Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

SESTERTIUS. SIBYLLINI LIBRI 1043
Pounds sterling divide by 120; acatl correct tye re- sestertius'is applied to other kinds of magnitude,
suit by addbig to it the quotient obtained by dividina e..es sesltertius for 2- feet.
the original number by 1920: for'5 of a farthing is It has been assumed throughout this article that
yto -of a pound. the formns of sesteriium, as a neuter singular, ari
The sestertius was the denomination of money genuine, a fiact wvhich may admit of doubt.
almnost always used in reckoning considerable Sestere is sometimes used as an English word.
amounts. There are a very few examples of the if so, it ought to be used only as the translation of
use of the'denarius for this purpose. The umode of sesteirtes, never of sestertila. [P. S.]
reckoning was as fillows: SEVIR. [EQUITES, p. 45, a; Au7usrALa,,iSesertins - sestetiuns aU7niumns --- annins. 2p. 180, b.]
Sums below 1000 sesterti were expressed by the SEX SUFFRA'GIA. [Eq urrEs.
numeral adjectives joined with either of these forims. SEXATRUS. QiN\ quATIti IS.
The sumn of 1000 sestertii m sic sestertli - SEXTANTS. [A, p. 140, b..
M sestertihan (for sestertiosin)L - M n~i = Mi SEXTA'RIUS, a Roman dry and lilquid mea~ntolanl (for aIoriL) i- nsteiu ti.sure,s which may be considered one of the principal
nummum (for humerun?0111):= Mv sesertii numni:
sestr~ti s a n, ns.caste, m'1 Those formsmeasures in the Roman system, and the connecting
are used with the numeral adjectives below 1000. point between it ad that of the Greeks, for it was
equal to the /]E'arlq of the latter; and. there can
for sums betw-een 1000 and 1,000,000 sestertii e'qul to tie doubt ie of the latter; an there can
sometimes gniilia is used instead of sestertia: somesometimes m12ilie is sued insteard of sestetits~ soiue be little doubt that the o'~'r/s was not an original
times both ords re omitted soetimes Greek measure, but that the word was introduced
r sescbiot tin is aridded. or oiimpnie 6a00u000 into tie Greek system from the Roman, for the
sestertii s sscsaeat sesterteia. sescenita snigiu - a purpose of establishing a unit of agreement, [QUA Dsestertaii seseenta, sesterlia = ssumm,uim. a=
sesccet - sesce~ta sesteti ainiiimA L.r,. It was one-sixth of the cangius, and
nsed sumsef a thousanda ti. (e il hence its niame: in the Greelk system it was oneFor sunms of a thousand sesiertia (i. C. a million
sixthl of the ceous. It wvas divided, in the sanme
ssstertU) and upwardsn the umeralAs, into parts named nci, sex
(iecies, Unadclies, vicies, Cce.) are tsed, a sith n-hich part named ia, sethe nwords centenat,mili(a (a hundred tlmosaid) tens, qadrcns triens, quiineinr, seisssis, &c. rho
must be understood th these d bs the uncl, or twelfth part of the sextarius, was the
must be uuderstood With these adverb.s the
CYAT'ius; its seagia.ns was therefore two eyath],
neuter singular sestertiam is joined in the case re- C its stas as terefr to cath,
quired by the construction. (Nepos, At. xi-v. its qua ns its ils ou its qnan
gives sestertio vicies ains sestesrtio tenties.) (V uiss de Iossd. &e. p. 118, camp, the
five., &C. (AVam'm11 (IC Pond. &Sc. P. l 18, comp. the
decies sesterties h-decics entena msritio se1s.e) tiThm Tables.) [P.S.]
hdecss ti~sesta ~deietsa ces-ten est eoo o SE'XT i ULA, the sixth part of the uncia, was
iei timzes n~a hundred tl~o,~~sctnd sesle~t~ii __- 1,000,000
s nsterti 1000 sesndrtid thn sandies 1I = milies a- the smallest denomination of money in use among
esasilie=I sstertiin athesi iiSidtis s eia i- the Romans. (-arro, L.L. v. 171, ed. Mtiller.)
tered m:dllla sestertium = a thousand times one hundred thous estti 100,000,000 sestii = It was also applied, like the uncia, to other kindi
elred thousand sestertii = — 100,000,000 sestertii = —mgiud.[.,ii]I[.S
100,000 sestertia. Wlhei an ainousnt is describe d of magnitude. [U cLI.] [P. S.]
