Weights, Measures and Tokens.

190 Pages·1964·30.557 MB·English

by  Lang, M. Crosby, M.

T H E A T H E N I A N A G O R A

RESULTS OF EXCAVATIONS

CONDUCTED BY

THE AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENS

VOLUME X
WEIGHTS, MEASURES AND TOKENS

BY

MABEL LANG AND MARGARET CROSBY

THE AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENS

PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY

1964
PUBLISHED WITH THE AID OF A GRANT FROM MR. JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, JR.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
PRINTED IN GERMANY at J.J. AUGUSTIN GL~CKSTADT
PART I

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

BY

MABEL LANG
PREFACE
During the twenty odd years of the Agora Excavations a few of the weights and measures
have received passing notice in the annual reports, and one measure was fully published by
Margaret Crosby (Hesperia, XVIII, 1949, pp. 108-113). Some preliminary work on the weights
and measures was done in the early years by Rodney S. Young and Margaret Crosby, to both
of whom I am grateful for many helpful suggestions.
The object of the present study is to include all the metrological material from the Agora
which is sufficiently defined by context or by its own form to give some indication of standard
and use. Bronze and lead weights are dealt with in the same section since both are at least
partly official and because their range of weights and area of use seem to be similar. Stone
weights, which are not official and served a somewhat different purpose, are treated separately.
The measures are divided into dry and liquid because of the different problems which the two
shapes present. Each of the four sections is made up of a general discussion followed by a
catalogue of the objects. A separate series of numbers is used for each category of objects with
prefixed letters to indicate their nature: BW for bronze weights; LW for lead weights; SW
for stone weights; DM for dry measures; LM for liquid measures.
The material for the present study was worked over in the years 1953-54 and 1959-60, when
the writer held, respectively, a John Simon Guggenheinl Memorial Fellowship and a Fulbright
Research Grant at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. I wish to express my
gratitude to these organizations and to Bryn Mawr College for its generosity in granting leave
for the pursuit of these studies. Gratitude is also particularly due to the Directors of the
American School of Classical Studies at Athens, John L. Caskey and Henry S. Robinson; to
-
the Director of the Agora Excavations, Homer A. Thonlpson ;to Miss Lucy Talcott fofconstant
encouragement and guidance; to Miss Alison Frantz for meticulous photography; to Mrs.
Poly Demoulini for patient efficiency in expediting material; to Miss Hero Athanasiadou for
drawings of profiles; to Miss Margaret Thompson and the American Numismatic Society for
photographs of coins ; and to the British Museum, Staatliche Museen in Berlin and National
Museum in Athens for permission to reproduce photographs of coins and measures in their
collections. My especial thanks must be expressed to Miss Lucy Shoe for almost infinite
editorial time and patience.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF PLATES
1 Bronze Weights: BW 1-14
2 Lead Weights: Wheel and Astragalos, LW 1 3 , 6-7
3 Lead Weights :Astragalos and Dolphin, LW 4 6 , 8-11
4 Lead Weights: Dolphin, LW 12-16
5 Lead Weights: Amphora, LW 17-23
6 Lead Weights: Half-Amphora, LW 24-29; Late Amphora, LW 3033
7 Lead Weights: Tortoise, LW 3444
8 Lead Weights: Half-Tortoise, Crescent, Cornucopia, etc., LW 45-62
9 Lead Weights: Roman Standard, LW 63-73, 75
10 Lead Weights: Marked, but Uncertain Standard, LW 74, 76-82
11 Lead Weights: Marked, but Uncertain Standard, LW 83-85
Stone Weights: SW 1-8
12 Stone Weights: SW 9-28
13 Dry Measures: DM 1 3 9
14 Dry Measures :DM 40-64
15 Dry Measures: DM 65-75
16 Liquid Measures :LM 1-11
17 Liquid Measures :LM 1231
18 Stamps on Measures
33 Profiles of Dry Measures, DM 1-43
34 Profiles of Dry Measures, DM 44-74
35 Profiles of Liquid Measures, LM 1 3 1
36 Actual State Plan of the Agora
ABBREVIATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bellinger, A. R., "The Chronology of the Attic New Style Tetradrachms," Hesperia, Suppl. VIII, pp. 6-30.
Broneer, Oscar, "Excavations on the North Slope of the Acropolis: 1937," Hesperia, VII, 1938, pp. 161-263.
Brown, W. L., "Pheidon's Alleged Aeginetan Coinage," Num. Chron., ser. 6, X, 1950, pp. 177-204.
Cagnat, R. et Chapot, V., Manuel d'arche'ologie romaine, Paris, 1916-1920.
Crosby, M., "An Athenian Fruit Measure," Hesperia, XVIII, 1949, pp. 108-113.
Davidson, G. R., Corinth, XII, The Minor Objects, Princeton, 1952.
Davidson, G. R. and Thompson, D. B., Small Objects from the Pnyx I, Hesperia, Suppl. VII, 1943.
Day, John, An Economic History of Athens under Roman Domination, New York, 1942.
Deonna, W., Dklos, XVIII, Le mobilier Dklien, Paris, 1938.
Dinsmoor, W. B., The Architecture of Ancient Greece, New York, 1950.
Doerpfeld, W., "Beitrage zur antiken Metrologie," Ath. Mitt., VIII, 1883, pp. 36-56, 342-358.
Edwards, G. Roger, "Panathenaics of Hellenistic and Roman Times," Hesperia, XXVI, 1957, pp. 320-349.
French, A., "The Economic Background to Solon's Reforms," Cl. Quart., VI, 1956, pp. 11-25.

