The top unit of value in the coinage of the late Republic in Rome was the aureus, which prior to Nero was approximately 1/42 of a pound of gold. In 2010 dollars, where a pound of gold is worth about $14,000, the aureus takes on a value of approximately $330.
The denarius, a silver coin, had [...]
Last night I was reading up on the Roman monetary system, and was reminded that a sestertius was 1/4 of a denarius. A denarius was abbreviated with an X; and a sestertius, unaccountably, with an HS. What the hell was that H? And I figured it out: it’s not an H, it’s [...]
The associates of Sulla, from Plutarch:
“He kept company with actresses, musicians, and dancers, drinking with them on couches night and day. His chief favorites were Roscius the Player, Sorex the Arch Mime, and Metrobius the Impersonator of Women, for whom, though past his prime, he continued to be passionately fond up to the last, and [...]
You can understand the reasoning behind some of these customs of the Sacae (according to Aelian):
“The horses of the Sacae, when they lose their master, wait for him to jump on again. If someone wishes to marry a girl, he fights her in single combat. And if she proves the stronger she leads him off [...]
From the Stupid Ancients department. The technique of Leonides, here, might inspire a gifted statesman to find a way to save New Orleans.
“The inhabitants of Byzantium, who are formidable tipplers, are reported to live in bars, moving out of their own houses and dwellings, which they let to foreigners visiting the city. They abandon to [...]
A Little Plato for Pleasure (and Pain).
09-Aug-10On entering we found Socrates just released from chains, and Xanthippe, whom you know, sitting by him, and holding his child in her arms. When she saw us she uttered a cry and said, as women will: “O Socrates, this is the last time that either you will converse with your friends, or they with [...]