Sesterce
The sestertius (pl.: sestertii) or sesterce (pl.: sesterces, rarely sestercii) was an ancient Roman 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". It refers to the nominal value of two and a half asses, a value useful in commerce because it was one quarter of a denarius, a coin worth ten asses. The etymology is ancient. Latin writers derive sestertius from semis "half" and tertius "third", where "third" points to the third as, since two asses and half of a third equal two and a half.
English-language sources routinely use the Latin form sestertius, plural sestertii. Older literature frequently uses sesterce, plural sesterces, since terce is the English equivalent of tertius, or rarely sestercii, the English name given a Latin plural. A common shorthand for values in sestertii is IIS (Unicode 𐆘). In this sign the Roman numeral II is followed by S for semis, and the whole is written with a horizontal strike. Where this symbol is impractical, HS is often used instead, with the crossbar of H standing for the strike across II.
Rainbow 1\2
- 2015-08-12T00:00:00.000000Z
Empire Oublie
- 2014-08-30T00:00:00.000000Z
Similar Artists