Ancient Greek units of measurement

Template:Short descriptionAncient 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

Some Greek measures of length were named after parts of the body, such as the (daktylos, plural: daktyloi) or finger (having the size of a thumb), and the (pous, plural: podes) or foot (having the size of a shoe). The values of the units varied according to location and epoch (e.g., in Aegina a pous was approximately , whereas in Athens (Attica) it was about ), but the relative proportions were generally the same.

Smaller units of length

Unit	Greek name	Equal to	Modern equivalent	Description
daktylos				finger
kondylos		2 daktyloi		knuckle
palaistē or dōron	,	4 daktyloi		palm
dichas or hēmipodion	,	8 daktyloi		half foot
lichas		10 daktyloi		distance from thumb-tip to tip of outstretched index finger
orthodōron		11 daktyloi		straight hand's width
spithamē		12 daktyloi		span of all fingers
pous		16 daktyloi		foot
pygmē		18 daktyloi		forearm
pygōn		20 daktyloi		distance from elbow to fist
pēchys		24 daktyloi		cubit
Except where noted, based on Smith (1851). Metric equivalents are approximate.

Smaller units derived from the daktylos

	daktylos	kondylos	doron	dichas	lichas	orthodoron	spithame	pous	pygme	pygon	pechus	royal pechus
daktylos	1	1⁄2	1⁄4	1⁄8	1⁄10	1⁄11	1⁄12	1⁄16	1⁄18	1⁄20	1⁄24	1⁄27
kondylos	2	1	1⁄2	1⁄4	1⁄5	2⁄11	1⁄6	1⁄8	1⁄9	1⁄10	1⁄12	2⁄27
doron	4	2	1	1⁄2	2⁄5	4⁄11	1⁄3	1⁄4	2⁄9	1⁄5	1⁄6	4⁄27
dichas	8	4	2	1	4⁄5	8⁄11	2⁄3	1⁄2	4⁄9	2⁄5	1⁄3	8⁄27
lichas	10	5	2+1⁄2	1+1⁄4	1	10⁄11	5⁄6	5⁄8	5⁄9	1⁄2	5⁄12	10⁄27
orthodoron	11	5+1⁄2	2+3⁄4	1+3⁄8	1+1⁄10	1	11⁄12	11⁄16	11⁄18	11⁄20	11⁄24	11⁄27
spithame	12	6	3	1+1⁄2	1+1⁄5	1+1⁄11	1	3⁄4	2⁄3	3⁄5	1⁄2	4⁄9
pous	16	8	4	2	1+3⁄5	1+5⁄11	1+1⁄3	1	8⁄9	4⁄5	2⁄3	16⁄27
pygme	18	9	4+1⁄2	2+1⁄4	1+4⁄5	1+7⁄11	1+1⁄2	1+1⁄8	1	9⁄10	3⁄4	2⁄3
pygon	20	10	5	2+1⁄2	2	1+9⁄11	1+2⁄3	1+1⁄4	1+1⁄9	1	5⁄6	20⁄27
pechus	24	12	6	3	2+2⁄5	2+2⁄11	2	1+1⁄2	1+1⁄3	1+1⁄5	1	8⁄9
royal pechus	27	13+1⁄2	6+3⁄4	3+3⁄8	2+7⁄10	2+5⁄11	2+1⁄4	1+11⁄16	1+1⁄2	1+7⁄20	1+1⁄8	1
meters	0.01926	0.03853	0.07706	0.15411	0.19264	0.21191	0.23117	0.30823	0.34676	0.38529	0.46234	0.52014

Larger units of length

Unit	Greek name	Equal to	Modern equivalent	Description
pous				foot
haploun bēma		2+1⁄2 podes		step
bēma, diploun bēma		5 podes		pace
orgyia		6 podes		fathom
kalamos, akaina or dekapous		10 podes		10 feet
hamma		60 podes		knot, link of a chain
plethron		100 podes		100 feet
stadion		600 podes		an eighth of a Roman mile
diaulos		2 stadia		double pipe
hippikon		4 stadia		length of a hippodrome
milion		8 stadia		Roman mile
dolichos		12 stadia		long race
parasanges, or league		30 stadia		adopted from Persia
schoinos		40 stadia		adopted from Egypt
stage		160 stadia
Except where noted, based on Smith (1851). Metric equivalents are approximate.

