nummus maior). Ancient name for ‘larger bronze (Æ)/billon coins ( Billon) of the 4th cent. AD. Some modern scholars avoid the ancient names because of the frequent changes in the coinage system. Maiorina was probably the name of the largest Æ nominal of the coinage reform of AD 348 ( c. 5 1/4 g, 2.8 % silver), only struck for a brief period, and of the somewhat smaller coins of 349-352 [2. 64f.]. The edict Cod. Theod. 9,21,6 of 349 AD forbad the elimination of silver from the maiorina, an edict of 356 (…

[German version] Quarter of a Roman  as (Varro Ling. 5,171; Volusianus Maecianus 15,24; Prisc. De figuris numerorum 11; further mentions in the literature of the Republic: [1. 657 f.]). Hence for the as of the libral weight standard (Libra [1]) a quadrans corresponded to three unciae (Uncia). Coins of this value, cast in the Roman and Italic  aes grave (from c. 280 BC on), showed three balls as an indication of value. When dividing the as  decimally, the quadrans corresponded to  3/10  of an as [1. 659]. Among some Italic peoples the quadrans was initially called a terruncius …

[German version] (πεντώβολον; pentṓbolon). Greek coin worth 5 obols (obolos), for example, in the silver coinage of Athens in the 4th cent. BC. It is mentioned in Aristoph. Equ. 798, on inscriptions and in the Suda s.v. πεμπώβολον. Klose, Dietrich (Munich)

[German version] Value of 4 asses (As), a term conjectured in modernity but long since rejected; ancient quattussis, quadrassis; from the 1st cent. AD on, in inscriptions as quattus, quadtus for price indications (CIL IV 1679; VIII 25902, III 19; XI 5717). Whether there was a coin of that value is questionable; it would correspond to a sestertius. At best, the sesterces of Marcus Antonius' [I 9] naval prefect could be described as quadrusses because of the value indicator Δ (=4) used in addition to HS for sesterce. Indicati…

[German version] (τέτραχμα καινὰ ταυροφόρα). A coin (Tetradrachmon; according to the numbering also fractions) with an image of a bull, mentioned only in the Delos treasure lists (IDélos 1429 B II; 1432 BB I and Ba II; 1449 Ba I, c. 166 BC). According to [3] the large Eretrian silver coin with an ox in a laurel wreath on the reverse (after 196 BC), to [1. 37] an early tetradrachmon of Macedonia Prima with Artemis Tauropolos on a bull on the reverse (after 167 BC), and to [2. 61-63] a Theran coin with a bull on the reverse, of which to…

[German version] (τριτεταρτημόριον/ tritetart ēmórion, also tritartēmórion, tritēmórion). Silver coin with the value of 3 tetartēmória, 3/4 obolós (Poll. 9,65), with 3 crescent moons in 4th-cent.-BC Athens and 3 Ts in Thurii, Delphi, Argos, Elis, Mantinea, Cranium, and Pale. Klose, Dietrich (Munich)

[German version] Up to the 16th cent., coin production (CP) hardly changed (Bramante's minting press). Ancient coins are usually struck, less often cast. For the location of mints, their administration and organization see  minting. First of all, coin metal [18] must be made available by foundries. At least for precious metal coins, the purity of the alloy is the decisive determinant for their value. The coin metal was probably delivered already in an alloyed state (in ingots?). Serial marks of th…

[German version] Modern technical term for a depression on the reverse of the early coins of Greece, Asia Minor and Persia. Originally the impression of the tip of the rod holding the blank for minting, by the end of the 7th cent. BC a QI was more carefully shaped: square (Chios), rectangular (Persian dareikos), triangular (Chalcis), composed of several similar or dissimilar bosses (Cyme, Samos, Miletus). The surface is very often patterned, with diagonals (Athens) or crosses (Himera, Teos, Ephesus), divided into boxes (Macedonian tribes, Cyzicus)…

[German version] (τριημιωβόλιον; trihēmiōbólion). Greek coins with the value of 11/2 oboloi ( Obolós ) = 1/4 drachme [1] (cf. Aristoph. fr. 48) in Athens in the 5th cent. BC. Coins of 1.08 g with two owls and an olive branch between them, or a frontal view of an owl with open wings. Trihēmiōbólia with value indicators ΤΡΙΗ in Corinth and Leucas, ΤΡΙ in Cranii, Τ in Sicyon (all 5th cent. BC), and three Εs (for 3 (h)emibolia) in Heraea and Tegea (late 5th-4th cents. BC). Gold trihemiobolia of 0.45-0.60 g were minted in Corinth around406 BC. Klose, Dietrich (Munich) Bibliography W. Schwabacher, …

[German version] Latin form of the Greek nómos ([2. vol. 2, 247], cf. Varro, Ling. 5, 173), later translated back again as the Greek noúmmos; originally it was the general word for ‘coin’ ( n. argenteus, n. aureus, cf. Varro, Ling. 4,36; habere in nummis: ‘to have it in cash’); the abbreviation N. = nummus, a heavy bronze coin from Teate and Venusia in Apulia (3rd cent. BC). Then N. mostly = sestertius, often abbreviated to N., at first with the addition ( n. sestertius, see ILS 7313; 8302) and later without, Greek noúmmos ( nomos ). The Greek noúmmos and nummus were also the other names for the…

[German version] (Greek σίγλος/ síglos, σίκλος/ síklos, or neuter σίκλον/ síklon; Latin siclus, sicel, from Akkadian šiqlu = shekel, Hebrew לקש). Ancient oriental weight, 1/60 of a light or heavy mina [1], or 1/50 of a mina among Jews (Ez 45,12) and Greeks, where 1 mina was the equivalent of 100 drachmai. As a coin standard, siglos was the name of various silver coins. The autonomous large silver coins of the Phoenician cities were sigloi as tetradrachms (Tetradrachmon), e.g. in Sidon (units of coins from 2 down to 1/64 siglos) and Tyre (units of coins from 1 down to 1/24 siglos), which were m…

