Omnia cōnstant centum vīgintī sēstertiīs
[1] Latin uses the
ablative case to express a specific cost:
Agrum vēndidit
sēstertium sex mīlibus. │ He sold the land for
6000 sesterces
sānē [i] magnō pretiō,
[ii] nummīs aureīs quadringentīs (Livy) │ of course [i] at
a great price, [ii] for four hundred gold coins
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y69cLzFHVUs
[2] sēstertius, -ī
(2/m): sesterce; this was a standard monetary unit, and Wilkes roughly compares
one sesterce to a British penny or a US cent. Thurston Peck (A Dictionary of
Classical Antiquities) notes that under the early Empire it was worth about
$0.05 (in early twentieth-century terms). Such comparisons are only
approximate, since its value changed over time. For expressing small amounts in
simple Latin dialogue, sēstertius is an appropriate and historically
authentic word.
[3] HS was a
common abbreviation for sesterces:
HS LXXX: 80 sesterces
[4] There were
several coins in use in Ancient Rome. Bear in mind, however, that actual values
fluctuated over time.
(1) as, assis
[3/m]: a small coin of low value which we could equate with a penny or a cent.
The poet Catullus
refers to the coin as a sign of contempt for what others think of him and his
girlfriend i.e. their rumours are valueless:
Vīvāmus, mea
Lesbia, atque amēmus, │ Let us live, my Lesbia, and let us love,
rūmōrēsque senum
sevēriōrum │ and the rumours of rather stern old men
omnēs ūnius aestimēmus
assis! │ let us value them all at a single penny!
Other terms relate
to their relative value of this coin:
(2) quadrāns,
quadrantis [3/m]: a quarter of an as;
not ‘quarter’ in the US sense of quarter of a dollar, but the quarter value of the
already small denomination listed above
(3) sēmis,
sēmissis [3/m] = half of an as
(4) dupondius, -ī
[2/m] = two assēs
This is where sēstertius
fits in with regard to relative value of Roman coins:
(5) sēstertius, -ī
(2/m) = 2 ½ assēs
The five coins
above were manufactured from base metals i.e. copper, brass or alloys.
Higher value
denominations:
(6) dēnārius, -ī
[2/m] = 4 sēstertiī; made of silver
The most famous —
or infamous — dēnārius is the silver coin struck in 42 BC to commemorate
the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC by a group of senatorial
conspirators (see image).
The dinar
is still used in a number of countries as the official currency e.g. Algeria,
Jordan and Tunisia, the name derived from Arabic دِينَار
(dīnār) < La: dēnārius; the word denier
exists in French to refer to an old denomination.
(7) aureus, -ī
[2/m] = 25 dēnariī; made of gold
[5] Other writers
express currencies using Neo-Latin vocabulary.
lībra, -ae [1/f]:
pound; originally a measurement of weight but in Mediaeval Latin also refers to
a weight in silver and becomes a monetary value. This is still reflected in the
symbol £ for the UK Pound Sterling i.e. L with a stroke through it.
In Traupman’s work
we have:
Quantī haec cōnstant?
│ How much do these (items) cost?
Decem dollarīs ex tōtō. │ Ten dollars in total.
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