- δραχμή
- δραχμή, ῆς ἡ (s. δρασσομαι; Hdt.+; loanw. in rabb.; lit. ‘as much as one can hold in one’s hand’) drachma, a Greek silver coin, combining weight and value; varying in weight and value in all Gk. currencies, depending on currency standards, times, and social circumstances Lk 15:8f (Dio Chrys. 70 [20], 5 concern over the loss of just one drachma). Its purchasing power was by no means insignificant; acc. to Demetr. of Phal. (300 B.C.): 228 Fgm. 22 Jac. it was the price of a sheep, or one-fifth the price of an ox. Under specially favorable circumstances it was even possible to buy a whole ox for one drachma, or a slave for four: Appian, Mithrid. 78 §344. Conversely, the soldiers of Mark Antony look upon a gift of 100 dr. per man as proof of stinginess, acc. to Appian, Bell. Civ. 3, 43 §177. On wages and living costs see AJohnson, Roman Egypt to Diocletian, in TFrank, An Economic Survey of Ancient Rome II, ’59, 301–21.—Lit. s.v. ἀργύριον 2c.—KChrist, Antike Numismatik ’67 (lit.); Pauly-W V 2, 1613–33; Kl. Pauly II 155f.—DELG s.v. δράσσομαι. M-M.
Ελληνικά-Αγγλικά παλαιοχριστιανική Λογοτεχνία. 2015.