A talent of gold among the Jews was worth £5475, and one of silver £342 3s. 9d.
The greater talent of the Romans was worth £99 6s. 8d., and the less £60, or, as some say, £75, and the great talent £1125.
The value of the Roman pondo is not precisely known, though some suppose it equivalent to an Attic mina, or £3 4s. 7d. It is used indifferently by ancient authors for æs, as, and mina, and was supposed to consist of 100, or 96 denarii. It is to be observed, that whenever the word pondo is joined to numbers, it signifies the same as libra, but when it is used with other words it bears the same signification as the σταθμη or ὁλκη of the Greeks, or the pondus of the Latins. The word nummus, when mentioned as a sum of money, was supposed to be equivalent to a sestertius, and though the words sestertius and nummus are often joined together, yet their signification is the same, and they intimate no more than either does separately.
We must particularly remark, that in reckoning their sesterces, the Romans had an art which can be rendered intelligible by the observation of these rules: If a numeral noun agreed in case, gender, and number with the word sestertius, it denoted precisely as many sestertii; as for example, decem sestertii was ten sestertii. If a numeral noun of another case was joined with the genitive plural of sestertius, it denoted so many thousand, as decem sestertiûm signifies so many thousand sestertii. If the adverb numeral was joined, it denoted so many hundred thousand, as decies sestertiûm was ten hundred thousand sesterii. If the numeral adverb was put by itself, the signification was not altered; therefore decies, vigesies, &c., in a sentence, imply as many hundred thousand sestertii, or hundred sestertia, as if the word sestertiûm was expressed.
The denarius, which was the chief silver coin used at Rome, received its name because it contained denos æris, ten asses.
The as is often expressed by an Lucius because it was one pound weight; and the sestertius, because it was equivalent to two pounds and a half of brass, is frequently denoted by H. S. or L. L. S.
The Roman libra contained twelve ounces of silver, and was worth about £3, sterling.
The Roman talent was supposed to be equivalent to twenty-four sestertia, or nearly £193 sterling.
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