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sesterce|ˈsɛstɜːs|
Pl. sesterces |ˈsɛstəsɪz, -ɜːsɪz|. Also pl. 6–7 sestercies, 7 -ties; sing. 7 sestercie.
[ad. L. sestertius properly adj. (sc. nummus coin) = that is two and a half, f. sēmis half + tertius third; cf. sesqui-.]
A Roman coin, originally equivalent to 2½ asses, later to 4 asses; the fourth part of a denarius.
pl.1598R. Grenewey Tacitus, Ann. vi. iv. (1622) 127 Putting a hundred million sesterces in bancke. 1601B. Jonson Poetaster iii. iv. 64 What does this gentleman owe thee, little Minos? Mino. Fourescore sesterties, sir. 1611― Catiline ii. i, He, tame Crow,.. would haue kept Both eyes, and beake seal'd vp, for sixe sesterces. 1624Burton Anat. Mel. ii. iii. iii. (ed. 2) 267 Rings on his fingers worth 20000 sestercies. 1702Addison Dial. Medals i. Wks. 1766 III. 10 That..would rather choose to count out a Sum in Sesterces, than in pounds sterling. 1834Lytton Pompeii i. i, An additional reason for supping with him while the sesterces last. 1882Farrar Early Chr. 5 A robe covered with pearls and emeralds, which had cost forty million sesterces. 1885R. Bridges Nero iii. ii, See, here I give you Two hundred sesterces.
sing.1601B. Jonson Poetaster iv. vii. 9 I'll sell 'hem my share for a sesterce. 1656Blount Glossogr., Sesterce, Sestercie. 1771Raper in Phil. Trans. LXI. 489 The As was reduced to one ounce, and the silver denarius made to pass for 16 Asses; the quinarius, for eight; and the sesterce, for four. 1850Merivale Rom. Emp. lxi. (1865) VII. 338 Costly wars..had drained perhaps to the last sesterce the coffers of the empire. 1861Sheppard Fall of Rome ii. 98 Destitute and degraded, without a sesterce and without a friend.
¶ Misused for sestertium.
1693Dryden's Juvenal iv. (1697) 76 The lavish Slave Six thousand Pieces for a Barbel gave; A Sesterce for each Pound it weigh'd. 1819Pantologia s.v., Some authors make two kinds of sesterces: the less, called sestertius..and the great one, called sestertium. |