we do. The country people came to Rome every ninth day, whence these days were called Nundina (quasi Novendina), having seven intermediate days for working. The custom of dividing time into weeks (hebdomades) was introduced under the emperors. Dion Cassius, who flourished under Severus, says it first took place a little before his time, being derived from the Egyptians, and at length universally prevailed. The days of the week were named from the planets, thus: Dies Solis, Sunday; Luna, Monday; Martis, Tuesday; Mercurii, Wednesday; Jovis, Thursday; Veneris, Fríday; Saturni, Saturday.

XIII. As regards the order in which the days of the week are now arranged, the following explanation, as given by Dion Cassius, may not be amiss. The Ptolemaic arrangement of the heavenly bodies, according to their distances from the earth, is in this order: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and the Moon (Saturn being the most distant), and it was a principle of the ancient astrology that these planets presided in this succession over the hours of the day. Upon this notion, if the first hour be assigned to Saturn, it will be found that the twenty-fifth (or first hour of the second day) will fall to the Sun; the forty-ninth (or first hour of the third day) to the Moon; the seventy-third (or first hour of the fourth day) to Mars; the ninety-seventh (or first hour of the fifth day) to Mercury; the one hundred and twenty-first (or first hour of the sixth day) to Jupiter; and the one hundred and forty-fifth (or first hour of the seventh day) to Venus.

XIV. The Roman mode of dating was as follows: When an event did not happen on the Calends, Nones, or Ides of any month, they calculated the day by reckoning backward from the next division of the month. Thus, if it happened between the Calends and the Nones, it was said to take place so many days before the Nones; if it happened between the Nones and the Ides, they dated it so many days before the Ides; if it happened after the Ides, it was said to take place so many days before the Calends of the ensuing month. XV. In the second place, in making these computations, the day from which they reckoned was always included, as well as the day to which they reckoned. Thus the 3d of January was called the third day before the Nones of January; the 10th of March the sixth day before the Ides of March; the 14th of June the eighteenth day before the Calends of July. We observe an analogy to this practice in the Scotch phrase "this day eight days;" the German "acht Tage," which alike denote a space of seven days; and the French "quinze jours," which stands for a fortnight.

1 Dion Cass., xxxvii., 18.

2 Id. ib., 19; Penny Cyclop., xxvii., p. 189.

XVI. The form of expression was likewise remarkable. When an event took place on the Calends, Nones, or Ides, it was said to happen Calendis-Nonis-Idibus Januariis, Februariis, &c., or Januarii, Februarii, &c. (sc. mensis); when it took place on the day before one of these divisions, then it was said to happen Pridie Calendas-Nonas-Idus Januarias, Februarias, &c. ; but in other cases the formula generally employed was Ante diem tertium-quartum—quintum-sextum, &c., Calendas-Nonas-Idus Januarias, Februarias, &c. XVII. Thus the 31st of January was Pridie Calendas Februarias ; the 6th of March, Pridie Nonas Martias; the 12th of April, Pridie Idus Apriles; the 27th of April, Ante diem quintum Calendas Maias; the 2d of May, Ante diem sextum Nonas Maias; the 6th of June, Ante diem octavum Idus Junias; the 15th of August, Ante diem decimum octavum Calendas Septembres. Sometimes, but less frequently, the preposition is omitted, and the numeral put in the ablative. Thus we find Quarto Calendas Septembres for the 29th of August; Decimo sexto Calendas Novembres, the 17th October; Quinto Idus Decembres, the 9th of December, and so on.