Gardner, Percy, A History of Ancient Coinage 700-300 B.C., Oxford, 1918.

Ghali-Kahil, Lilly, #tudes Thasiennes, VII, La cdramique grecque, Paris, 1960.

Glotz, G., Ancient Greece at Work, trans. by M. R. Dobie, New York, 1926.

Head, H. N. = Barclay V. Head, Historia Numorum, Oxford, 1911.
Heath, T. L., A Manual of Greek Mathematics, Oxford, 1931.
Heichelheim, Fr., Wirtschaftliche Schwankungen der Zeit von Alexander bis Augustus, Jena, 1930.
Hemmy, A. S., "The Weight Standards of Ancient Greece and Persia," Iraq, V, 1938, pp. 65-81.
Hill, G. F., "Solon's Reform of the Attic Standard," Num. Chron., XVII, 1897, pp. 284-292.
Hultsch, F., "Die Gewichte des Altertums," Abh. der Ph.-hist. Iil. d. konigl. Sachs. Gesell. Wissens., XVIII,
Leipzig, 1899.
Hultsch, Metrol. = F. Hultsch, Griechische und Romische Metrologie, Berlin, 1882.
Johnston, J., "Solon's Reform of Weights and Measures," J.H. S., LIV, 1934, pp. 180-184.
Lang, M., "Numerical Notation on Greek Vases," Hesperia, XXV, 1956, pp. 1-24.
Lang, M., "A New Inscription from Thasos: Specifications for a Measure," B. C. H., LXXVI, 1952,
pp. 18-31.
Lehmann-Haupt C. F., "Gewichte," Pauly-Wissowa-Kroll, Real-encyclopadie der classischen Altertums-
zuissenschaft, Suppl. 111, 1918, cols. 588-654.
I~ehmann-Haupt,C . F., "Forschungen sum antiken und ostasiatischen Gewichtswesen," Klio, XXIX, 1936,
pp. 250-284.
Metrolog. Script. = Metrologicorum Scriptorum Reliquiae, ed. F. Hultsch, I, Leipzig, 1864.
Michell, H. The Economics of Ancient Greece, Cambridge, 1940.
Michon, E., "Pondus," Daremberg, Saglio, et Pottier, Dictionnaire des antiquitds grecques et romains, IV,
pp. 548-559.
Milbank, S. R., Coinage of Aegina, Amer. Num. Soc. N. Mon., XXIV, New York, 1925.
Milne, J. G., "The Monetary Reform of Solon," J.H. S., L, 1930, pp. 179-185.
Murray, A. S., "Greek Weights in the British Museum," Num. Chron., VIII, 1868, pp. 57-73.
Pernice = E. Pernice, Griechische Gewichte, Berlin, 1894.
Pink, K., Romische und Byzantinische Gewichte in osterreichischen Sammlungen, Sonderschriften des oster-
reichischen Archaologischen Institutes in Wien, XII, Wien, 1938.
Pink, K., "Romische und Byzantinische Gewichte," Xlio, XXX, 1937, pp. 346-352.
Robert, L., #tucks de Numismatique Grecque, Paris, 1951.
Robinson, D. M., Excavations at Olynthus, Part X, Metal and Minor Miscellaneous Finds, Baltimore, 1941.
Rostovtzeff, M., The Social and Economic History of the Hellenistic World, Oxford, 1941.
xii ABBREVIATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
Schillbach, K. M. R., Beitrq zur Griechischen Gewichtskunde, Winckelmann Prog., XXXVII, Berlin, 1877.

