aes

aes alienum
another’s money, debt

aes , aeris, n.: copper, bronze; brass, in one of the old English usages of that word, 1.449, et al.; anything made of copper or bronze; a trumpet, 3.240; cymbal; armor, 2.734; shield, 2.545; a bronze statue, 6.847; a track or course of bronze plates, 6.591; a ship’s prow or beak, or a copper-bottomed ship, 1.35; pl., aera, n., money, 11.329; aere nexus, bronze-bound, of bronze, 1.448.

aes, aeris (often used in plur. nom. and acc.; abl. aeribus, Cato ap. Paul. ex Fest. p. 27 Müll., and Lucr. 2, 636; gen. AERVM, Inscr. Orell. 3551), n. [cf. Germ. Eisen = iron, Erz = copper; Goth. aiz = copper, gold; Angl.Sax. ar, aer = ore, copper, brass; Eng. iron, ore; Lat. aurum; with the com. notion of brightness; cf. aurora, etc.].

• I Any crude metal dug out of the earth, except gold and silver; esp.,
• • • • a Aes Cyprium, whence cuprum, copper: scoria aeris, copper dross or scoria, Plin. 34, 11, 24, § 107: aeris flos, flowers of copper, id. 34, 11, 24, § 107: squama aeris, scales of copper, Cels. 2, 12 init.: aes fundere, Plin. 33, 5, 30, § 94: conflare et temperare, id. 7, 56, 57, § 197: India neque aes neque plumbum habet, id. 34, 17, 48, § 163: aurum et argentum et aes, Vulg. Ex. 25, 3.—
      • b An alloy, for the most part of copper and tin, bronze (brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, was hardly known to the ancients. For their bronze coins the Greeks adhered to copper and tin till B.C. 400, after which they added lead. Silver is rare in Greek bronze coins. The Romans admitted lead into their bronze coins, but gradually reduced the quantity, and, under Calig., Nero, Vesp., and Domit., issued pure copper coins, and then reverted to the mixture of lead. In the bronze mirrors now existing, which are nearly all Etruscan, silver predominated to give a highly reflecting surface. The antique bronze had about 87 parts of copper to 13 of tin. An analysis of several objects has given the following centesimal parts: statua ex aere, Cic. Phil. 9, 6: simulacrum ex aere factum, Plin. 34, 4, 9, § 15: valvas ex aere factitavere, id. 34, 3, 7, § 13.—Hence: ducere aliquem ex aere, to cast one's image in bronze, id. 7, 37, 38, § 125; and in the same sense poet.: ducere aera, Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 240: aes Corinthium, Plin. 34, 2, 3, §§ 5-8; v. Corinthius.—
• II Meton.
• • A (Esp. in the poets.) For everything made or prepared from copper, bronze, etc. (statues, tables of laws, money), and (as the ancients had the art of hardening and tempering copper and bronze) weapons, armor, utensils of husbandry: aes sonit, franguntur hastae, the trumpet sounds, Enn. ap. Non. 504, 32 (Trag. v. 213 Vahl.): Et prior aeris erat quam ferri cognitus usus: Aere solum terrae tractabant, aereque belli Miscebant fluctus et vulnera vasta serebant, etc., Lucr. 5, 1287: quae ille in aes incidit, in quo populi jussa perpetuasque leges esse voluit, Cic. Phil. 1, 17; cf. id. Fam. 12, 1; Tac. A. 11, 14; 12, 53; id. H. 4, 40: aere (with the trumpet, horn) ciere viros, Verg. A. 6, 165: non tuba directi, non aeris cornua flexi, Ov. M. 1, 98 (hence also rectum aes, the tuba, in contr. with the crooked buccina, Juv. 2, 118); a brazen prow, Verg. A. 1, 35; the brazen age, Hor. Epod. 16, 64.—In plur.: aera, Cato ap. Paul. ex Fest. p. 27 Müll.; Verg. A. 2, 734; Hor. C. 4, 8, 2 al.—