Larger units derived from the pous

	pous	bema haplun	bema diplun	orguia	akaina	hamma	plethron	stadion
pous	1	2⁄5	1⁄5	1⁄6	1⁄10	1⁄60	1⁄100	1⁄600
bema haplun	2+1⁄2	1	1⁄2	5⁄12	1⁄4	1⁄24	1⁄40	1⁄240
bema diplun	5	2	1	5⁄6	1⁄2	1⁄12	1⁄20	1⁄120
orguia	6	2+2⁄5	1+1⁄5	1	3⁄5	1⁄10	3⁄50	1⁄100
akaina	10	4	2	1+2⁄3	1	1⁄6	1⁄10	1⁄60
hamma	60	24	12	10	6	1	3⁄5	1⁄10
plethron	100	40	20	16+2⁄3	10	1+2⁄3	1	1⁄6
stadion	600	240	120	100	60	10	6	1
meters	0.30823	0.77057	1.54115	1.8494	3.0823	18.4938	30.823	184.94

Area

The ordinary units used for land measurement were:

Units of surface measurement

Unit	Greek name	Equal to	Modern equivalent	Description
pous				square foot
hexapodēs		36 podes		square six-foot
akaina		100 podes		rod
hēmiektos		833+1⁄3 podes		half a sixth
hektos		1,666+2⁄3 podes		a sixth of a plethron
aroura		2,500 podes		field
plethron		10,000 podes
Except where noted, based on Smith (1851). Metric equivalents are approximate.

Volume

File:Hoplitodromia Louvre CA214.jpg Neck amphora depicting an athlete running the hoplitodromos by the Berlin Painter, Template:C., Louvre.

Greeks measured volume according to either solids or liquids, 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 210 ml and 330 ml. The basic unit for both solid and liquid measures was the (kyathos, plural: kyathoi).

The Attic liquid measures were:

Attic measures of liquid capacity

Unit	Greek name	Equal to	Modern equivalent	Description
kochliarion				spoon
chēmē		2 kochliaria		a measure
mystron		2+1⁄2 kochliaria		Roman ligula
konchē		5 kochliaria		shell-full
kyathos		10 kochliaria		Roman cyathus
oxybaphon		1+1⁄2 kyathoi		Roman acetabulum
tetarton, hēmikotylē		3 kyathoi		Roman quartarius
kotylē, tryblion or hēmina		6 kyathoi		Roman cotyla or hemina
xestēs		12 kyathoi		Roman sextarius
chous		72 kyathoi		Roman congius
keramion		8 choes		Roman amphora quadrantal
metrētēs		12 choes		amphora
Except where noted, based on Smith (1851). Metric equivalents are approximate.

File:BritLibAddMS35166ApocalypseUnkFolio3SealBlackHorse.jpg

Illustration of the Third Horseman of the Apocalypse holding a set of scales; in the Book of Revelation he proclaims "A choinix of wheat for a denarius, and three choinikes of barley for a denarius;" indicating high food prices during a famine.

and the Attic dry measures of capacity were:

Attic measures of dry capacity

Unit	Greek name	Equal to	Modern equivalent	Description
kochliarion
kyathos		10 kochliaria		Roman cyathus
oxybaphon		1+1⁄2 kyathoi		Roman acetabulum
kotylē or hēmina		6 kyathoi		Roman cotyla or hemina
xestēs		12 kyathoi		Roman sextarius
choinix		24 kyathoi
hēmiekton		4 choinikes		Roman semimodius
hekteus		8 choinikes		Roman modius
medimnos	μέδιμνος	48 choinikes
Except where noted, based on Smith (1851). Metric equivalents are approximate.

Currency

The basic unit of Athenian currency was the obol, weighing approximately 0.72 grams of silver:

File:SNGCop 053.jpg

An obol, Attica, Athens, weighing 0.69g After 449 BC

Unit	Greek name	Equivalent	Weight
obol or obolus		1⁄6 drachma, 4 tetartemorions
drachma		6 obols
mina		100 drachmae
talent		60 minae

Mass

Mass is 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 mass and a currency. Greek masses 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	Metric Equivalent	Aeginetic standard
obol or obolus
drachma		6 obols
mina		100 drachmae
talent		60 minae

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 the Gregorian calendar commences after midnight, the Greek day began after sunset. Athenians named each year after the Archon Eponymous for that year, and in Hellenistic times years were reckoned in quadrennial epochs according to the Olympiad.

In archaic and early classical Greece, months followed the cycle of the Moon which made them not fit exactly into the length of the solar year. Thus, if not corrected, the same month would migrate slowly into different seasons of the year. The Athenian year was divided into 12 months, with one additional month (Poseidon deuterons, thirty 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, circa 275 BC.

File:Elgin marbles frieze.jpg

This section of a frieze from the Elgin Marbles shows a cavalry procession that was part of the quadrennial Greater Panathenaic festival, always held in the month Hekatombion.

Month	Greek name	Gregorian equivalent
Hecatombaeon		June–July
Metageitnion		July–August
Boedromion		August–September
Pyanepsion		September–October
Maemacterion		October–November
Poseideon		November–December
Gamelion		December–January
Anthesterion		January–February
Elaphebolion		February–March
Munychion		March–April
Thargelion		April–May
Scirophorion		May–June

See also

• Ancient Roman units of measurement
• Byzantine units of measurement
• Level staff

External links

• Online Conversion of Ancient Greek Units