Increases in Greek weight standards at the end of the Hellenistic period: a sign of standardisation or crisis?

Willocx, Louise [UCL]

(eng) Several sources and clues provide evidence of metrological reforms that modified the Athenian weight system in the Classical and Hellenistic periods. Several significant changes are attested in the space of a few centuries. Initially, the commercial mina weighed 100 drachmas, i.e. around 435 g. The mass of the drachma remained stable, but that of the mina was first increased to 105 drachmas and 112 drachmas in Classical times, and to 126, 138 and 150 drachmas in Hellenistic times. More than twenty weights, several of which have a known archaeological context, probably belong to standards exceeding 150 drachmas. On the basis of the mass of the objects and the pattern of evolution of the Athenian weight system, which regularly shows increases of 12 - or even 14 - drachmas, we therefore postulate the existence of standards of 162 drachmas and 176 drachmas, or even 188 drachmas, in the 1st century BC. The rapid increase in weight standards could be explained by the troubled context of the first half of the 1st century BC, when Athens, which had sided with Mithridates of Pontus against Rome, was sacked by Sylla's troops in 86. The city slowly recovered from the destruction and went through a period of political and economic crisis. This phenomenon of increasing weight standards was not unique to Athens. Other cities seem to have followed the same pattern. Are these increases in Greek weight standards a sign of standardisation or a sign of crisis? This is what we propose to explore in this paper.