430

EPITAPHS

SANCTITY OF TOMBS, ETC.

But what deserves particular attention, is the inscription or epitaph (TITULUS, уpan, EPITAPHIUM vel ELOGIUM), expressed sometimes in prose, and sometimes in verse, Ovid. Her. xiv. 128. Martial. x. 71. Cic. Tusc. i. 14. Arch. 11. Fin. ii. 35. Pis. 29. Senec. 17. 20. Virg. Ecl. v. 43. Suet. Cl. 12. Plin. Ep. ix. 20. Sil. xv. 44., usually beginning with these letters, D. M. S., DIS MANIBUS SACRUM, Prudent. Symmach. i. 402. Gell. x. 18., vel MEMORIÆ, Suet. Vit. 10.; then the name of the person followed, his character, and the principal circumstances of his life. Often these words are used, Hic SITUS EST Vel JACET, Ovid. Met. ii. 327. Fast. iii. 3. 373. Tibull. i. 3. 55. iii. 2. 29. Martial. vi. 52. Virg. Æn. vii. 3. Plin. Ep. vi. 10. Senec. Ep. 78. If he had lived happily in marriage, thus, SINE QUERELA, SINE JURGIO, vel offensâ, vel discordia, Plin. Ep. viii. 5.

When a body was simply interred without a tomb, an inscription was sometimes put on the stone coffin, as on that of Numa, Liv. xl. 29.

There was an action for violating the tombs of the dead, (SEPULCHRI VIOLATI ACTIO), Cic. Tusc. i. 12. Senec. Contr. iv. 4. The punishment was a fine, the loss of a hand (manûs amputatio), working in the mines (damnatio ad metallum), banishment or death.

A tomb was violated by demolition, by converting it to improper purposes, or by burying in it those who were not entitled, alienos inferendo, Cic. Legg. ii. 26. D. de Sep. viol. 47. 12. Tombs often served as lurking-places for the persecuted Christians, Chrysost. Hom. 40., and others, Martial. i. 35. iii. 92. 15.

The body was violated by handling, 1.4. C. de Sep. viol. ix. 19., or mutilating it, which was sometimes done for magical purposes, Quinctil. Decl. 15. Apul. Met. ii. Tacit. Ann. ii. 69., by stripping it of any thing valuable, as gold, arms, &c., Ib. & Phædr. i. 27. 3., or by transporting it to another place without leave obtained from the Pontifex Maximus, from the emperor, or the magistrate of the place, Dig. & Cod. Plin. Ep. x. 73, 74.

Some consecrated temples to the memory of their friends, as Cicero proposed to his daughter Tullia; which design he frequently mentions in his letters to Atticus, xii. 18, 19. 35, 36. 41. 43. &c. Lactant. i. 15. This was a very ancient custom, Plin. 27., and probably the origin of idolatry, Wisd. xiv. 15.

The highest honours were decreed to illustrious persons after death, Minuc. Felix in Octav. The Romans worshipped their founder Romulus as a god, under the name of Quirinus, Liv. i. 16. Hence, afterwards, the solemn CONSECRATION (bewis) of the emperors, by a decree of the senate [conferring on them the title Dirus], Herodian. iv. 2., who were thus said to be ranked in the number of the gods, (in deorum numerum, inter vel in deos referri, Suet. Cæs. 8S., cælo dicari, Plin. Pan. 11. &c.) also some empresses, Suet. Cl. 11. Tacit. Ann. v. 2. xvi. 21. Temples and priests were assigned to them. They were invoked with prayers, Virg. G. i. 42. Men swore by their name or genius, and offered victims on their altars, Horat. Ep. ii. 1. 16.

The real body was burnt, and the remains buried in the usual manner. But a waxen image of the deceased was made to the life; which, after a variety of ridiculous ceremonies paid to it for seven days

DIVISIONS OF THE AS AND UNCIA.

431

in the palace, was carried on a couch in solemn procession, on the shoulders of young men of equestrian and patrician rank [through the Via Sacra], first to the Forum, where the dirge was sung by a choir of boys and girls of the most noble descent; then to the Campus Martius, where it was burnt, with a vast quantity of the richest odours and perfumes, on a lofty and magnificent pile; from the top of which an eagle let loose was supposed to convey the prince's soul to heaven, Herodian. iv. 3.

ROMAN WEIGHTS AND COINS.

