The Greeks used the ὀυγγία, and divided it as the Romans did. They used the κεράτιον, in Latin, siliqua, which was the ¹⁄₁₈ of a drachma.
The medical weights were the mina, of 16 Roman ounces, as appears from Dioscorides and Galen, and Cleopatra (in Cosmeticis) who tells you that mina, as a weight, contains 16 ounces, 128 drachms, 384 scriptula, 768 oboli, 1052 lupini, 2304 siliquæ, 6144 æreoli. But when Celsus and Scribonius Largus make use of a denarius of about 62²²⁄₄₉ grains, the drachma being supposed equal to that; 100 such drachmæ must have made a mina of 6222²²⁄₄₉ grains, whereas, a mina of 16 ounces is about 7000 Troy grains, or our avoirdupois pound.
The physicians likewise made use of the litra of 96 drachms. The ὀυγγία, or uncia, being divided as usually. The κεράτιον, or siliqua, as mentioned before, was likewise a common weight among the physicians; and the σιτάριον, or grain, ¼ of the siliqua.
The Romans dividing their ounce into 7 denarii, and likewise into 8 drachms; the Greeks of later ages dividing likewise their ounce into 8 drachms, and the Roman denarius being supposed equal to the Greek drachma, have occasioned great confusion in the expressions of authors about the weights of both nations. It is evident there was an Attic mina of 16 Roman ounces, namely, the more ancient one, and another of 12½ ounces. By ounces is here meant Roman ounces, which is our avoirdupois ounce. So that the most ancient mina Attica was exactly our avoirdupois pound. Cleopatra speaks of the two different minæ, the first of 16 and the other of 12½ ounces. Dioscorides mentions only that of 16 ounces; and though it is mentioned by the physicians, it is not what they prescribed by, but perhaps like our avoirdupois weight, what their gross drugs were at first bought and sold by.
Of Arabian Weights. The Arabian weights used by their physicians, Serapion, Rhases, and Avicenna, are a mixture of the Greek and Roman weights, and derived from them. Their manes is a corruption of the Hebrew maneh, or the Greek mina: there were two of them, one of 20 ounces, and another of 16.
The ancient Arabian weights reduced to Troy weights.
| Lb. | Oz. | Dwts. | Grs. | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kestuf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1²⁹⁄₅₆ | ||||||||||
| 2 | Kirat | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3¹⁄₂₈ | |||||||||
| 4 | 2 | Danich | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6¹⁄₁₄ | ||||||||
| 6 | 3 | 1½ | Onolossat | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9³⁄₂₈ | |||||||
| 12 | 6 | 3 | 2 | Garme | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18³⁄₁₄ | ||||||
| 36 | 18 | 9 | 6 | 3 | Darchimi | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6⁹⁄₁₄ | |||||
| 41⅐ | 20⁴⁄₇ | 10²⁄₇ | 6⁶⁄₇ | 3³⁄₇ | 1⅐ | Denarius | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14²²⁄₄₉ | ||||
| 144 | 72 | 36 | 24 | 12 | 4 | 3½ | Sextarium | 0 | 0 | 9 | 2⁴⁄₇ | |||
| 288 | 144 | 72 | 48 | 24 | 8 | 7 | 2 | Sacros | 0 | 0 | 18 | 5⅐ | ||
| 3456 | 1728 | 864 | 576 | 288 | 96 | 84 | 24 | 12 | Ratel | 0 | 10 | 18 | 13⁵⁄₇ | |
| 4608 | 2304 | 1152 | 768 | 384 | 128 | 112 | 36 | 16 | 1⅓ | Manes Alicatica | 1 | 2 | 11 | 10²⁄₇ |
Greek Measures of Capacity. In reducing the Greek solid measures to the English, I shall make use of the χοῦς, which made in weight 720 drachms, according to all authors; suppose of rain-water, the ancients making no difference betwixt the weight of that and of wine. Taking the heaviest Attic drachm, which is the 100th part of the old Attic mina, or our avoirdupois pound, and neglecting the small difference in the tables, I shall state it at 70 grains Troy. According to this drachm, the weight of the Attic χοῦς must be 50,400 grains. There are in a solid foot 1728 solid inches, weighing 76 pounds of rain water: by this experiment 760 grains make 3 solid inches; therefore, 50,400 make 198·94737 solid inches, the number of the solid inches in the χοῦς; which is 6 pints, 25,698 solid inches, somewhat less than the Roman congius, though the Greek χοῦς and Roman congius are used indifferently as the same measure by ancient authors; as likewise are the 6th part of them, the ξέστης and sextarius, and the 12th the κοτύλη and the hemina. There is great probability that the Greeks measured the capacity of their vessels by the weight of oil, the product of their country. For the physicians, speaking of these measures, always mention their weight in oil; and Galen, speaking of the cotyla, saith that Heras understood the cotyla to be of 60 drachms reducing the weight to oil. I find likewise that it is a general supposition among the ancients that the weight of oil was to that of wine, as 9 to 10; so 72 pounds of oil is made equal in bulk to 80 pounds of wine, 9 pounds of oil to 10 of wine, and so everywhere. According to our experiments, the weight of oil is to that of wine or fresh-water, as 476 to 527, which is very near, as 9 to 9·96. So small a difference may be accounted for by the oil weighing less in a warm country than in ours.
The largest Greek measure for things liquid was the Attic μετρητής, which contained 12 choes. It is also called ἀμφορεὺς, κάδος, κεράμιον.
The χοῦς, or χοεὺς contained 12 cotylæ. It is also called λάγυνος, or λάγυνον, λάγηνον, or lagena. The Greek physicians sometimes use χοῦς for the Roman congius, the difference being but small. The Grecians in later times borrow the ξέστης from the Roman sextarius. It was the 6th part of the χοῦς.