Segrb, A., Metrologia e circolazione monetaria degli antichi, Bologna, 1928.

Seltman, Athens = C. T. Seltman, Athens, its History and Coinage before the Persian Invasion, Csmbridge,

1924.
Seltman, Greek Coins2 = C. T. Seltman, Greek Coins2, London, 1955.
Svoronos = J. N. Svoronos, Les mnnaies d'Ath$nes, Munich, 1926.
Thompson, M., The New Style Silver Coinage of Athens, New York, 1961.
Thompson, M., "The Beginning of Athenian New Style Coinage," Amer. Num. Soc. Mus. Notes, V, 1952,
pp. 25-33.
Viedebantt, O., Antike Gewichtsnormen und Munzfube, Berlin, 1923.
Viedebantt, O., "Die athenischen HohlmaBe," Festschrift Oxd, Darmstadt, 1938, pp. 135-146.
Viedebantt, O., "Der athenische Volksbeschlu5 uber Ma6 und Gewicht," Hermes, LI, 1916, pp. 120-144.
Viedebantt, O., "Forschungen zur Metrologie des Altertums," Abh. der Ph.-hist. Iil. d. konigl. Sdichs. Gesell.
Wissens., XXXIV, 3, Leipzig, 1916.
Viedebantt, O., "Metrologica," Philologus, LXXIX, 1923, pp. 298-313; LXXXIII, 1927, pp. 207-212.
Viedebantt, O., "Metrologische BeitrLge I, 11," Hermes, XLVII, 1912, pp. 422-465, 562-632.
Wade-Gery, H. T., "The Ratio of Gold to Silver during the Poleponnesian War: I.G., 12, 301," Num. Chron.
ser. 5, X, 1930, pp. 16-38.
Waters, K. H., "Solon's Price-equalization," J.H. S., LXXX, 1960, pp. 181-190.
TROD CTION
Studies of ancient metrology have for the most part suffered under two severe handicaps: a
modern scientific metrological system and an excess of theory over practice. The theory,
derived from a combination of statements made by the ancient writers on metrology with a
few actual measurements of ancient objects, manipulates figures and calculates correspondences
among standards almost in a vacuum. Moreover, the metric system which the modern student
uses to express ancient metrological values admits of far finer distinctions than any ancient
system contemplated, at least for general practical and commercial purposes. For we are dealing
not with minute quantities of valuable metals, as in coinage, or of potent drugs, as in medicine,
but with the ordinary units of weight and capacity used in daily commerce for the great bulk
of commodities which were bought and sold.
Since the primary purpose of this study is to present the actual weights and measures found
in the Athenian Agora, it will perhaps be possible to skirt these pitfalls, at the outset at least,
by allowing the weights and measures to set their own standards. The present state of the
material, however, will necessarily limit our conclusions both in breadth and depth :the weights
almost certainly do not preserve their original weight; the measures are often too fragmentary
to provide true capacity; and in both categories the numbers are too small to give us the
security of statistical averages.
Some interpretation has been necessary merely to present the weights and measures in some
kind of reasoned order. It seemed desirable to ask and, where possible, to answer the questions
which the objects themselves raise: what are they? what is their relation to one another? when,
how and by whom were they used? to what extent do they confirm, contradict or add to other
evidence in what they can tell us about the public and private life of the ancient Athenians?
As far as modern equivalents are concerned, it was necessary on occasion to make use of
them in a preliminary fashion in order to introduce the ancient weights and measures. In these
cases, I have been content to use time-honored and generally accepted figures like a drachm