THE principal Roman weight was AS or libra, a pound, which was divided into twelve parts or ounces (UNCIÆ). Thus, uncia, an ounce, or of an as; sextans, 2 ounces, or ; quadrans, 3, 31⁄2, or }; triens, 4, †, or }; quincunx*, 5, or 1; semis [or semissis, quasi semiassis], 6,, or; septunx, 7, or 1; bes, or bessis, 8, &, or ; dodrans, 9, 2, or 2; dextans, or decunx, 10, 1%, or ; deunx, 11 ounces, or of an as.

21

8

The UNCIA was also divided thus: Semuncia,, the half of an ounce, or of an as; duella, ; sicilicus, vel um, ‡; sextula, }; drachma, hemisescla, i. e. semisextula, ; tremissis, scrupulus, scriptulum vel scripulum, of an ounce, or of an as, Varro L. L. iv. 36.

AS was applied to any thing divided into twelve parts; as an inheritance (see p. 59.), an acre, Liv. viii. 11., liquid measure (see p. 401.), or the interest of money, &c. Hence, probably, our word ace, or unit. The Roman pound was equal to 10 ounces, 18 pennyweights, 134 grains of English Troy weight, or nearly 12 ounces Avoirdupoise. The Greek weights, mentioned by Roman authors, are chiefly the talent, divided into 60 mine, and the mina into 100 drachmæ. The mina was nearly equal to the Roman libra.

The English TROY weight, by which silver and gold are weighed, is as follows: 24 grains, 1 penny-weight: 20 pwts. 1 ounce; 12 oz. 1 pound. But Apothecaries, in compounding medicines, make 20 grains 1 scruple; 3 sc. 1 drachm; 8 dr. 1 ounce; 12 oz. 1 pound; Avoirdupoise weight, by which larger and coarser commodities are weighed, 16 drams, 1 oz.; 16 oz. 1 pound.

The Romans, like other ancient nations, Strab. iii. 155., at first had no coined money (pecunia signata), [Hor. A. P. 59.] but either exchanged commodities with one another, or used a certain weight of uncoined brass (ÆS RUDE), or other metal. Hence the various names of money also denote weight; so pendere for solvere, to pay; stipendium (a stipe pendenda), soldiers' pay, Festus, because at first it was weighed, and not counted. Thus, talentum and mina among the Greeks, shekel among the Hebrews, and pound among us.

Several Greek words are supposed to allude to the original custom

of exchanging commodities: thus, aproua, to purchase or exchange by giving a lamb (aps, àpròs, agnus); wvész, by giving an ass (vos, asinus); whéw, by giving a foal, nos (equuleus), or the young of any animal. Servius Tullius first stamped pieces of brass with the image of cattle, oxen, swine, &c. (PECUDES), whence PECUNIA, money, Ovid. Fast. v. 281. (Servius rex ovium boumque effigie primus as signavit, Plin. xxxiii. 13. Es pecore notavit, Varro, R. R. ii. 1. Plutarch. Q. Rom. 40.) Silver was first coined A. U. 484, five years before the first Punic war, or, according to others, A. U. 498; and gold sixty-two years after, Plin. xxxiii. 3. 40. Liv. Ep. xv. Silver coins, however, seem to have been in use at Rome before that time, but of foreign coinage, Liv. viii. 11. The Roman coins were then only of brass.*

Hence ÆS, or æra, plur., is put for money in general, Horat. A. P. 345. Ep. i. 7. 23. Aureos nummos as dicimus, Ulpian. Ære mutare, to buy or sell; æs alienum, debt; annua æra, yearly pay, Liv. v. 4.; ærarium, the treasury; as militare, money for paying the soldiers, given from the treasury to the Quæstor by the Tribuni ærarii, Ascon. et Fest. or by them to the soldiers, Varro, L. L. iv. 36. Homo æratus, a monied man, Plaut. Most. iv. 2. 9., as some read the passage. So tribuni non tam ærati, i. e. bene nummati, quàm ut appellantur, ærarii, i. e. ære corrupti, vel, in ærarios aut Cærites referendi, Cic. Att. i. 16. (See p. 116.) Æra vetusta, i. e. prisca moneta, ancient money, Ovid. Fast. i. 220., but æra vetera, old crimes or debts, Cic. Verr. v. 13. Æruscare vel æsculari, to get money by any means, Fest. et Senec. de Clem. ii. 6. Eruscator vel æsculator, a low beggarly fellow, a fortune-teller, or the like, Gell. ix. 2. xiv. 1.: obæratus, oppressed with debt, a debtor, Liv. xxvi. 40. Cæs. B. G. i. 3. Tacit. Ann. vi. 7. In meo ære est, i. e. in bonis meis vel in meo censu, he is mine, my friend, Cic. Fam. xiii. 62. xv. 14.†; as circumforaneum, money borrowed from bankers (argentarii), who had shops in porticoes round the Forum, Cic. Att. ii. 1.

