Weights of Alexandria in the troad: forms, types, units, and chronology

Abstract

As part of the Corpus Ponderum Antiquorum et Islamicorum project, this article aims to provide a general overview of the weights of Alexandria in the Troad and discusses the 51 surviving balance weights that have come down to our present day. Most of the weights feature a depiction of a grazing horse along with the city’s abbreviated ethnikon inscribed (i.e., ΑΛΕ or ΑΛΕΞΑΝ). Sometimes there are symbols (bunch of grapes, ear of corn, small circle) in a field but rather between a horse’s legs. In Alexandria, both on coins and weights, the horse was used as a state emblem (parasemon) due to its importance for the city, and it is generally depicted facing to the right. On a few weights, there is a depiction of a kithara instead of a horse. The city’s coins dating to the Hellenistic period also depict a kithara, which is similar in form to those found on the weights. The units of the 51 weights in the table vary from five-mna to distateron. The largest unit known today is the five-mna, which also bears the magistrate’s name. The examples in the table provide insight into the weight of the Alexandrian mna. Since most weights include unit names (or rather a unit mark), understanding their units is easy. However, the variation in mass of those bearing the same unit name creates difficulty in identification, indicating that the standard of the Alexandrian mna was increased over time. The weights of Alexandria date to the period of 301-12 BC.