of 4.36 gr. and a kotyle as 273 cc., since variations from these, although developed with much
subtlety, are far smaller than the variations immanent in the ancient standards of weight and
capacity as exemplified in extant pieces.
BRONZE AND LEAD WEIGHTS
Of the many bronze and lead weights found in the Agora only those which bear some indica-
tion of their weight and their relation to a standard need detailed consideration. Only after
standards are determined on the basis of marked weights can those which are unmarked be
assigned, and even then they can add nothing except possible weight of numbers. Where there
is so much variation in weight even between identically marked weights, the assignment of
unmarked ones will for the most part be more arbitrary than useful.
STANDARDS AND EQUIVALENTS
Of the marked weights, more than a dozen belong to the Roman system of pounds and
ounces, and a few others have marks or symbols which are not immediately meaningful. For
all of these, see below (pp. 23-24). Of the remainder, the largest group appears to belong to one
system, without doubt Athenian, because of the general uniformity of style, symbols and
inscriptions. Within that general uniformity, however, certain variations in form and in the
use of symbols and legends as well as variations in weight make it clear that more than one
standard is represented. It will be well, therefore, to consider first the literary evidence for
different standards or changes of standard in the Athenian system of weights.
Aristotle, Ath. Pol., 10
'Ev p&v o h ~ oisv 6po1~T atha ~ O K &E i~v a~~ T)~OTIKr&p,b 6k T ~vSop 00~uiaT~T OI~U~-IR)V TGV X~EGV
dcrro~o-rnjv~ aVEiT &rathari)v TE TGV phpov ~ acnia 0yGv ~ aT i~ TVO G
vopiopa~osa iihulv. in'hivow
yhp I?~~VE~TOa ~ihphpa p~iZoT GV @~16ov~io~v,a fii p v& rp6~~poExvo u
oa ma0pbv &P6opfi~ovra
Gpaxpirs &~rA~)p60~17a g~ia-r~hv.f iv 6' 6&pxaios ~apam-?jp 6i6paxpov. i-rroiqu~6k ~ amlat 3p
a *rrpb$
~b v6plopa ~ p ~~i as6 iM~ovrapv e$ -rb rdthavrov dtyo6oa$,~ a~iI T I ~ I E V E ~ ~a~1 ~~pUe~isVp v
ai T@ o-raqpi
~ aTO\TS ahho~sm aepois.
Whatever else is obscure in this much vexed chapter,l the weight standard is clear. Solon
made the weight talent heavier by three mnas than the coin talent and distributed the extra
weight among the constituent parts of the weight talent. The one part specifically named is
the stater, i.e. the standard weight unit comparable to the earliest standard coin, the didrachm.
Thus the weight stater was to the weight rnna as the coin didrachm was to the coin drachm.
Cf. recent bibliography: J. G. Milne, "The Monetary Reform of Solon," J.H.S., L, 1930, pp. 179-185; J. Johnston,
"Solon's Reform of Weights and Measures," J.H.S., LIV, 1934, pp. 180-184; A. French, "The Economic Background to
Solon's Reforrns,"Cl. Quart.,VI, 1956, pp. 11-25; K. H. Waters, "Solon's Price Equalization," J.H.S., LXXX, 1960, pp. 181-
190.It seems to me that the differences between Aristotle's and Androtion's (Plutarch, Solon,15)n umbers of old drachms in the
new mna can best be explained with reference to the difference between the coin rnna and the weight mna. Aristotle gives
the figure 70, which has reasonably been interpreted as the drachms of Aeginetan weight in the new rnna of ca. 436 gr. (100
x 4.36 gr. is 70 x 6.23 gr.).Androtion's statement that what had been 73 drachms now became 100 shows that he was making
his calculations on the basis of the weight rnna (105 x 4.36 gr. is 457.8 gr.) rather than the coin rnna (436 gr.). That is, 73 x
6.23 gr. is 454.8 gr.