Ancient Greek units of measurement

Ancient Greek units of measurement varied according to location and epoch. Systems of ancient weights and measures evolved as needs changed; Solon and other lawgivers also reformed them en bloc. Some units of measurement were found to be convenient for trade within the Mediterranean region and these units became increasingly common to different city states. The calibration and use of measuring devices became more sophisticated. By about 500 BC, Athens had a central depository of official weights and measures, the Tholos, where merchants were required to test their measuring devices against official standards.

Length

Some Greek measures of length were named after parts of the body, such as the δάκτυλος (daktylos, plural: δάκτυλοι daktyloi) or finger (having the size of a thumb), and the πούς (pous, plural: πόδες podes) or foot (having the size of a shoe). The values of the units varied according to location and epoch (e.g., in Aegina a pous was approximately 333 mm (13.1 in), whereas in Athens (Attica) it was about 296 mm (11.7 in)),[1] but the relative proportions were generally the same

Smaller units of length
Unit Greek name Equal to Modern equivalent Description
daktylos δάκτυλος 19.3 mm (0.76 in) finger
kondylos κόνδυλος 2 daktyloi 38.5 mm (1.52 in)
palaistē or dōron παλαιστή, δῶρον 4 daktyloi 77.1 mm (3.04 in) palm
dichas or hēmipodion διχάς, ἡμιπόδιον 8 daktyloi 154.1 mm (6.07 in) half foot
lichas λιχάς 10 daktyloi 192.6 mm (7.58 in)
orthodōron ὀρθόδωρον 11 daktyloi 211.9 mm (8.34 in)
spithamē σπιθαμή 12 daktyloi 231.2 mm (9.10 in) span of all fingers
pous πούς 16 daktyloi 308.2 mm (12.13 in) foot
pygmē πυγμή 18 daktyloi 346.8 mm (13.65 in) forearm
pygōn πυγών 20 daktyloi 385.3 mm (15.17 in)
pēchys πῆχυς 24 daktyloi 462.3 mm (18.20 in) cubit
Except where noted, based on Smith (1851).[2] Metric equivalents are approximate.
Larger units of length
Unit Greek name Equal to Modern equivalent Description
pous πούς 0.308 m (1.01 ft) foot
haploun bēma[3] ἁπλοῦν βῆμα 2 12 podes 0.77 m (2.5 ft) step
bēma,[2] diploun bēma[3] βῆμα, διπλοῦν βῆμα 5 podes 1.54 m (5.1 ft) pace
orgyia ὄργυια 6 podes 1.85 m (6.1 ft) fathom
kalamos, akaina or dekapous κάλαμος, ἄκαινα, δεκάπους 10 podes 3.08 m (10.1 ft)
hamma ἅμμα 60 podes 18.5 m (20.2 yd)
plethron πλέθρον 100 podes 30.8 m (33.7 yd)
stadion στάδιον 600 podes 184.9 m (202.2 yd) an eighth of a Roman mile
diaulos δίαυλος 2 stadia 369.9 m (404.5 yd)
hippikon ἱππικόν 4 stadia 739.7 m (808.9 yd)
milion μίλιον 8 stadia 1.479 km (1,617 yd) Roman mile
dolichos[3] δόλιχος 12 stadia 2.219 km (1.379 mi)
parasanges, or league[4] παρασάγγες 30 stadia 5.548 km (3.447 mi) adopted from Persia[3]
schoinos σχοινός 40 stadia 7.397 km (4.596 mi) adopted from Egypt[3]
stage[4] 160 stadia 29.8 km (18.5 mi)
Except where noted, based on Smith (1851).[2] Metric equivalents are approximate.

Area

The ordinary units used for land measurement were:

Units of surface measurement
Unit Greek name Equal to Modern equivalent Description
pous πούς 0.095 m2 (1.02 sq ft) square foot
hexapodēs ἑξαπόδης 36 podes 3.42 m2 (36.8 sq ft) square six-foot
akaina ἄκαινα 100 podes 9.50 m2 (102.3 sq ft)
hēmiektos ἡμίεκτος 833 13 podes 79.2 m2 (853 sq ft) half a sixth
hektos ἕκτος 1666 23 podes 158.3 m2 (1,704 sq ft) a sixth of a plethron
aroura ἄρουρα 2500 podes 237.5 m2 (2,556 sq ft)
plethron πλέθρον 10000 podes 950 m2 (10,200 sq ft)
Except where noted, based on Smith (1851).[2] Metric equivalents are approximate.

