Note 39 — BOOK VII.

In these tables Agricola has simply adopted Roman names as equivalents of the old German weights, but as they did not always approximate in proportions, he coined terms such as "units of 4 siliquae," etc. It might seem more desirable to have introduced the German terms into this text, but while it would apply in this instance, as we have discussed on p. 259, the actual values of the Roman weights are very different from the German, and as elsewhere in the book actual Roman weights are applied, we have considered it better to use the Latin terms consistently throughout. Further, the obsolete German would be to most readers but little improvement upon the Latin. For convenience of readers we set out the various scales as used by Agricola, together with the German:—

Roman Scale.Old German Scale.

6Siliquae=1 Scripulum3Grenlin=1 Gran

4Scripula=1 Sextula4Gran=1 Krat

2Sextulae=1 Duella24Kratt=1 Mark

24Duellae=1 Bes or

24Grenlin=1 "Nummus"

12"Nummi"=1 Mark

Also the following scales are applied to fineness by Agricola:—

3Scripula=1 Drachma4Pfennige=1 Quintlein

2Drachmae=1 Sicilicus4Quintlein=1 Loth

2Sicilici=1 Semuncia16Loth=1 Mark

16Semunciae=1 Bes

The term "nummus," a coin, given above and in the text, appears in the German translation as pfennig as applied to both German scales, but as they are of different values, [Pg 254]we have left Agricola's adaptation in one scale to avoid confusion. The Latin terms adopted by Agricola are given below, together with the German:—

Roman Term.German Term.Number in one Mark or Bes.Value in Siliquae.

Siliqua 11521

"Unit of 4 Siliquae"Grenlin2884

Pfennig256—

ScripulumScruple (?)1926

Semi-sextulaGran9612

DrachmaQuintlein6418

SextulaHalb Krat4824

SicilicusHalb Loth3236

DuellaKrat2448

SemunciaLoth1672

"Unit of 5 Drachmae & 1 Scripulum""Nummus"1296

UnciaUntzen8144

BesMark11152

While the proportions in a bes or mark are the same in both scales, the actual weight values are vastly different—for instance, the mark contained about 3609.6, and the bes 3297 Troy Grains. Agricola also uses:

SelibraHalb-pfundt

LibraPfundt

CentumpondiumCentner.

As the Roman libra contains 12 unciae and the German pfundt 16 untzen, the actual weights of these latter quantities are still further apart—the former 4946 and the latter 7219 Troy grains.