I 0500 ssteti..Whn a amun isdecried SIBYLLI'NI LIBRI. These books are said
by more thban one of these adverbs in ies, they must St BYLLINIe Lo BRI. these books are said
he added to eth~er it th~e 1 ar iiumer-d stanllds first, to have been obtained in the reign of Tarquinius
be added tog-ether if the larger inumeral strands first,
but multiplied when the smaller is first; care how- o
TPriscus, Superbus, when a Siby ( le \Xat ora
ever being taken not to reckon the etema mili aqius Supeus hen Sibl
which is understood, more than once, ii the vwhole prophetic woman; presented herself before the king,
and offered nine books for sale. Upon the king
amount. I Thus, Suetonius (Octav. 101) has.millies
el quilylentiesfor 150,OO0 sestertia, i. e. 100,000,000
et quliaerties for 150,000 sestertia, ~i. e. 100,60o,00 refusing to purchase them she went and burnt
three, -and then returned and demanded the same
+ 50,000,000 = 150,000,000 sestertii, and iiaraeprice for the remaining six as she had done for the
diately after quaterdlecies millies for 1,400,000 ses- price fo the emaining six as she hd done for the
tertia,i. e,.14 x 1000 + 100,000 (=1,400,000,000) ine. he in gin refused to purase the,
sestertii. A variety was allowed in these forms: whereupon she bunt three more and demanded the
same stuni for the. remaining three. as she had clone at
thus Cicero uses decies et ocbiagenhe snillia, for 1800 for the remaning thuee -s she had doue at
sstertia,.,000,00 00,000 sestetii d first for the nine the king's curiosityv now became
sestertia, i. e. 1,000,000 + 0800,000 sestertii,,andI
1400 tt i 14 100000 excited, so that ihe purchased the books, and then
quaterdecies for 1400 sestertia, i. e. 14 x 100,000
asterdeies for soses. is,. Xthe Sibyl vanished. (Dionys. iv. 62; Vanro, a?.
sestertii. (/iii Var. i. 39.)
sestertii. (In Trer. i. 39.) actant. i. 6; Gel]. i. 19 Plin. ti'..hr xiii. 27:When the numbers are written in cypher, it is at ll 19PlI.. x. 2
respecti~!g the different Sibyls mentioned by anoften difficult to know whether sestertii or sestertia espectig te dieent Sibs ntioed by acient writers see DIVINaTIO,p. 416, b.) These books
are meant. A distinction is sometimes made bv a
a~~~~~~~~~~~~~wre men.I itnto ssmtmsnneb ecprob~ably written in Greek;, as the later ones
line placed over the numeral when sestertica are were pobbly ttn in Geek, as the later ones
tended, or in other words, when the numeral is il undoubtedly were, and if so consequently came
from a Greek source, though it is doubtful from
adverb in ies. Thus ~ -
Hadver in iCs. TI0rhsuis ibut what quarter: Niebuhr (Hist. q' Rose, vol. i. p.
HS. M5C. =C 1100 sestertii, but 506) supposes thenm to have come from Ionia, but
HS. MC. C= IS millies centies they were more probably derived from Cumae in
= 110,000 sestertia = 110,000,000 Campania. (Gittling, Gescb. der RdMnz. Staatsv. p.
sestertii. 212.) They were kept in a stone chest under
Wurm (p. 24) gives the following runile: When ground in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinis, under
the numbers are divided into three classes by the custody of certain officers, at first only two in.points, the right-hand division indicates units, the number, but afterwards increased successively to
second thousands, the third hundreds of thousands. ten -aud fifteen, of whom an account is given under
Thus, 1H. XII. DC= 300,000 + 12,000 + 600 = Dacraeiiss', p. 387, a. The public were not al3'12,600'sestertii. But these distinctions are by iowed toinspect the books, andthey were only coiao means strictly observed in the manuscripts. sulted by the officers, who had the charge of them,
Like other parts and multiples of the as, the at the special command of the senate (ad libros ire,
3x2