XVIII. In ancient monumental inscriptions and old MSS., the words Ante diem are very frequently indicated by initial letters only, A.D., and the number by the Roman numeral; thus, A.D. IV. IDUS OCTOBRES; A.D. VI. CALENDAS DECEMBRES; A.D. III. NONAS NoVEMBRES; or farther abbreviated, A.D. IV. ID. OCTOB.; A.D. VI. CAL. DEC.; A.D. III. NON. Nov. The Ante diem, or its abbreviation, are often omitted altogether, and the numeral stands alone; thus, IV. ID. OCTOB.; VI. CAL. DEC.; III. NON. Nov.1

Scaliger and others have attempted, with no great success, to account for the origin of the expression Ante diem tertium, &c., instead of what would appear to be the more natural form Diem tertium (or die tertio) ante. However the phrase may have arisen, the combination ante diem appears practically to have been a formula, which was regarded as a single word, and hence we occasionally find another preposition prefixed to the ante. Thus, Cic., Phil., iii., 8, IN ANTE DIEM quartum Calendas Decembres distulit, i. e., "He put off (the meeting of the senate) to the 28th of November;" and, again, Ep. ad Att., iii., 17, De Quinto fratre nuntii nobis tristes nec varii venerant EX ANTE DIEM Non. Jun. usque ad Prid. Cal. Sept. i. e., From the Nones of June until the day before the Calends of September. Nay, we even meet with ante diem introduced adverbially where no date is given, as in Cæs., B. C., i., 11, ANTE QUEM DIEM iturus sit, for quo die; and the Greek writers translate the phrase literally when computing time according to the Roman fashion. Thus Plutarch tells us that Rome was founded ἡμέρᾳ τῇ πρὸ ἔνδεκα Καλανδῶν Μαΐων, i. e., 21st April.2 XIX. The day added every fourth year, as explained above, was 1 Ramsay, Rom. Ant., p. 363. 2 Plut., Vit. Rom., 12.

inserted in February, immediately after the festival of the Terminalia, which fell VII. Cal. Mart. (23d February). In such years, the 6th day before the Calends of March (VI. Cal. Mart.) was repeated twice, from which circumstance the day inserted was termed Bissextum, or Dies Bissextus, and the year itself Annus Bissextus. The adjective Bissextilis, from which comes the modern word Bissextile, is a barbarism. We find that the Roman lawyers decided that of the two days which were called VI. Cal. Mart., the later one was, strictly speaking, to be considered in all contracts as the inserted day; but that since these two days were one in the eye of the law, any person born on the inserted day was, in ordinary years, to consider the VI. Cal. Mart. as his birth-day, while any person born on the VI. Cal. Mart. in an ordinary year was, in his annus Bissextus, to consider the former of the two days called VI. Cal. Mart. as his birth-day.

The following Calendar will give a full view of the arrangement of the Roman months, and the designation of each particular day :

CHAPTER XLII.

ROMAN WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

1. WEIGHTS.

I. THE unit of weight with the Romans was the As or LIBRA, which, according to the most accurate researches, was equal to about 11 oz. avoirdupois, or 7375 of an avoirdupois pound.

II. The As was divided into 12 equal parts, called Uncia, and the Uncia was divided into 24 equal parts, called Scrupula, the Scrupulum being thus part of the As. The following nomenclature was adopted to distinguish various multiples of the As, Uncia, and Scrupulum.

III. The Drachma and the Obolus, which were properly Greek weights, are occasionally employed by Roman writers:

The Drachma was reckoned as = }} of the Uncia= of the As The Obolus = 370

IV. The term As, and the words which denote its divisions, were not confined to weight alone, but were applied to measures of length and capacity also, and in general to any object which could be regarded as consisting of 12 equal parts. Thus they were commonly used to denote the shares into which an inheritance was divided. When an individual inherited the whole property of another, he was designated as Hares ex asse; if one half, Hares ex semisse; if one third, Hares ex triente, &c.

2. MEASURES OF LENGTH.

V. The unit of Lineal Measure was the Pes or Foot. According to the most accurate researches, the Pes was equal to about 97 of an English foot.

VI. The Pes being supposed to represent the length of the foot in a well-proportioned man, various divisions and multiples of the Pes were named after standards derived from the human frame. Thus :

VII. The Pes was also divided into 12 Pollices or thumb-jointlengths, otherwise called Uncia (whence our word inch). When the division of the Pes into Uncia was adopted, then the different divisions of the Pes, from one uncia up to twelve, were designated by the names given in the preceding section for the divisions of the As, namely, the Deunx, Dextans, &c. The measures longer than the Pes in common use were,