GREEK AND ROMAN MONEY, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES MENTIONED BY PLINY.
| Acetabulum. R | 1⁄8 of a Sextarius, .1238 pint. |
| Actus. R | 120 Pedes or Roman feet. |
| Amphora. R | 48 Sextarii, 5 gall. 7.577 pints. |
| As. R | 21⁄8 farthings. Copper. |
| As. R weight | See “[Libra].” |
| Concha, Smaller, G and R | .0412 pint. |
| Concha, Larger, G and R | .1238 pint. |
| Congius. R | 5.9471 pints. |
| Cubitus. G | 1 foot 6.2016 inches. |
| Cubitus. R | 1 foot 5.4744 inches. |
| Culeus. R | 20 Amphoræ, 118 gall. 7.546 pints. |
| Cyathus. G and R | 1⁄12 of a Sextarius, .0825 pint. |
| Denarius. R | 16 Asses, 81⁄2 pence. Silver. |
| Denarius. R. weight | 52.5 to 60 grains. |
| Digitus, or Finger. R | 1⁄16 of a Pes, .7281 inch. |
| Drachma. G | .63 grains. |
| Hemina. R | See “[Semisextarius].” |
| Jugerum. R | 240 Pedes or Roman feet by 120. |
| Libra, or Pound. R | 113⁄4 ounces 60.45 grains, avoird. |
| Mina.[1] G | 15 ounces 83.75 grains, avoird. |
| Modius. R. [dry measure] | 1⁄3 of an Amphora, 1 gall. 7.8576 pints. |
| Obolus, G | 11⁄2 pence + .5 farthings. Silver. |
| Obolus. G. weight | 10.5 grains. |
| Palmus, or Handbreadth. R | 2.9214 inches. |
| Passus, or Pace.[2] R | 5 Roman feet, 4 ft. 10.248 inches. |
| Pes, or Foot. R | 12 Unciæ, 11.6496 inches. |
| Pollex, or Thumb. R | See “[Uncia]” [lineal measure]. |
| Quadrans. R | .53125 farthings. Copper. |
| Quadrans. R weight | 3 Unciæ, 23⁄4 ounces 97.21 grs. |
| Quadrantal. R | See “[Amphora].” |
| Quartarius. R | 1⁄4 of a Sextarius, .2477 pint. |
| Quinarius. R | 1⁄2 of a Denarius. |
| Scripulum, or Scruple. R | 1⁄24 of an Uncia, 18.06 grains. |
| Semisextarius. R | 1⁄2 of a Sextarius. |
| Sestertius. R | 1⁄4 of a Denarius. Brass or Silver. |
| Sestertium. R | 1000 Sestertii, £7 16s. 3d. |
| Sextarius. R | 1⁄6 of a Congius, .9911 pint. |
| Spithama, or Span. G | 9.1008 inches. |
| Stadium. G and R | 1⁄8 of a Roman mile, 606 feet 9 in. |
| Teruncius. R | See “[Quadrans]” [weight & money]. |
| Ulna, or Ell. R | 6 feet, 81 inch. |
| Uncia, or Inch. R | 1⁄12 of a Pes, .9708 inch. |
| Uncia, or Ounce. R | 1⁄12 of a Libra. 433.666 grs. |
| Urna. R | 1⁄2 of an Amphora. |
| Victoriatus. R | See “[Quinarius].” |
The Schœnus, an Egyptian and Persian lineal measure, varied considerably; being sometimes thirty, and sometimes forty Stadia. See B. v. c. 11, B. vi. c. 30, and B. xii. c. [30].
The Attic Talent, as a weight, was equal to 56lb. 151⁄4oz. 100.32 grains. The Commercial Talent was 85lb. 21⁄2oz. 70.7 grs. The Silver Attic, or Great Talent, was in value £343 15s. or, according to Pollux, £406 5s. The Gold, or Sicilian Talent, was equal in weight to six Attic Drachmæ, or about 3⁄4 oz. and 71 grs. The Egyptian Talent, as a measure of weight, was equal to about twice the Attic Talent.
NATURAL HISTORY OF PLINY.
BOOK XI.
THE VARIOUS KINDS OF INSECTS.
CHAP. 1. (1.)—THE EXTREME SMALLNESS OF INSECTS.
WE shall now proceed to a description of the insects, a subject replete with endless difficulties;[3] for, in fact, there are some authors who have maintained that they do not respire, and that they are destitute of blood. The insects are numerous, and form many species, and their mode of life is like that of the terrestrial animals and the birds. Some of them are furnished with wings, bees for instance; others are divided into those kinds which have wings, and those which are without them, such as ants; while others, again, are destitute of both wings and feet. All these animals have been very properly called “insects,”[4] from the incisures or divisions which separate the body, sometimes at the neck, and sometimes at the corselet, and so divide it into members or segments, only united to each other by a slender tube. In some insects, however, this division is not complete, as it is surrounded by wrinkled folds; and thus the flexible vertebræ of the creature, whether situate at the abdomen, or whether only at the upper part of the body, are protected by layers, overlapping each other; indeed, in no one of her works has Nature more fully displayed her exhaustless ingenuity.
(2.) In large animals, on the other hand, or, at all events, in the very largest among them, she found her task easy and her materials ready and pliable; but in these minute creatures, so nearly akin as they are to non-entity, how surpassing the intelligence, how vast the resources, and how ineffable the perfection which she has displayed. Where is it that she has united so many senses as in the gnat?—not to speak of creatures that might be mentioned of still smaller size—Where, I say, has she found room to place in it the organs of sight? Where has she centred the sense of taste? Where has she inserted the power of smell? And where, too, has she implanted that sharp shrill voice of the creature, so utterly disproportioned to the smallness of its body? With what astonishing subtlety has she united the wings to the trunk, elongated the joints of the legs, framed that long, craving concavity for a belly, and then inflamed the animal with an insatiate thirst for blood, that of man more especially! What ingenuity has she displayed in providing it with a sting,[5] so well adapted for piercing the skin! And then too, just as though she had had the most extensive field for the exercise of her skill, although the weapon is so minute that it can hardly be seen, she has formed it with a twofold mechanism, providing it with a point for the purpose of piercing, and at the same moment making it hollow, to adapt it for suction.