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

. 140 AS. AS.
were accompanied by a real and corresponding dimi- weighs 4000 grains: the length of the diameter in
nutlon in the value of the as. (MAetrolor sche rn- this and the two following cuts is half that of the
tersuckzugqen, ~ 28.) It is impossible to give here original coins.
even a summary of the arguments on both sides:
the remarks of Niebuhr and Bickh must thenlselves be studied. It is by no means improbable
that there was some increase in the value of copper
during the period before the first Punic war, and
also that the fixing of the sextantal standard arose
partly out of the relation of value between copper
and the silver coinage which had been very lately
introduced. On the other hand, it is impossible
entirely to reject Pliny's statement that the immediate object of the reductions he mentions was
the public gain. Mr. Grote, who sides with Biickh,
remarks, that "such a proceeding has been so
nearly universal with governments, both ancient
and modern, that the contrary may be looked upon
as a remarkable exception." (Classical Al-sseunm,
vol. i. p. 32.)
These variations make it impossible to fix any
value for the as, except with reference to some
more specific standard; and this we find in the
denarius. Taking the value of this coin at about
18 pence [DENARIUS], the as, at the time of the
first coinage of the denarius (B..e. 269), was onetenth of this value, that is, about'85 of a penny or
3-4 farthings; and in the time of the second Punic
war, when 16 ases went to the denarius, the as was
worth about 2 f larthings. When the silver coinage
got thoroughly established, the reckoning was no The as was divided into parts, which were
longer by ases, but by sestertii. [SESTERTIUS.] named according to the number of ounces they
Also, during the period or periods of reduction, contained. They vere the dentx, dextans, dodrans,
the term aes grave, which originally signified the bes, septuzzx, seasis, quincunx, triess, quadrans or
old heavy coins, as opposed to the reduced ases, teruncias, sextlas, sescunx or sescunia, and unC/a,
came to mean any quantity of copper coins, of consisting respectively of 11, 1, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4
whatever weight or coinage, reckoned not by tale, 3 2, l and 1 ounces. Of these divisions the
but by the old standard of a pound weight to the following were represented by coins; namely, the
as; and this standard was actlLally maintained in sesis, q/ncuna, triens, qacdr-ans, sextcans, and un-cia.
certain payments, such as military pay, fines, sellsrs, quincumv, triens, suchrans, sextarns, and&uncac.
certain payments, such as military pay, fines, &c. There is a solitary instance of the existence of the
(Liv. iv. 41, 60, v. 2, xxxii. 26; Plin.. c.; Sen. cldodrans, in a cosn of the Cassian family, bearing
ad Helv. 12; Niebuhr, Hifst. of Rone, vol. i. pp. an S and. three balls. We have no precise infol!466, 467). This mode of reckoning also supplied ation as to the time when these divisions were
a * O atcon as tow the mnse divisios were
a common measure for the money of Rome, and first introduced, but it was probably nearly as
the other states of Italy, which had ases of very early as the first coinage of copper money.
various weights, most of them heavier than the The semis, seesissis, or semni-as, half the as, or six
Roman. The name of aes grave was also applied oun ces, is always macked with anf S to represent
to the uncoined metal. (Servius, ad Virg. Aen. its value and very commonly with heads of Jupivi. 862; MaIfssa, tes ucde, sneta//um i)~cthns, ter, Juno, and Pallas, accompanied by strigils.
Isidor. xvi. 18. 13,) The quincsunx, or piece of five tmnces, is very rare.
The oldest form of the as is that which bears There is no specimen of it in the British Muselm.
the figure oftan animal (a brll, rami boarh ow sow); It is distinguished by five small balls to represent
whence the ancient writers derived the word for
its value. The tr/ens, the third part of the as, or
mone',pecu. na. from pecus, an etymology on which piece of four ounces, is marked with four balls.
no opinion need be pronounced; but whether this Ii the annexed specimen, front the British nuimpress was intended to represent property by that scul, the balls appear en both sides, with a
form of it which was then most common, or had
some mythological meaning, is doubtful. Niebuhr
denies the antiquity of this type, but his sole objection is satisfactorily answered by Bickh. The /4
type seems however to have been much less used
in the Roman than in some other old Italian coinages; and most of the pieces which bear it are of
a rude oblong shape. The next form, and the
common one in the oldest Roman ases, is round,
and is that described by Pliny (H. N. xxxiii. 3. O 0
s. 13), as having the two-faced head of Janus on
one side, and the prow of a ship on the other
(whence the expression used by Roman boys in
tossing up, capita ant navim., Macrob. Sat. i. 7). thunderbolt on one side, and a dolphin with a strigil
The annexed specimen, from the British 3Museum, ai bove it on the other. Its weight is 1571 graimmv