Ancient drachma
In
Origins
The name drachma is derived from the verb δράσσομαι (drássomai, "(I) grasp").
The drachma was the standard unit of silver coinage at most ancient Greek mints, and the name obol was used to describe a coin that was one-sixth of a drachma.[2] The notion that drachma derived from the word for fistful was recorded by Herakleides of Pontos (387–312 BC) who was informed by the priests of Heraion that Pheidon, king of Argos, dedicated rod-shaped obeloi to Heraion. Similar information about Pheidon's obeloi was also recorded at the Parian Chronicle.
Characteristics
Geographic spread
Among the Greek cities that used the drachma were:
Fractions and multiples of the drachma were minted by many states, most notably in
Notable Ptolemaic coins included the gold pentadrachm and octadrachm, and silver tetradrachm, decadrachm and pentakaidecadrachm.[14] This was especially noteworthy as it would not be until the introduction of the Guldengroschen in 1486 that coins of substantial size (particularly in silver) would be minted in significant quantities.
After Alexander's conquests, the name drachma was used in many of the
: Դրամ) also derives its name from the drachma.Athenian coinage
The 5th century BC Athenian tetradrachm ("four drachmae") coin featured the helmeted profile bust of
The tetradrachm ("four drachmae") coin was perhaps the most widely used coin in the Greek world prior to the time of Alexander the Great (along with the Corinthian stater).[2] Athenian coinage was especially attractive due to the purity of the silver used to create each coin.[4] At the time, to gain legitimacy over a large geographic spread, city states relied on the intrinsic value of their coins and the promise that "its minting authority would redeem it". Athens demonstrated both. Athenian coinage was one of the few coins accepted internationally.[2] The popularity of Athen's coinage can be contributed to numerous laws restricting local traders to exclusive use of Athenian coinage abroad.[16] The only specific coinage mentioned in Herodotus is the drachma of Athens.[17]
Evidence for the usage of silver coinage can be found in multiple sections of Herodotus. In 6.21 the tensions between the Athenians and Miletus result in a discussion of equal return and exchange involving coins.[18] In Herodotus 8.93 a prize of ten thousand drachmae is offered in exchange for a prisoner.[19]
The valuable silver used in Athenian coins was gathered from Athens's Laurium Mines in Attica, which were subject to large-scale use and exploitation beginning in the 6th century BCE.[20] Mining was strictly overseen by the Athenian state.[20] In Herodotus 7.144 there is specific discussion of the wealth that Athens gathered from these mines. He states, "The revenues from the mines at Laurium has brought great wealth into the Athenian's treasury."[21]
Usages in Ancient Greece
The primary function of the first coinage is highly debated by scholars. Historian Sitta von Reden states that, "The great number of possible explanations, none of which are {sic} wholly satisfactory, has made scholars abandon the question of the primary function of the first coinages."[10] But there is some anthropological evidence for different uses of coins over time in Ancient Greece.
Most historians find consensus in the use of coinage to facilitate trade.[10] Such use of coinage is attested to in such primary sources as Herodotus 1.94.; he says that the Lydians were the first to mint coins and use them "for retail."[22]
Since trade was state controlled, trade and political factors are highly interlocked. Ancient coinage also had religious use. Obeloi were often used in dedications at shrines and temples. Anthropological evidence of this can be found at the Apollo sanctuary at Delphi, the Apollo temple at Halieis, and the sanctuary of Hera and Zeus at Olympia.[23] Though debated, historians believe that the use of these items in a religious context is significant. Additionally, "penalties, tithes and other dues were inflicted on both priests and worshippers" and were extracted through bullion weight or coinage.[10]
Many historians believe that coins were used as a tool for empire building, as a Greek City state could enforce its power and establish political order through managing its coins.[10]
There is also historic speculation that coins were manufactured and used as a form of civic pride. Thomas R. Martin says that the use of coinage in ancient Greece, could be loosely compared to the use of flags in the modern world.[13] Martin says that coins thus functioned "as symbols of sovereign identity"[13]
Coinage was used for rewards at athletic games, which were an integral part of Greek life. Victors of games were often given prizes with monetary value, such as bronze and silver containers, tripods, and coins.[10]
In daily life, coins were used for such social transactions as marriage and transfer of land, although far less is known about these exchanges.
Value
Weight value
Drachmae were minted on different weight standards at different Greek mints. The standard that came to be most commonly used was the Athenian or
Modern value and comparison
In the heyday of ancient Greece (the fifth and fourth centuries) the daily wage for a skilled worker or a hoplite[24] was one drachma, and for a heliast (juror) half a drachma since 425 BC.[25] Before the Peloponnesian War (beginning in 431), which caused significant inflation, a laborer might earn one-third of a drachma per day.[2]
Modern commentators derived from Xenophon[26] that half a drachma per day (360 days per year) would provide "a comfortable subsistence" for "the poor citizens" (for the head of a household in 355 BC). Earlier in 422 BC, we also see in Aristophanes (Wasps, line 300–302) that the daily half-drachma of a juror is just enough for the daily subsistence of a family of three.[27]
It is difficult to estimate comparative exchange rates with modern currencies because the range of products produced by economies of centuries gone by were different from today. Purchasing power parity (PPP) calculations are very difficult.