Volume


Neck amphora depicting an athlete
running the hoplitodromos by the Berlin
Painter, ca. 480 BC, Louvre.

Greeks measured volume according to either dry or liquid capacity, suited respectively to measuring grain and wine. A common unit in both measures throughout historic Greece was the cotyle or cotyla whose absolute value varied from one place to another between 210 ml and 330 ml.[1] The basic unit for both solid and liquid measures was the κύαθος (kyathos, plural: kyathoi).[3]

The Attic liquid measures were:

Attic measures of liquid capacity
Unit Greek name Equal to Modern equivalent Description
kochliarion κοχλιάριον 4.5 ml (0.15 US fl oz; 0.16 imp fl oz) spoon
chēmē χήμη 2 kochliaria 9.1 ml (0.31 US fl oz; 0.32 imp fl oz)
mystron μύστρον 2 12 kochliaria 11.4 ml (0.39 US fl oz; 0.40 imp fl oz)
konchē κόγχη 5 kochliaria 22.7 ml (0.77 US fl oz; 0.80 imp fl oz)
kyathos κύαθος 10 kochliaria 45.5 ml (1.54 US fl oz; 1.60 imp fl oz)
oxybathon ὀξυβαθον 1 12 kyathoi 68.2 ml (2.31 US fl oz; 2.40 imp fl oz)
tetarton,[2] hēmikotylē[3] τέταρτον, ἡμικοτύλη 3 kyathoi 136.4 ml (4.61 US fl oz; 4.80 imp fl oz)
kotylē, tryblion or hēmina κοτύλη, τρύβλιον, ἡμίνα 6 kyathoi 272.8 ml (9.22 US fl oz; 9.60 imp fl oz)
xestēs ξέστης 12 kyathoi 545.5 ml (1.153 US pt; 0.9599 imp pt) Roman sextarius
chous χοῦς 72 kyathoi 3.27 l (6.9 US pt; 5.75 imp pt)
keramion κεράμιον 8 choes 26.2 l (6.9 US gal; 5.8 imp gal) Roman amphora
metrētēs μετρητής 12 choes 39.3 l (10.4 US gal; 8.6 imp gal) amphora
Except where noted, based on Smith (1851).[2] Metric equivalents are approximate.

and the Attic dry measures of capacity were:

Attic measures of dry capacity
Unit Greek name Equal to Modern equivalent Description
kochliarion κοχλιάριον 4.5 ml (0.15 US fl oz; 0.16 imp fl oz)
kyathos κύαθος 10 kochliaria 45.5 ml (1.54 US fl oz; 1.60 imp fl oz)
oxybathon ὀξυβαθον 1 12 kyathoi 68.2 ml (2.31 US fl oz; 2.40 imp fl oz)
kotylē or hēmina κοτύλη, ἡμίνα 6 kyathoi 272.8 ml (9.22 US fl oz; 9.60 imp fl oz)
xestēs ξέστης 12 kyathoi 545.5 ml (1.153 US pt; 0.9599 imp pt) Roman sextarius
choinix χοῖνιξ 24 kyathoi 1.09 l (2.3 US pt; 1.92 imp pt)
hēmiekton ἡμίεκτον 4 choinikes 4.36 l (1.15 US gal; 0.96 imp gal)
hekteus ἑκτεύς 8 choinikes 8.73 l (2.31 US gal; 1.92 imp gal) a sixth of a medimnos
medimnos μέδιμνος 48 choinikes 52.4 l (13.8 US gal; 11.5 imp gal)
Except where noted, based on Smith (1851).[2] Metric equivalents are approximate.

