Generation

Keration ( Greek  κεράτιον , also called κόκιον Kokion , actually the seed of the carob tree ) is the Greek name for the smallest unit of weight of the Roman Empire , which was introduced around Constantinian times and corresponds to the Roman Siliqua .

The keration represents the 1728th part of the Roman pound , the libra , and weighed about 0.189 grams. At the same time it was 1/18 drachm as a unit of weight in the Greek east of the empire . It was divided into four sitaria , the smallest ancient medicinal weight . The coin value was 1/24 solidus , the gold currency also introduced by Constantine , which replaced the aureus around 310 AD . However, the ceration was only minted in silver and therefore initially weighed 3.4 grams, after an inflation adjustment under Constantine II between 337 and 340 AD, only 2.2 grams.

The metric carat (0.2 g) is etymologically derived from keration .

literature

• Kurt Regling : Κεράτιον . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XI, 1, Stuttgart 1921, Col. 266.
• Heinrich Chantraine : Keration. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 3, Stuttgart 1969, Col. 197.