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

DENARIUS. DENARIUS. 393'
patrimony, the expression for whiieh in Attic
Greek was rais?X1EWS pXfEiv: AayXaetliv A Ijxpov,,
being equivalent to the Roman phrase adire here- a
ditrtem. These registers were kept by the de- / i
marchs, who, with the approbation of the members I. \ As
of the demus assembled in general meeting, inserted or erased names according to circumstances.
Thus, when a youth was proposed for enrolment,
it was competent for any demote to object to his BIITISHI MIUSEUIM71. ACTUAL SIZE. WEIGHT
admission on the ground of illegitimacy, or non- 60'6 GRAIrS.
citizenship, by the side of either parent. The
Demotae decided on the validity of these objections under the sanction of an oath, and the ques-.: i
tion was determined by a majority of votes. (Dem. I -
c. Euz. p. 1318.) The same process was observed':
wllen a citizen changed his demus in consequence, j,,y
of adoption. (Isaeus, De Apoll. JTered. p. 66. 17.) I! _ is
Sometimes, however, a demarch was bribed to::., >?_5
place, or assist in placing, on the register of a
demus, persons who had no claim to citizenship. BRITISII MUSEUM. CTUAL SIZE. WeIGI's
(Demosth. c. Leoch, p. 109].) To remedy this ad- 58 5 IRAINs.
mission of spurious citizens (-reapEyypaerToi) the the as), the senzbella or half libella, and the terun.
8sta*Cstpirs was instituted. [DIAPsEPHISIs.] cius o0 quarter libella.
Lastly, crowns and other honorary distinctions The quinarius was also called victorites (Cic.
could be awarded by the demi in the same way as Pro Font. 5), from the impression of a figuree of
by the tribes. (K. F. Hermanun, GCiech. Stcats- Victory which it bore. Pliny (H.N. xxxiii. 13)
ltferth. ~ 111, &c.; Wachesimuth, If-elee. Alteir- says that victoriati were first coined at Rome in
tlnoszs. vol. i. p. 544, &c., 2nd ed.; Leake, Tle5 pursuance of the lex Clodia; and that previous to
Demzi of Attilks, London, 1841, 2nd ed.; Ross, that time, they were imported as an article of trade
Die Demeon voen Attike.) [R. WV.] from Illyria. The Clodius, who proposed this law,
DENA'RIUS, the principal silver coin among is supposed to have been the person who obtained
the Romans, was so called because it was originally a trinmph for his victories in Istria, whence he
equal to ten asses; but on the reduction of the brought home a large sum of money (Liv. xli. 13);
weight of the as [As], it was made equal to six- which would fix the first coinage of the victoriati
teen asses, except in military pay, in which it was at Rome, n. c. 177; that is, 92 years after the first
still reckoned as equal to ten asses. (Plin. H.N. silver coinage.
xxxiii. 13.) The denarius was first coined five If the denarius weighed 60 grains, the terunciu.s
years before the first Pulic war, B. C. 269. [AR- would only have weighed 1- gr.; which would
GENTUMt.] There were originally 84 denarii to a;2
have been so small a coin, that some have doubted
pouid (Plin.. N. xxxiii. 46; Celsus, v. 17. ~ 1), whether it was ever coined in silver; for we
but subsequently 96. At what time this reduction know that it was coined in copper. [As.] But
was made in the weight of the denarius is uncertain, Varro (De Ling. Lat. v. 174, ed. Miiller) names it
as it is not mentioned in history. Some have con- among the silver coins with tie libella and semjectured that it was completed in Nero's reign; and bella. It is, however, improbable that the terunMr. Hussey (Ancient Weights, &c. p. 137) justly cius continued to be coined in silver after the as
remarks, that Suetonius (Jel. 54) proves that 84 had been reduced to -1 of the denarius; for
denarii went still to the pound, about the year B.C. C.then the terucius would have been s -th of the
50; since if we reckon 96 to the pound, the pro- denarius, whereas Varro only describes it as a
portion of the value of gold to silver is 7'8 to 1, subdivision of lihella, when the latter was.lth of
which is incredibly low; while the value on the the denarius. In the time of Cicero, the libella
other supposition, 8-9 to 1, is more probable. Com- appears to have been the smallest silver coin in use
parce ARCENTvU_. (Cic. Pro. Rose. Con1. c. 4); and it is frequently
Mr. Hussey calculates the average weight of the used, not merely to express a silver coin equal to
denarii coined at the end of the commonwealth the as, but any very small sum. (Plaut. Cas. ii. 5.
at 60 grains, and those under the empire at 52'5 7, Capt. v. 1. 27.) Gronovius (De Sestertiis, ii. 2),
grains. If we deduct, as the average, 310 of the however, maintains that there was no such coin as
wseight for alloy, from the denarii of the common- the libella when Varro wrote; but that the word
wealthl, there will remain 58 grains of pure silver; vas used to signify the tenth part of a sestertius.
and since the shilling contains 80'7 grains of pure No specimens of the libella are now found.
t58 If the denarius be reckoned in value 8-d., the
silver, the value of the best denarii will be 2 —
8 7 other coins which hlave been mentioned, will be of
of a shilling, or 8'6245 pence; which may be the following value:
reckoned in round numbers 8td. If the salme
Pence Farth.
method of reckoning be applied to the later
Terniicius.'5 3125
denarius, its value will be about 7'5 pence, or 7X-nd. bella.. 1 0
(IIussey, pp. 141, 142.) Liella.... 225
The Roman coins of silver went at one time as Sestertis.... 2 5
low down as the fortieth part of the denarius, the Quinaris or Victoriatus 4
teruncius. They were, the quinarzis or half de- Denarius.... 8 2
inarius, the sestertius or quarter denarius [SESTE;RTIUS], the libellc or tenth of the denarias (equal to It has been frequently stated that the denarius