Sestertius
(contracted from
semis tertius—i. e. 2 1/2, expressed by the
Roman symbol usually printed HS—i. e. II+S(
emis), two units and
a half). A coin, during the Republic, of silver; under the Empire, of copper, or more usually
brass=1/4
denarius, originally 2 1/2
asses (whence
the name); later, i. e. after B.C. 217, six
asses. It was then worth
$0.04. Under the early Empire it was worth about $0.05. After B.C. 209, when the Romans
instituted a silver coinage, the copper
as was suddenly reduced to 4
oz., and the
sestertius (2 1/2X4 oz.) became equivalent to one old
as of 10 oz., instead of the original pound of 12 oz. It long continued to
be used as the ordinary monetary unit. During the Republic and the first 300 years of the
Empire amounts were reckoned in sesterces. Owing to the common use of
milia
sestertiûm (for
milia sestertiorum), it became customary
to treat
sestertium as a neuter singular, and to omit
milia.
Sestertium thus denotes a sum of 1000 sesterces=(at $0.05 per sesterce) $50. A
million sesterces ($50,000) was called originally
decies centena (lit.
“ten times one hundred thousand”)
sestertium, which
was shortened to
decies sestertium. 100,000 sesterces had thus
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Sestertius of Nero in Brass.
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become a customary unit for reckoning large sums of money. See
Numismatics, p. 1112.