[German version] Suitably smaller symbols (images, monograms, ciphers, alphabetical letters, abbreviations of names) to identify particular issues, dates of stamping or workshops, as an additional control measure on coinage, near the coin image and legend. Control-marks appeared in the 4th cent. BC (supplementary coin images), increasingly so in the Hellenistic period (monograms) and also in the Roman Republic. Instead of the monograms and abbreviations, names of officials came to be more or less …

[German version] In other words: forgery. Unauthorized production or forced weight reduction of circulating coins to the detriment of the public by a party not entitled to mint. It must be differentiated from the manufacture or modification of old coins to the detriment of collectors. Coin counterfeit (CC) is as old as minting coins. The oldest preserved forged coins are imitations of Lydian electron coins of the early 6th cent. BC [11. 35f.]. Forgeries undermined confidence in the entire coinage (Dion. Chrys. 31,24). Since the nominal value of an ancient coin corresponded to…

[German version] (Latin quinarius ‘five-piece coin’). Silver coin with a value of five asses (As) (in bronze called quincussis ), or eight asses from c. 141 BC on; always mentioned in connection with the denarius with a value of ten asses, or sixteen asses from 141 BC on (Varro, Ling. 5,173; Prisc. 6,66; Volusius Maecianus 44-47; Plin. HN 33,44 f. with incorrect dating); consequently it came into existence together with the denarius in about 214-211 BC as a coin worth half the latter's value. It was a silver coin and, being half a denarius, weighed 1/144 Roman pound (Libra [1]) = 2.27 g. …

[German version] (late Latin semissis, 'half'). In coinage half an as (= 6 unciae ). A semis occurs in almost all series of the Italian aes grave ; in the decimal sequence, it appears in the place of the quincunx , particularly in eastern Italy. In the Roman aes grave (from c. 280 BC), semisses have a value indication 'S'. Until c. 231 BC they bear various images, from c. 225 BC (introduction of the Prora series of aes grave ) a head of Saturn on the obverse and Prora on the reverse. Until the introduction of the Sextantal Standard ( c. 214-212 BC), semisses were cast, after that stamped. Semisses also …

[German version] A joint minting by some cities (Rhodes, Cnidus, Iasus, Ephesus, Samos, Byzantium, Cyzicus and Lampsacus) with local ethnika and representations on the reverse, ΣΥΝ (for Symmachia) and the young snake-strangling Hercules on the obverse. The coins were generally seen as the expression of an alliance not documented by other sources, which is mostly dated in the time immediately after 394 BC (defeat of the Spartans off Cnidus). Klose, Dietrich (Munich) Bibliography H. A. Cahn, Knidos, 1970, 173f. G. L. Cawkwell, A Note on the Heracles Coinage Alliance of 394 B…

[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)

[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] (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…

[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] 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…

[German version] 'Sesterce', Roman coin, abbreviated from semistertius = 'third half' = 2 1/2 asses (Varro Ling. 5,173; Volusius Maecianus 46; Prisc. De figuris numerorum 17 f.; Vitr. De arch. 3,1,42). The sestertius was introduced around 214-211 BC together with the denarius, as one quarter of the latter, which weighed 1/72 of a Roman pound and was equivalent to 10 asses in the sextantal standard, which was introduced at the same time. The sestertius was minted as a small silver coin at 1/288 of a pound = 1 scripulum . The images correspond to the denarius and …

[German version] Modern technical term for the inflation-driving phenomenon in which bad money displaces good money that is then exported, melted down or hoarded. Not until the 19th cent. was it named after Thomas Gresham (1519-1579), the founder of the London Stock Exchange and royal financial agent. The main source of knowledge of the circulation of money and the disappearance of good coins in antiquity are the treasure finds. As an example (with a weakening of Gresham's law [GL] due to the higher valuation of minted silver), the better of the pre-Neronian denarii disappeared from ci…

[German version] (Pl. of Lat. votum, 'vow to the gods'; vota suscipere, 'to make vows of performing an action pleasing to the gods, if the latter will give protection from harm'; vota solvere, 'to fulfil the vows by performing the promised action, if everything has ended well'). Besides the private vota, during the Imperial period, there were also the vota publica of the subjects for particular operations undertaken by the emperor. On coins, vota are found for the first time and with precise formulas under Augustus [1], such as: IOVI VOT(a) SVSC(epta) PRO SALVT(e) CA…

[German version] (ὀκτάδραχμον; oktádrachmon), eight drachma coin of about 28 grams, particularly in the region of the 'Phoenician foot', in the silver issues e.g. of Abdera and Ichnae, of the Bisalti, Edoni and Orrhescii, of Alexander [2] I of Macedonia (all c. 500-460 BC), of Sidon (late 5th-4th cents. BC) and of Ptolemy I and Ptolemy V. The Ptolemaic gold oktadrachmon was called a mnaïeîon. Klose, Dietrich (Munich)

[German version] (also scrupulum, 'little stone', from scrupus; Greek γράμμα/ grámma, cf. English 'scruple'). Roman unit of weight of 1/24 uncia = 1/288 libra [1] ('pound') = 1·137 g. The scripulum is probably the unit used for a number of central-Italian and Etruscan gold and silver coins. In Rome, the quadrigatus , the gold oath-scene coins which accompanied it and the earliest denarius with the associated Mars/eagle gold issue were based on the scripulum. The quadrigatus corresponded to 6 scripula, the denarius to 4, and the sestertius to 1 scripulum. Because of the popularity o…

[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…