Money, Weights and Measures in Antiquity

1 Money and weights

Mesopotamia

Subdivisions of the shekel:

• 1 shekel = 2 divisions (zûzu) or half shekels
  • 1 division = 4.17 gr = ca. 1 Greek drachm
• 1 shekel is 8 slices (bitqu)
  • 1 slice = 1.04 gr
• 1 shekel = 12 grains (mahat)
  • 1 grain = 0.69 gr (Parthian, Late Achaemenid?)
• 1 shekel = 24 carat (girû)
  • 1 carat = 0.35 gr
• 1 shekel = 40 chickpeas? (hallûru) 
  • 1 chickpea = 0.21 gr
• 1 shekel = 180 barleycorn (ŠE, uttetu)
  • 1 barleycorn = 0.0463 gr

Persia

• King Darius I the Great introduced gold coinage based on the Babylonian standard (until then, the Lydian standard of king Croesushad been used). 1 gold piece (dareikos, daric, statêr) was between 8.25 and 8.46 gr of gold, which corresponds to the 8.33 gr of the Babylonian shekel. Darics were struck in extremely pure gold, 98-99%.
• Darius maintained the silver piece or siglos on its old standard. Sigloi were betwen 5.20 and 5.49 of silver. They had a 97-98% purity, although 94-95% is recorded in the fourth century.
• The later silver standard was 5.40-5.67 gr.

Phoenicia; Israel 

• Palestinian sheqel 11.5 gr.
• In the great trade centers of the fifth and fourth century, it was slightly above 7 gr.
• Tyre went over to the Attic standard ca. 350 BCE.

Greek: Attic standard (and Ptolemaic standard)

Weight

• The Athenian silver drachm (coin) of the second and first century weighs 4.20 gr.
• 188 BCE treaty of Apamea:  Antiochus III to pay the Romans 12,000 Attic talents of pure silver, in twelve equal annual payments, the talent to weigh at least 80 Roman pounds (Livy/Polybius);  i.e.  coin-drachma of at least 4.31 g.
• An Athenian decree about weights and measures (IG II² 1013; late second century BCE?) includes that the emporike mina, which had until then been equivalent to 138 coin-drachms, henceforth had to be equivalent to 150 coin-drachms.

Coins

• Alternative values:
  • 1 talent = 21.45 kg
  • 1 mina = 357.5 gr
  • 1 drachm = 3.58 gr
  • 1 obol =  0.60 gr
• 1 stater (ho statêr) or tetradrachm = 4 drachms = 17.24 gr
• 1 didrachm  = 2 drachms = 12 obols = 8.62 gr (= 1 Babylonian shekel?)
• 1 obol = 8 chalkoi
• 1 deben silver (Ptolemaic demotic) = 20 drachms

Rome

Weights:

Coinage, 211-157/156 (1 denarius = 1/72 libra of silver):

Coinage, 157/156 -ca.130 (1 denarius = 1/84 libra of silver):

Coinage, after the revaluation of ca.130 BCE:

Augustus:

• 1 denarius = 1 drachm (eastern part of the Roman empire)
• 1 denarius = 1  tetradrachm (Alexandria)
• 1 as = 2 semis = 4 quadrantes
• The weight of the denarius gradually declined from 3.80 to 3.10 gram.
• Its fineness was slowly reduced from 98% (Augustus) to 45% (Severus Alexander).
• Gold/silver-ratio:
   

  Augustus	1 : 11.9
  Nero	1 : 10.4 (actual 1 : 11.4)
  Diocletian	1 : 12

Diocletian, Edict on Maximum Prizes

• 1 libra of silver = 6,000 denarii.
• 1 libra of gold = 72,000 denarii.
• Constantine onwards:  72 solidi per libra of gold