Money was likewise called STIPS (a stipando), from being crammed in a cell, that it might occupy less room, Varr. L. L. iv. 36. But this word is usually put for a small coin, as we say a penny, or far

"It was a remarkable and very distinguishing peculiarity of the nations in the middle of Italy, to employ copper in heavy masses as a currency, not silver: whereas the southern provinces and the coast as far as Campania, made use of silver money. I give the name of copper money to what in reality is bronze; copper rendered fusible by an admixture of tin or zinc. How very general the use of this metal was, is proved by the armour of the Servian legion. Even in late times, perhaps in those of Timæus (B. C. 251), the Ligurians, poor as they were, had shields of brass. Indeed, foreign merchant vessels in the Homeric age bring iron to Italy, to obtain a cargo of copper (Od. A. 184.). The copper-mines of Tuscany, especially in the country about Volterra, may once have been immensely productive; to this was added the produce of the mines in Cyprus, ascertained to have been enormous; the influx of which into Italy is attested by the Latin name for copper (cuprum). The dependence of that island upon the Phoenicians in very remote times opened a way for this to the Punic marts; and Carthaginian vessels must have brought it into Italy. The heavy copper money was piled up in rooms; and it is recorded, that during the Veientine war, individuals sent the tribute due from them to the state in waggon-loads to the treasury, Liv. iv. 60.”— Nieb. i. p. 396. 398, 399. See Crombie's G. ii. p. 121.

+ Hor. Epist. ii. 2. 12., meo sum pauper in ære, I am poor, but owe nothing

thing, offered to the gods at games or the like, Cic. Legg. ii. 16. Liv. XXV. 12. Tacit. Ann. xiv. 15. [Hist. iv. 53.] Suet. Aug. 57., or given as an alms to a beggar, Id. 91., or to any one as a new year's gift (STRENA), Id. Cal. 42. [ Ovid. F. i. 189.], or by way of contribution for any public purpose, Plin. xxxiii. 10. s. 48. xxxiv. 5.

The first brass coin (NUMMUS vel numus æris, a Numa rege [Plin. xxxiv. 1.] vel a vóuos, lex) was called AS, anciently assis (from æs) of a pound weight (libralis). The highest valuation of fortune (census maximus) under Servius, was 100,000 pounds weight of brass (centum millia æris, sc. assium, vel librarum), Liv. i. 43.

The other brass coins, besides the as, were semisses, trientes, quadrantes, and sextantes. The quadrans is also called TERUNCIUS, Cic. Fam. ii. 17. Att. v. 20. (a tribus unciis), Plin. xxxiii. 3. s. 13.

These coins at first had the full weight which their names imported, hence in later times called ÆS GRAVE, Plin. xxxiii. 3. s. 13.*

When the As was diminished in weight, the term "Es grave" was introduced for the sake of distinguishing the ancient or librales asses from the modern. Before that time, the term was not necessary. Thus, in one of the laws of the Twelve Tables, quoted by Gellius xx. c. 1., we read: — " Viginti quinque æris pænæ sunto," without any addition of gravis. It is evident, however, that after the diminution of the asses, sums of money are sometimes calculated and expressed in the Es grave. In proof of this we may cite Liv. xxii. 33. and xxxii. 26., and also the passage produced by Salmasius (de modo Usurarum, p. 237.) out of the Lintei libri, where are mentioned Ætolorum legatis lautia data, et ducenta, sive potius bina millia æris gravis in singulos. There must have been some difference betwixt the value of the Es grave and the modern asses, or otherwise the term would be useless. We agree with Perizonius, who suspects that the Romans, through attachment to ancient usage, retained the ancient method of computing money in public transactions, such as estimating the property of citizens-in gifts or donations decreed by the senate-in computing the quantity of money exhibited in a triumph so that the Es grave is far more frequently understood than expressed in ancient writers. What value then must be attached to the Es grave in computations of this kind, or what relation did it bear to the modern asses, and to silver? It cannot be that the value of the Es grave increased in proportion to the diminution of the asses so that ten (æris gravis) would be equal to sixty sextantarii or 120 unciales asses, because the sextantarius and the uncialis were respectively and of the librales asses (i.e. Es Grave) in weight. A single passage will be sufficient to prove this. Livy xxxiv. 11. (when the asses were unciales) in speaking of the number of rowers which each must supply, according to the valuation of his property, thus concludes the enumeration: - · Qui supra decies æris, septem; senatores, octo nautas cum stipendio darent. That the Es grave is here meant there can be but little doubt, because he is treating of the valuation of the property of the citizens; and decies is equal to decies centena millia, as is manifest from the antecedent numbers. If, therefore, a pound (Æris gravis) is valued at twelve unciales: decies æris will be equal to twelve million of unciales and three million of sestertii, which is false and absurd, not only on account of the poverty of the Romans at that time, but because, in the most flourishing times of the republic, the senatorius census, according to Suetonius (in Augusto, c. 41.), was fixed at 800,000 sestertii, and advanced at last by Augustus to a million or 1,200,000 of the same denomination.

