APPENDIX
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

Values varied somewhat from place to place within the Greek world; what follows is just one system.

Measuring Distance

16 fingers (breadth) = 4 palms = 1 foot

12 fingers = ½ cubit = 1 span (the distance between the tips of the thumb and the little finger when the hand is fully spread),

1¼ feet = 1 pygon (the distance from the elbow to the bottom joint of the little finger)

1½ feet = 1 cubit (the distance from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger)

6 feet = 1 fathom (the distance from the fingertips of the left hand to those of the right hand when the arms are stretched out horizontally)

100 feet = 1 plethron

600 feet = 1 stade

30 stades = 1 parasang (see the note to p. 5)

1 foot on the Attic scale has been estimated to be 29.6 centimetres (11.65 inches). Therefore:

1 finger = 1.85 centimetres (0.73 inches)

1 palm = 7.4 centimetres (2.91 inches)

1 span = 22.2 centimetres (8.74 inches)

1 pygon = 37 centimetres (14.57 inches)

1 cubit = 44.4 centimetres (17.5 inches)

1 fathom = 1.776 metres (1.94 yards)

1 plethron = 29.6 metres (32.38 yards)

1 stade = 177.6 metres (194.29 yards)

1 parasang = 5.328 kilometres (3.33 miles)

Money, or Measuring Weight

Greek coinage was not on the whole fiduciary, but was worth its weight. Hence measures of weight are at the same time monetary measures.

1 talent = 60 mnas = 6,000 drachmas = 36,000 obols

1 obol = 722 milligrams (0.025 ounces)

1 drachma = 4.332 grams (0.15 ounces)

1 mna = 433.2 grams (15.16 ounces)

1 talent = 25.992 kilograms (57.31 pounds)

Measuring Capacity

Liquid measures: 1 amphora (‘jar’) = 12 choes (‘pitchers’) = 144 cotylae (‘cups’) = 864 cyathi (‘spoons’). Since 1 amphora = about 39 litres (68.64 pints, 8.58 gallons), then 1 chous = 3.25 litres (5.72 pints), 1 cotyle = 270 millilitres (0.48 pints), and 1 cyathus = 45 millilitres (0.079 pints, 1.58 fluid ounces).

Dry measures: 1 medimnus = 48 choenixes = 192 cotylae. Since 1 cotyle = 270 millilitres (0.48 pints), then 1 choenix = 1.08 litres (1.90 pints), and 1 medimnus = 51.84 litres (91.24 pints, 11.40 gallons).