An 1885 paper by William Goodwin estimated that, ignoring purchasing power, the weight of silver that had been in a Solonic talent was at that time worth approximately 877 United States dollars, making a drachma worth $0.14 in 1885 ($4.96 in 2023). However, he said that "these comparisons of the Attic talent with a fluctuating commodity like silver at the present day are, of course, highly unsatisfactory"; using an alternate method accounting for average bullion prices over some decades, he arrived at $1,000 for a talent, which means that based solely on bullion value, a drachma would have been worth $0.16 in 1885 ($5.65 in 2023).[28]
But bullion equivalent calculations do not provide a complete picture of a currency's value.[29] Using a labor-equivalent calculation, a silver drachma (or denarius), which constituted a day's wage for a manual laborer, would be worth approximately the same in modern currency.[29] The United States federal minimum wage's maximum purchasing power was in 1968, when it was $1.60 ($14.00 in 2023), meaning an 8-hour shift paid $12.80 ($112.00 in 2023)[30][29] Meanwhile, average yearly wages in the United States in 2022 were $77,463 ($80,652 in 2023), meaning a day's wages would be $322.76 ($336.00 in 2023).[31]
Taking into account economic statistics around the world, a broader range of estimates is possible. According to the
Food and clothing were expensive from a modern perspective. A gallon of olive oil cost three drachmae, while cloaks could range anywhere between five and twenty drachmae.[2]
For the Roman successors of the drachma, see
Denominations of ancient Greek drachma
The weight of the silver drachma was approximately 4.3 grams or 0.15 ounces,[33] although weights varied significantly from one city-state to another. It was divided into six obols of 0.72 grams, which were subdivided into four tetartemoria of 0.18 grams, one of the smallest coins ever struck, approximately 5–7 mm in diameter.[34]
Denominations of Greek silver | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Image | Denomination | Value | Weight | Greek |
Dekadrachm | 10 drachmae | 43 grams | Δεκάδραχμον | |
Tetradrachm | 4 drachmae | 17.2 grams | Τετράδραχμον | |
Didrachm | 2 drachmae | 8.6 grams | Δίδραχμον | |
Drachma | 6 obols | 4.3 grams | Δραχμή | |
Tetrobol | 4 obols | 2.85 grams | Τετρώβολον | |
Triobol (hemidrachm) |
3 obols (1⁄2 drachma) |
2.15 grams | Τριώβολον[n 4] (ἡμίδραχμον) | |
Diobol | 2 obols | 1.43 grams | Διώβολον | |
Obol | 4 tetartemoria (1⁄6 drachma) |
0.72 grams | Ὀβολός (ὀβελός) | |
Tritartemorion | 3 tetartemoria | 0.54 grams | Τριταρτημόριον (τριτημόριον) | |
Hemiobol | 2 tetartemoria (1⁄2 obol) |
0.36 grams | Ἡμιωβέλιον (ἡμιωβόλιον)[n 5] | |
Trihemitetartemorion | 1+1⁄2 tetartemorion | 0.27 grams | Τριημιτεταρτημόριον | |
Tetartemorion | 1⁄4 obol | 0.18 grams | Τεταρτημόριον (ταρτημόριον, ταρτήμορον) | |
Hemitetartemorion | 1⁄2 tetartemorion | 0.09 grams | Ἡμιτεταρτημόριον |
Historic currency divisions
- 12 chalkoi = 1 obolus
- 6 oboloi = 1 drachma
- 70 drachmae = 1 mina (or mna), later 100 drachmae = 1 mina [35]
- 60 Athenian Talent (Athenian standard) [36]
Minae and talents were never actually minted: they represented weight measures used for commodities (e.g. grain) as well as metals like silver or gold.
In culture
- Jerusalem temple tax in their own behalf, Mt 17:24–.
- William Shakespeare mentions the drachma in his play Julius Caesar, in Mark Antony's famous "Friends, Romans, Countrymen[37]" speech.
The coin appears in 21st century video games and fantasy novels:
- Drachma is the currency used in the video game Spy Fox in "Dry Cereal" (2008), set in the fictional Greek island of Acidophilus.
- The golden drachma is the main unit of currency in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson & the Olympians fantasy adventure novel series. It also is featured in its spinoff The Heroes of Olympus, which includes the Roman denarius.