The Es grave, therefore, retained its ancient relation to silver. This opinion is confirmed by Plutarch, who, in the censorship of Cato, estimates that sum of money which in Livy (xxxix. 44.) is quindecim millium æris (i. e. gravis), at 1500 drachmæ. As a denarius is equal to a drachma, it is clear that Plutarch reckons decem æris equal to a denarius; and this was always the case. When the unciales were struck, and the relation of the asses to the denarius was altered, it was then that the Romans first began to make use of the term as grave in their computations. It was not, therefore, a coin, or any certain weight of brass, but a mere appellation, such as a

FF

434

REDUCTION IN THE WEIGHT OF THE AS.

This name was used, particularly after the weight of the as was diminished, to denote the ancient standard, Liv. iv. 41. 60. v. 12. Senec. ad Helv. 12., because when the sum was large, the asses were weighed and not counted. Servius on Virgil makes as grave to be lumps (massa) of rough copper, or uncoined brass (æris rudis), Æn. vi. 862.

In the first Punic war, on account of the scarcity of money, asses were struck weighing only the sixth part of a pound, or two ounces (asses sextantario pondere feriebantur), which passed for the same value as those of a pound weight had done; whence, says Pliny, the republic gained five-sixths (ita quinque partes factæ lucri,) and thus discharged its debt. * The mark of the as then was a double Janus on one side, and the beak or stern of a ship on the other, Plutarch. Q. Rom. 40. see Ovid. Fast. i. 229. &c.; of the triens and quadrans, a boat (rates); whence they were sometimes called RATITI, Festus, Plin. ibid.

In the second Punic war, while Fabius was dictator, the asses were made to weigh only one ounce (unciales); and, afterwards, by the law of Papirius, A. U. 563, half an ounce (semunciales), Plin. xxxiii. 3. s. 13.

The sum of three asses was called tressis; of ten asses, decussis; of twenty, vicessis; and so on to a hundred, CENTUSSIS, Varr. L. L. iv. 36. viii. 49. Pers. v. 76. 191. Gell. xv. 15. Macrob. Sat. ii. 13., but there were no such coins.

The silver coins were DENARIUS, the value of which was ten asses, or ten pounds of brass (Deni æris, sc. asses), marked with the letter X.-QUINARIUS, five asses, marked V.-and SESTERTIUS, two asses and a half (quasi SESQUITERTIUS), [or semistertius], commonly marked by the letters, L. L. S. for Libra libra semis [or IIS]; or by abbreviation, H. S., and often called absolutely NUMMUS, because it was in most frequent use, Cic. Verr. iii. 60, 61.

The impression on silver coins (nota argenti) was usually, on one side, carriages drawn by two or four beasts (biga vel quadriga): whence they are called BIGATI and QUADRIGATI, sc. nummi, Plin. xxxii. 3. Liv. xxii. 52. xxiii. 15., and on the reverse, the head of Roma with a helmet.

On some silver coins were marked the figure of Victory, hence called VICTORIATI, Cic. Font. 5. Quinctil. vi. 3. 80. stamped by the Clodian law, Plin. xxxiii. 3., of the same value with the quinarii.

From every pound of silver were coined 100 denarii: so that at first a pound of silver was equal in value to a thousand pounds of brass. Whence we may judge of the scarcity of silver at that time in Rome. But afterwards the case was altered. For when the weight of the as was diminished, it bore the same proportion to the denarius as before, till it was reduced to one ounce ; and then a denarius passed for sixteen asses (except in the military pay, in which it continued to

"dernier, pistole, écu, livre tournois," which names are used in calculations, although there is no coin of brass, silver, or gold that exactly answers to them. - Abridged from Crevier's Disputatio de ære gravi, in the 4to ed. of Livy.

Niebuhr, i. p. 400., observes that Pliny is in error in regarding this as the first reduction of the as; it was only lowered to two ounces by degrees. In the Punic war, brass grew dearer, because the importation of Cyprian copper and of tin was at a stop.