Getty Museum

Hexagonal Weight

Date

about A.D. 244

Medium

Lead

Culture

Roman

Department

Implements

Institution

Getty Museum

Greek inscriptions cover both sides of this hexagonal Roman weight. They set out the order of authority descending from the emperor down to the governor of the province, the chief financial officer, and on to the *agoranomos,* the official who oversaw the accuracy of weights and measures used in the market. The inscription on the front of the weight also states that it was issued in the seventh year of the reign of the Roman emperor Gordian III, or A.D. 244. The identification of the provincial governor allows scholars to determine that this weight came from the province of Bithynia, located on the Black Sea in modern Turkey. The use of the Greek language is not unusual for parts of the eastern Mediterranean region, where Greek continued to be the language in daily use long after the Romans had taken over. But the Roman--rather than the Greek--weight system was used. This was an official litra weight used as a government standard. The unit is given by an inscription separate from the others on the rim of the weight.

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