Numbering And Measuring In The Classical World

This volume introduces the reader to Greek and Roman ways of expressing numbers, weights and measures. These are matters often relegated to footnotes or an appendix. Yet the words, the symbols and the calculations used in the classical world have an interest in themselves and often reveal unexpected facets of the culture that employed them.

The subject can be complex but this book seeks to cut it to the essentials and to avoid the aridity of larger, more technical treatments. It offers a fluid and readable text, liberally enhanced with tables and specific examples.

Chapters cover the cardinal numbers, other number words, inclusive reckoning, symbols, fractions, simple arithmetic, linear measurements, measuring area and volume, measuring weight, capacity and value; financial matters; sizes of pipes and nozzles; measuring time. It is quite simply an indispensable point of reference for every student of classical culture or of ancient texts.

The late William F. Richardson was Honorary Research fellow in the University of Auckland, New Zealand.