Ancient weights and measures

This page about weights and measures will give you an idea what a Roman or Greek author is talking about when he e.g. mentions a distance of 5 stadia. Greek authors, of course, used Greek measurements that sometimes even with the same name significantly differ from the Roman. But even the Greek measurement could differ from place to place. These tables are meant to give a rough idea of the ancient weights and measures and come in handy when reading an ancient author.

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Length Surface Weight Content Currency

Length

Roman Greek

Unit	Pes	Meter	−−−−−−	Unit	Pous (pl.:podes)	Meter
digitus	1/16	0.0185	−−−−−−	dactilos	1/16	0.0185
uncia	1/12	0.0246	−−−−−−	kondylos	1/8	0.037
palmus	1/4	0.074	−−−−−−	palaiste	1/4	0.074
pes	1	0.296	−−−−−−	Pous	1	0.296
cubitus	1,5	0.444	−−−−−−	pechys	1,5	0.444
gradus	2 1/2	0.74	−−−−−−	pechys basileios	1,7	0.50
passus	5	1,48	−−−−−−	diploun bema	5	1,48
pertica	10	2,96	−−−−−−	akaina	10	2,96
actus	120	35,5	−−−−−−	plethron	100	29,6
stadium	625	185	−−−−−−	stadion	600	185
mille (passuum)	5000	1480	−−−−−−	diaulos	1200	370
leuga	7500	2222.5	−−−−−−	dolichos	7200	2220

Surface

Top

Unit	Actus	Meter²
pes quadratus	1/14400	0.0876
scripulum	1/144	8.76
actus minimus	1/30	42
clima	1/4	315
actus quadratus	1	1260
iugerum	2	2520
heredium	4	5040
centurium	400	540000
saltus	1600	2016000

Content

TopRoman Greek

Unit	Sextarius	Liter	−−−−−−	Unit	Cotyla	Liter
ligula	1/30	0.0112	−−−−−−
cyatus	1/12	0.045	−−−−−−
sextans	1/6	0.09	−−−−−−
triens	1/3	0.18	−−−−−−
hemina	1/2	0.27	−−−−−−	cotyla	1	0.276
choenix	2/3	0.36	−−−−−−	hemichous	6	1.66
sextarius	1	0.54	−−−−−−
congius	6	3.25	−−−−−−	chous	12	3.32
urna	24	13	−−−−−−
amphora	48	26	−−−−−−	metretes	144	38,45
culleus	960	520	−−−−−−

Weight

TopRoman Greek

Unit	Drachma	Gram	−−−−−−	Unit	Drachma	Gram
chalcus	1/48	0.07	−−−−−−
siliqua	1/18	0.19	−−−−−−
obulus	1/6	0.57	−−−−−−	1/6	obol	0.72
scrupulum	1/3	1.14	−−−−−−
drachma	1	3.4	−−−−−−	drachma	1	4,3
silicius	2	6.82	−−−−−−
uncia	8	27.26	−−−−−−
libra	96	327.17	−−−−−−	mina	100	431
mina	128	436.225	−−−−−−	talent	6000	25.86

Currency in the republic

Top Roman Greek

Coin	As	−−−−−−	Coin	Obol
denarius	10	−−−−−−	obol	0.56g silver
sestertius	2 1/2	−−−−−−	drachma	6
dupondius	2	−−−−−−	mina	600
as	1	−−−−−−	talent	3600
demis	1/2	−−−−−−
driens	1/3	−−−−−−
duadrans	1/4	−−−−−−
quinconx	5/12	−−−−−−

An As was initially one pound of copper even before the introduction of coins.
In the centuries to follow the amount of copper in an As was diminished time and again
a Roman talent was about 32.3kg of silver
a Greek talent about 26 kg of silver or 6000 drachmae