sestertium Latin · revision 31067

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=la sēmis, la tertius}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sēstertium''' ''n'' (genitive sēstertiī); second declension^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the genitive plural of [[m|la|sēstertius|t=sesterce]] in phrases such as ⟨deciēs centēna mīlia sēstertium⟩, “ten times a hundred thousand of sesterces”, taken as a neuter singular noun once ⟨centēna mīlia⟩ was left out.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) ⟨Sēstertius⟩ stands for ⟨*sēmis-tertius⟩, “half the third”, two and a half, the value of the coin in asses;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary) de Vaan lists it among the derivatives of [[m|la|sēmi-|t=half]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Cicero has it with numeral adverbs: in ''On Duties'' an heir receives ''sēstertium mīliēs'', a hundred million sesterces.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ With a numeral adverb the singular is a hundred thousand sesterces, so that ''deciēs sēstertium'' is a million, Cicero writes of a bond ''sēstertiī centiēs'', for ten million, and Seneca of a dinner costing ''centiēs sēstertiō''.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) The plural ''sēstertia'' with cardinal or distributive numbers is reckoned in thousands, as Catullus' “give me back the ten thousand sesterces, Silo”.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of a hundred thousand sesterces.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of the plural for thousands.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca of a ten-million-sesterce dinner.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(with numeral adverbs)'' A hundred thousand [[m|en|sesterce|alt=sesterces]].^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016)

+ # ''(plural, with cardinal or distributive numbers)'' A thousand sesterces.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sestertiārius]]

+ * [[sestertiolum]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[sēstertius]]

+ * [[sēmis]]

+ * [[tertius]]

+ * [[nummus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Sums were often written with the sign ⟨HS⟩, from ⟨II⟩ and ⟨S(ēmis)⟩, “two and a half”; ⟨HS X̅X̅⟩ is twenty thousand sesterces.^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}