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Document Details : Title: Aes excurrens and the Abacus Author(s): DE BREE, Flip Journal: Ancient Society Volume: 48 Date: 2018 Pages: 115-145 DOI: 10.2143/AS.48.0.3285199 Abstract : This paper seeks to shed some new light on the function of the abacus (counting board) as an instrument for financial computations in Roman times. The likely layout of the abacus is presented for the Roman monetary notations for aes excurrens (small change) in the as-, sestertius- and denarius-based accounting systems mentioned in L. Volusius Maecianus’ Distributio Partium. It is shown that the Roman abacus possessed the flexibility needed for handling both the common Roman duodecimal fractions and the less common decimal fractions, i.e. the libella and its subdivisions. In turn, the very design of the abacus seems to have driven the later Roman notations for small change. |
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