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Orichalcos
Orichalcum or aurichalcum is a metal mentioned in several ancient writings, including the story of Atlantis in the ''Critias (dialogue), Critias'' of Plato. Within the dialogue, Critias (460–403 BC) claims that orichalcum had been considered second only to gold in value and had been found and mined in many parts of Atlantis in ancient times, but that by Critias's own time orichalcum was known only by name. Orichalcum may have been a noble metal such as platinum, as it was supposed to be mined, or one type of bronze or brass or possibly some other metal alloy. Overview The name is derived from the Greek language, Greek , ' (from , ', mountain and , ', copper), meaning literally "mountain copper". The Romans transliterated "orichalcum" as "aurichalcum", which was thought to mean literally "gold copper". It is known from the writings of Cicero that the metal which they called orichalcum resembled gold in color but had a much lower value. In Virgil's ''Aeneid'', the breastp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sestertius
The ''sestertius'' (plural ''sestertii''), or sesterce (plural sesterces), was an Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Roman currency, coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions. During the Roman Empire it was a large brass coin. The name ''sestertius'' means "two and one half", referring to its nominal value of two and a half ''as (Roman coin), asses'' (a bronze Roman coin, singular ''as''), a value that was useful for commerce because it was one quarter of a denarius, a coin worth ten ''asses''. The name is derived from ''semis'', "half" and "tertius", "third", in which "third" refers to the third ''as'': the sestertius was worth two full ''asses'' and half of a third. English-language sources routinely use the original Latin form ''sestertius'', plural ''sestertii''; but older literature frequently uses ''sesterce'', plural ''sesterces'', ''terce'' being the English equivalent of ''tertius''. A modern shorthand for values in sestertii i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