- The drachma is used in the video game Ptolemaic Egypt; players may purchase weapons, outfits and mounts with it. It is also used in the subsequent game Assassin's Creed Odyssey, set in Ancient Greece.
See also
Notes
- ^ δράσσομαι, drassomai, "grasp"; cf.: δράξ, drax, and drachma itself, i.e. "grasp with the hand".[5][6]
- ^ "As much as one can hold in the hand".[5][6]
- ^ The word, whose meaning and translation is still uncertain, is 𐀈𐀏𐀔, do-ka-ma or 𐀈𐀏𐀔𐀂, do-ka-ma-i, found on the PY An 1282 and PY Wr 1480 tablets.[8][9]
- ^ Τριόβολον spelling variant is also attested.
- ^ Ἡμιοβόλιον spelling variant is also attested.
References
- ^ "Drachma | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Archived from the original on 2023-04-13. Retrieved 2023-06-04.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Strassler, Robert B. (1996). The Landmark Thucydides. New York, NY: Free Press. p. 620.
- ^ from the original on 2023-05-19. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
- ^ a b c Trade in Ancient Greece, archived from the original on 2023-05-19, retrieved 2023-05-19
- ^ Perseus Project.
- ^ a b δράσσομαι in Liddell and Scott.
- from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
- ^ "PY 1282 An (Ciii)". Archived from the original on 2014-03-16. Retrieved 2023-05-26."PY 1480 Wr (unknown)", DĀMOS: Database of Mycenaean at Oslo, University of Oslo, archived from the original on 2015-04-02, retrieved 2023-05-26.
- ^ Raymoure, K.A. "do-ka-ma-i". Minoan Linear A & Mycenaean Linear B. Deaditerranean. Archived from the original on 2017-02-25. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
- ^ from the original on 2023-05-19. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
- ^ Philochorus: Scholion to Aristophanes, Birds 1106
- from the original on 2023-06-04. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
- ^ from the original on 2023-05-19. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
- from the original on 2023-06-04. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
- ^ γλαύξ in Liddell and Scott.
- from the original on 2023-05-19. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
- ISSN 0009-4978.
- ^ "Herodotus, The Histories, Book 6, chapter 21". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Archived from the original on 2023-07-22. Retrieved 2023-06-04.
- ^ "Herodotus, The Histories, Book 8, chapter 93". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Archived from the original on 2023-06-04. Retrieved 2023-06-04.
- ^ a b "Historical Reading List: The Ancient Silver Mines at Laurium, Greece". www.gia.eduhttps. Archived from the original on 2023-06-09. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
- ^ "Herodotus, The Histories, Book 7, chapter 144". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Archived from the original on 2023-06-04. Retrieved 2023-06-04.
- ^ "Herodotus, The Histories, Book 1, chapter 94". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Archived from the original on 2023-06-04. Retrieved 2023-06-04.
- from the original on 2023-05-19. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
- ^ Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 3.17.4 Archived 2020-09-14 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ It was originally set at 1/6 drachma by Pericles, until Cleon raised it in 425 BC; see also Aristophanes, Knights (line 255) and Wasps (line 609, 684, 690, 788–790, 1121).
- ^ Cf. footnote 18 of H. G. Dakyns's translation of Ways and Means: A Pamphlet on Revenues alias On Revenues Archived 2023-03-26 at the Wayback Machine (The Works of Xenophon, Macmillan, 1897). This footnote is quoting George Grote (Plato, and the Other Companions of Sokrates, vol. 3, J. Murray, 1865, p.597).
- ISBN 978-0-19-814465-6, archivedfrom the original on 2024-01-02, retrieved 2023-06-04
- from the original on 2023-07-14. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
- ^ a b c "What Were They Worth? The Purchasing Power of Ancient Coins". 4 September 2018. Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
- ^ Wenger, Jeffrey B. (September 2016). "Working for $7.25 an Hour: Exploring the Minimum Wage Debate". Rand. Archived from the original on 2020-08-04. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
By 1968, the minimum wage had reached its peak purchasing power of $1.60 per hour ($11.08 in 2016 dollars).
- ^ "Average annual wages : Table N1. Real average annual wages". Archived from the original on 2023-06-27. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
- ^ "Gross Average Monthly Wages by Indicator, Country and Year". Archived from the original on 2024-01-02. Retrieved 2023-07-14.
- ^ British Museum Catalogue 11 – Attica Megaris Aegina
- ^ Photo gallery of Tetartemoria Archived 2013-11-11 at the Wayback Machine and other small Greek coins
- ^ Aristotle, Athenian Constitution, 10.2
- ^ Drachma, The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume V. Published 1909. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil Obstat, 1 May 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor. Imprimatur. John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
- ^ "JULIUS CAESAR, Act 3, Scene 2". Archived from the original on 2020-11-05. Retrieved 2023-05-26.