Currency

The basic unit of Athenian currency was the obol, weighing approximately 0.72 grams of silver:[5][6]

An obol, Attica, Athens, weighing 0.69 g After 449 BC
Unit Greek name Equivalent Weight
obol or obolus ὀβολός 16 drachma, 4 tetartemorions 0.72 g (0.023 ozt)
drachma δραχμή 6 obols 4.3 g (0.14 ozt)
mina μνᾶ 100 drachmae
talent τάλαντον 60 minae

Weight

Weights are often associated with currency since units of currency involve prescribed amounts of a given metal. Thus for example the English pound has been both a unit of weight and a unit of currency. Greek weights similarly bear a nominal resemblance to Greek currency yet the origin of the Greek standards of weights is often disputed.[7] There were two dominant standards of weight in the eastern Mediterranean - a standard that originated in Euboea and that was subsequently introduced to Attica by Solon, and also a standard that originated in Aegina. The Attic/Euboean standard was supposedly based on the barley corn, of which there were supposedly twelve to one obol. However, weights that have been retrieved by historians and archeologists show considerable variations from theoretical standards. A table of standards derived from theory is as follows:[7]

Unit Greek name Equivalent Attic/Euboic standard Aeginetic standard
obol or obolus ὀβολός [8] 0.72 g (0.025 oz) 1.05 g (0.037 oz)
drachma δραχμή [9] 6 obols 4.31 g (0.152 oz) 6.3 g (0.22 oz)
mina μνᾶ [10] 100 drachmae 431 g (15.2 oz) 630 g (22 oz)
talent τάλαντον [11] 60 minae 25.86 kg (57.0 lb) 37.8 kg (83 lb)

Time

Athenians measured the day by sundials and unit fractions. Periods during night or day were measured by a water clock (clepsydra) that dripped at a steady rate and other methods. Whereas the day in the Gregorian calendar commences after midnight, the Greek day began after sunset. Athenians named each year after the Archon Eponymos for that year, and in Hellenistic times years were reckoned in quadrennial epochs according to the Olympiad.

In archaic and early classical Greece, months followed the cycle of the Moon which made them not fit exactly into the length of the solar year. Thus, if not corrected, the same month would migrate slowly into different seasons of the year. The Athenian year was divided into 12 months, with one additional month (poseideon deuteros, thirty days) being inserted between the sixth and seventh months every second year. Even with this intercalary month, the Athenian or Attic calendar was still fairly inaccurate and days had occasionally to be added by the Archon Basileus. The start of the year was at the summer solstice (previously it had been at the winter solstice) and months were named after Athenian religious festivals, 27 mentioned in the Hibah Papyrus, circ 275 BC.

This section of a frieze from the Elgin Marbles shows a cavalry procession that was part of the quadrennial Greater Panathenaic festival, always held in the month Hekatombion.
Month Greek name Gregorian equivalent
Hecatombaeon Ἑκατομβαιών June–July
Metageitnion Μεταγειτνιών July–August
Boedromion Βοηδρομιών August–September
Pyanepsion Πυανεψιών September–October
Maemacterion Μαιμακτηριών October–November
Poseideon Ποσειδεών November–December
Gamelion Γαμηλιών December–January
Anthesterion Ἀνθεστηριών January–February
Elaphebolion Ἐλαφηβολιών February–March
Munychion Μουνυχιών March–April
Thargelion Θαργηλιών April–May
Scirophorion Σκιροφοριών May–June

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Measures". The Oxford Classical Dictionary. 2003.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Smith, Sir William; Charles Anthon (1851) A new classical dictionary of Greek and Roman biography, mythology, and geography partly based upon the Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology New York: Harper & Bros. Tables, pp. 1024–30
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 EIM:Metrology:History. Hellenic Institute of Metrology (EIM). Archived 13 April 2009.
  4. 1 2 Xenophon, Anabasis. ca 400 B.C.
  5. British Museum Catalogue 11 - Attica Megaris Aegina
  6. WEIGHT STANDARDS AND DENOMINATIONS, GREEK COINS Tulane University Archived May 4, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.
  7. 1 2 "Weights". The Oxford Classical Dictionary. 2003.
  8. ὀβολός. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project
  9. δραχμή. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project
  10. μνᾶ. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project
  11. τάλαντον. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; A Greek–English Lexicon at the Perseus Project
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