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

QUADRANTAL. QUADRANTAL. 979
torium. (Suet. Vespas. 1.; Quintil. Decl/an. 359; (Cato, R. R. 57; Gell. i. 20 * Priscian. Carme. do
Symmach. Epist. v. 62, 65.) Tacitus (Ann. xiii. Alens. et Pond. vv. 59-63: —
51) says that the Quadragesima was abolished by
Nero and had not been imposed again (manet Angulus ut par sit, quem claudit linea triplex
a)olilio quadragesinae); but it appears most pro- Quatuor et medium quadris ci inane:
bable that this Quadragesima abolished by Nero Amphora fit cubus, quadm n violare liceret,
Amphora fit cubus, quam ne violare liceret,
was not the Portorium, but the tax imposed by Sacravere Jovi Tarpeio in monte Quirites."
Caligula (Suet. Cal. 40) of the fortieth part of the
value of all property, respecting which there was A standard model of the Amnphora was kept
any law-suit. That the latter is the more probable with great care in the temple of Jupiter in the
opinion appears from the fact, that we never read Capitol, and was called amphora Capitolinia (Prisof this tax upon law suits after the time of Nero, cian. 1. c.; Capitolin. 2caximin. 4). There still
while the former one is mentioned to the latest exists a congius which professes to have been made
times of the empire. Considerable difficulty, how- according to this standard. [CoNGIUs.] For a
ever, has arisen in consequence of some of the full account of this congius, see H. Hase, Abhandl.
coins of Galba having Quadragesima Remissa upon d. Berl. Akcad. 1824.
them, which is supposed by some writers to con- There are two questions of very great interest
tradict the passage of Tacitus, and by others to connected with the Roman quadrantal; namely;
prove that Galba abolished the Quadlagesima of (1), whether the equality to the cubic foot was
the portorium. The words, however, do not neces- originally exact, or only approximate, and (2),
sarily imply this; it was common in seasons of whether there was any exact ratio between the
scarcity and want, or as an act of special favour, for Roman and the Grecian measures. The full disthe emperors to 2remlit certain taxe& for a certain cussion of these questions would be inconsistent
period, and it is probable that the coins of Galba both with the limits and with the chief object of
were struck in commemoration of such a remission, this work. A general statement of the matters il
and not of an abolition of the tax. (See Bur- dispute will be found under MENSURA, p. 754.
mann, de Vectigal. p. 64, &c., who controverts the It may here be added that, whether there was or
opinions of Spanheim, de Piraest. et Usu Nuznis7m. was not originally any precise ratio between the
vol. ii. p. 549.) Greek and Roman measures of capacity, they were
QUADRANS. [As, pp. 140, b, 141, a.] at least so nearly related to one another, that, when
QUADRANTAL, or AMPHORA QUAD- the two systems came to exist side by side, it was
RANTAL, or AMPHORA only, was the princi- found easy to establish the following definite ratios.
pal Roman measure of capacity for fluids. All the Of the liquid measures; the Roman amphora, or
Roman measures of capacity were founded on quadrantal, was 2-5tht of the Aeginetaiin, and
weight, and thus the amphora was originally the 2-3rds of the Attic amphora or mnetretes; and the
space occupied by eighty pounds of wine. (Festus, conzgis of the Romaic system was equal to the
s. v.) Xous of the Attic. Again, comparing the Romani
There is also preserved to us by Festus (s. v. liquid with the Greek dry measures, the quadrantal
Publica Poadera, p. 246, Miiller), a plebiscitum was 1-3rd of the Aeginetan, and one half of the
(the Sillian) of unkn;own date, regulating the Fweights Attic, medinmnus. Consequently, of the dry measures,
and menasres, to the following effect: — E pion- thlemoodics (which was 1-3rd of the quadrantal),teribets publicis, qbitGs Sac tenmpestate popuhtls oetier was 1-9th of the Aeginetan, and 1-6th of the Attic,
solet, suti coaequetur secd2zti, ti quadrantal vcini medimlnus. The connecting subordinate unit in all
octogihnta pondo siet: coi7gius vini deens p. (i. e. these sets of mcasaures is the Roman sexatarius, or
ponpdo) siet: sew saextlai conqitis siet cisi; duode- sixth part ofthe coangics, which was introduced into
qzinquaigbfta sextari quadiantcal siet vini: - that the Greek system under the name of e&r'lTs, and
is, that the quad/raztal should contain 80 pounds which stands to the several measures now menof wine%, and the conlgizes 10; and that the sexta- timoed in the foilowing relations:
rtins should be 1-6th of the coengis, and 1-48th of 1. Liquid Mlfeeasusres.
the quasc/dcrttal. The quadrantal xwas subdivided
into 2 eurlcnae, 8 congi, 48 sexlasii,s 96 heiniiat, The Rolan qusedsti/l 48 sextarii
192 qtaartarii, 384 aeetabla, 576 cyathi, and 2304, Attic metrtes = is
liglcdae. As compared with the Roman dry measure,, Aegietan, 1,,
the quadrcantal was three times the rmodians. The 2. Dry A'feaseies.
only measure larger than the qu2adcrantal was the
c/dleus of 20 amplorae, which wa-s used, as well as
the amphora itself, in estiimatinag the' produce of a,, Attic tiediinIs 96
vineyard. [CCLTEtrs: comp. AMPHORA sub fin.] jj eginetsn, 144
The quadrantal was connected with the mea- The i4'rs, or Roiian sextaries, is inot to be ceonsures of length, by the law, that it xwas the cube founded with the genuine Attic I-'cuss or sixtA,
of the foot, whence its name qcuadratatl, or, as of' te inediin2zts, which was equal to the Romanl
other writers give it (using the Greek Kuios in- modius. (OnI the whole of this part of the' substead of the Latin quladractiial) aniphora7 cubus. ject, see BickL, cc. iii xi. xv, —vii.)
From the preceding remarks it will: be seen
- The RIomans were aware that there is a differ- that the only safe mode of computing the content
ence in the specific gravity of wxine and of water, of the amphora in terms of our own measures of'
and iln the didfrsent sorts of each, but, for the sake capacity is by deducing it from. the value already
of simplicity they regarded them as of the same assigned to the Roman pound, on the authority
specific gravity: when, however, they wished a chiefly of the coins. That value may be taken, in
very exact determination. they used rain water. round numbers, at 050 grains. Now the im(Bi ckhI c. 3.) perial gallon contains 70,000 grains. Thiereftod