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

934 PONDERA. PONDERA.
commercial drachmae was spoken of as containing isting coins, especially the old Macedonian, before
138 silver drachmae instead of 1383, and how, the adoption of the Attic standard by Philip and
further, when Plutarch came to calculate how many Alexander, which give a drachma of about 110
drachmae of the old scale were contained in the grains, which is to the Attic as 5: 3. The idenSolonian mina, he gave an integral number 73, tity of the old Macedonian standard with the
instead of 72', and thus, by these twvo rejections Aeginetai is proved by Bickh (Metrol. p. 89;
of fractions, the true ratio of 100: 72 was altered compare Miiller, Dor. iii. 10. ~ 12. and Aegyiet.
to 1]00: 73.* pp. 54-58). There are also other very ancient
8. Ratios of the three Greek Systems to each other. Greek coins of this standard, which had their
-The importance of this calculation is made mani- origin, ill all probability, in the Aeginetan system.
fest, and its truth is confirmed, by comparing the [NusTMus, p. 812, a.]
result with the statements which we have of the The lightness of the existing coins referred to
ratio of the Aeginetan standard to the Solonian. by Hussey is explained by BRickh from the wellThat ratio was 5: 3, according to the state- known tendency of the ancient mints to depart
ment of Pollux, that the Aeginetan talent con- from the full standard.
tained 10,000 Attic drachmae, and the drachma Mr. Hussey quotes a passage where Herodotus
10 Attic obols. (Poll. ix. 76, 86.) Mr. Hussey (iii. 131) states that Demlocedes, a physician, after
(who was the first, and, after the reply of Biickh, receiving a talent in one year at Aegina, obtained
ought to be the last, to call this statement in ques- at Athens the next year a salary of 100 minae,
tion) observes that this value would give an Aegi- which Herodotus clearly means was more than
netan drachma of 110 grains, whereas the existing what he had before. But, according to Pollux's
coins give an average of only 96; and he explains statement, says:Mr. Hussey, the two sums were
the statement of Pollux as referring not to the exactly equal, and therefore there was no gain.
Attic silver drachmae of the full weight, but to the But Herodotus says nothing of different standards;
lighter drachma which was current in and after surely then he meant the same standard to be apthe reign of Augustus, and which was about equal plied in both cases.
to the Roman denarius. [DaACHMA.] From comparing statements made respecting the
On the other hand, Bbckh adheres to the pro- pay of soldiers, Hussey (p. 61) obtains 4: 3 as
portion of 5: 3, as given by Pollux, who could not about the ratio of the Aeginetan to the Attic
(he contends) have meant by draehmae those equal standard. Bickh accounts for this by supposing
to the denarii, because he is not making a calcula- that the pay of soldiers varied, and by the fact that
tion of his own, suited to the value of the drachma the Aeginetan money was actually lighter than the
in his time, but repeating the statement of some proper standard, while the Attic at the same period
ancient writer who lived when the Attic and was very little below the full weight.
Aeginetan currencies were in their best condition. There are other arguments on both sides, but
Mr. Hussey himself states (p. 34), and for a si- what has been said will give a sufficiently complete
milar reason to that urged by Bbckh, that when view of the question.
Pollux speaks of the value of the Babylonian As the result of the whole investigatiosn, we get
talent in relation to the Attic, he is to be under- the following definite ratios between the three
stood as referring to Attic money of the full chief systems of Greek weights:
weight: and Bdckh adds the important remark, Aeginetan: Enboc: 6:
that where Pollux reckons by the lighter drachmae, Aeginetan: Solonian 5 3
as in the case of the Syrian and small Egyptian Euboic: Solonian: 138: 100
talents, this only proves that those talents had but i. e.: 100 72
recently come into circulation. Bdckh thinks it: 25:18
very probable that Pollux followed the authority or nearly 4 3
of Aristotle, whom he used much, to which he
makes frequent references in his statements re- The reason of the strange ratio between the
specting measures and money, and who had fre- Solonian and old Attic (Euboic) system seems to
quent occasions for speaking of the values of money have been the desire of the legislator to establish
in his political works. a simple ratio between his new system and the
Again, as the Aeginetan standard was that Aeginetan. Respecting the diffusion of the three
which prevailed over the greater part of Greece in systems throughout Greece, see NUMMUS.
early times, we should expect to find sonle definite 9. Other Grecian Systems. —Our information reproportion between it and the old Attic before spectillg the other standards used in Greece and the
Solon: and, if we take the statement of Pollux, neighbouring countries is very scanty and confused.
we do get such a proportion, namely, that of 6: 5, Respecting the Egyptian, Atexandrian, or Ptolemaic
the same which has been obtained from the fore- Talent, the reader is referred to Bhickh, c. x. The
going investigation. Tyrian Talent appears to have been exactly equal
Bickh supports his view by the evidence of ex- to the Attic. A Rhodian Talent is mentioned by
Festus in a passage which is manifestly corrupt (s. v.
* The commercial weights underwent a change Talentiim). The most probable emendation of the
by the decree mentioned above, which orders that passage gives 4000 cistophori or 7500 denarii as the
12 drachmae of the silver standard shall be added to value of this talent. A Syrian Talent is mentioned,
the mina of 138 drachmae; that to every five corm- the value of which is very uncertain. There were
mereial minae one commercial mina shall be added; two sizes of it. The larger, which was six times
and to every commercial talent five commercial that used for money, was nsed at Antioch for weighmirae. Thus we shall have - ing wood. A Cilician Talenzt of 3000 drachmae, or
the mina -150 drachmae (silver), half the Attic, is mentioned by Pollux (ix. 6).
5 minae 6 minae (commercial), A much smaller talent was in use for gold. It
the talent = 65 minae (commercial). was equal to 6 Attic drachmae, or about 3 oz. It