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Ancient Greek units of measurement varied according to location and epoch. Systems of ancient weights and measures evolved as needs changed; Solon and other lawgivers also reformed them en bloc. Some units of measurement were found to be convenient for trade within the Mediterranean region and these units became increasingly common to different city states. The calibration and use of measuring devices became more sophisticated. By about 500 BC, Athens had a central depository of official weights and measures — the Tholos — where merchants were required to test their measuring devices against official standards.

Length

Greek measures of length were based on the relative lengths of parts of the body such as the foot and finger segment. The specific values assigned to these units varied according to location and epoch (e.g., in Aegina a foot or pous was approximately 13 inches or 333 mm, whereas in Athens (Attica) it was about 11.6 inches or 296 mm). The relative proportions, however, were generally the same throughout the Greek world.

Units derived from the dactylos (plural: dactyloi):

Larger units derived from the pous (plural: podes):

Area

One plethron was traditionally the amount of land a yoke of oxen could plough in one day (approximately 4 English acres); more specifically, it was any area equal to the area of a square each of whose sides is 100 podes or 10 plethron in length .

Volume

Greeks measured volume according to either dry or liquid capacity, suited respectively to measuring grain and wine. A common unit in both measures throughout historic Greece was the cotyle or cotyla whose absolute value varied from one place to another between 210mL and 330mL (or 7.4-11.6 fl. oz.):

Dry measure

Liquid measure

Currency

The basic unit of Athenian currency was the obol:

Weight

Weights are often associated with currency since units of currency involve prescribed amounts of a given metal. Thus for example the English pound has been both a unit of weight and a unit of currency. Greek weights similarly bear a nominal resemblance to Greek currency yet the origin of the Greek standards of weights is often disputed. There were two dominant standards of weight in the eastern Mediterranean - a standard that originated in Euboea and that was subsequently introduced to Attica by Solon, and also a standard that originated in Aegina. The Attic/Euboean standard was supposedly based on the barley corn, of which there were supposedly twelve to one obol. However, weights that have been retrieved by historians and archeologists show considerable variations from theoretical standards. A table of standards derived from theory is as follows:

Unit	Greek name	Equivalent	Attic/Euboic Standard	Aeginetic Standard
obol or obolus	ὀβολός		0.72g	1.05g
drachma	δραχμή	6 obols	4.31g	6.3g
mina	Template:Polytonic	100 drachmae	431g	630g
talent	τάλαντον	60 minae	25.86 kg	37.8 kg

Time

Athenians measured the day by sundials and unit fractions. Periods during night or day were measured by a water clock (clepsydra) that dripped at a steady rate and other methods. Whereas the day in our Gregorian calendar commences after midnight, the Greek day began after sunset. Athenians named each year after the Archon Eponymos for that year, and in Hellenistic times years were reckoned in quadrennial epochs according to the Olympiad. The Athenian year was divided into 12 months, with one additional month (poseideon deuteros, 30 days) being inserted between the sixth and seventh months every second year. Even with this intercalary month, the Athenian or Attic calendar was still fairly inaccurate and days had occasionally to be added by the Archon Basileus. The start of the year was at the summer solstice (previously it had been at the winter solstice) and months were named after Athenian religious festivals, 27 mentioned in the Hibah Papyrus, circ 275 BCE.

Hibeh Papyrus: http://mathforum.org/kb/message.jspa?messageID=7565384&tstart=0, http://planetmath.org/encyclopedia/HibehPapyrus.html

See also

• Stadia rod
• Systems of measurement
• Obsolete units of measure
• Metrological Relief

References

1. ^ "Measures". The Oxford Classical Dictionary. 2003.
2. ^ "Metrology - Ancient Greece". Hellenic Institute of Metrology (EIM). Retrieved 2007-11-02.
3. ^ "Weights". The Oxford Classical Dictionary. 2003.

External links

• "History 310: Greek Coinage and Measures". History/Classics 310. Retrieved December 15, 2005.
• Porter, John. "Greek and Roman Weights, Measures and Currency". Retrieved July 26, 2007.
• Online Conversion of Ancient Greek Units

• Obsolete units of measure
• Human-based units of measure
• Ancient Greek society
• Systems of units
• Ancient Greek technology