  • B Money: the first Roman money consisted of small rude masses of copper, called aes rude, Plin. 33, 3, 13, § 43; afterwards as coined: aes signatum, Cic. Leg. 3, 3; Plin. 33, 3, 13, § 43; so aes alone: si aes habent, dant mercem, Plaut. As. 1, 3, 49 (201): ancilla aere suo empta, Ter. Phorm. 510: aes circumforaneum. borrowed from the brokers in the forum, Cic. Att. 2, 1: Hic meret aera liber Sosiis, earns them money, Hor. A. P. 345: gravis aere dextra, Verg. E. 1, 36: effusum est aes tuum, Vulg. Ez. 16, 36: neque in zona aes (tollerent), ib. Marc. 6, 8: etiam aureos nummos aes dicimus, Dig. 50, 16, 159.—Hence,
  • • 1 Aes alienum, lit. the money of another; hence, in reference to him who has it, the sum owed, a debt, Plaut. Curc. 3, 1, 2 (372): habere aes alienum, Cic. Fam. 5, 6: aes alienum amicorum suscipere, to take upon one's self, id. Off. 2, 16: contrahere, to run up, id. Q. Fr. 1, 1, 8: facere, id. Att. 13, 46: conflare, Sall. C. 14, 2; 24, 3: in aes alienum incidere, to fall into debt, Cic. Cat. 2, 9: in aere alieno esse, to be in debt, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 4, § 6; so, aere alieno oppressum esse, id. Font. 1; so Vulg. 1 Reg. 22, 2: laborare ex aere alieno, Caes. B. C. 3, 22: liberare se aere alieno, to get quit of, Cic. Att. 6, 2; so, aes alienum dissolvere, id. Sull. 56: aere alieno exire, to get out of, id. Phil. 11, 6.—
    • 2 In aere meo est, trop., he is, as it were, among my effects, he is my friend (only in the language of common conversation): in animo habui te in aere meo esse propter Lamiae nostri conjunctionem, Cic. Fam. 13, 62; 15, 14.—*
    • 3 Alicujus aeris esse, to be of some value, Gell. 18, 5.—*
    • 4 In aere suo censeri, to be esteemed according to its own worth, Sen. Ep. 87.—
  • C Sometimes = as, the unit of the standard of money (cf. as); hence, aes grave, the old heary money (as weighed, not counted out): denis milibus aeris gravis reos condemnavit, Liv. 5, 12: indicibus dena milia aeris gravis, quae tum divitiae habebantur, data, id. 4, 60; so, aes alone and in the gen. sing., instead of assium: aeris miliens, triciens, a hundred millions, three millions, Cic. Rep. 3, 10: qui milibus aeris quinquaginta census fuisset, Liv. 24, 11.—Also for coins that are smaller than an as (quadrans, triens, etc.): nec pueri credunt, nisi qui nondum aere, i. e. quadrante, lavantur (those who bathed paid each a quadrans), Juv. 2, 152 (cf.: dum tu quadrante lavatum Rex ibis, Hor. S. 1, 3, 137).—
  • D Wages, pay.
  • • 1 A soldier's pay = stipendium: negabant danda esse aera militibus, Liv. 5, 4. And soon after: annua aera habes: annuam operam ede.— Hence in plur., = stipendia, Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 13, § 33.—
    • 2 Reward, payment, in gen., Juv. 6, 125: nullum in bonis numero, quod ad aes exit, that has in view or aims at pay, reward, Sen. Ep. 88.—
  • E In plur.: aera, counters; hence also the items of a computed sum (for which, later, a sing. form aera, ae (q. v.), came into use): si aera singula probāsti, summam, quae ex his confecta sit, non probare? Cic. ap. Non. 3, 18.

aes, aeris, n. (got. aiz [Genet. aizis], indogerm. aýah, ahd. er, Grundform * ajes, vgl. aēnus aus *ajes-nus), das Erz, I) eig., sowohl einfaches Erz, bes. Kupfererz, Kupfer, als jedes zu einer Einheit verbundene »Mischmetall«, Bronze, a) übh.: aes minutum, kleine Erzstückchen (von Kindern beim Spiel als Geld gebraucht), Sen.: regio aeris ac plumbi uberrima, Iustin.: aes conflare et temperare, Plin.: aes fundere, Plin.: aes fundere procudereque, Iustin. 36, 4, 4.: alqm ex aere fundere od. ducere od. facere, Plin.: u. so ducere aera alci, Hor.: simulacrum ex aere facere alci, Plin.: pedestris ex aere statua, Cic.: multa ex aere fabre facta, Liv. – poet. (v. ehernen Zeitalter), ut inquinavit aere tempus aureum; aere, dehinc ferro duravit saecula, Hor. epod. 16, 64 sq. – b) bes. Kupfererz, Kupfer, vollst. aes Cyprium gen., Plin.: dah. scoria aeris, Plin.: flos aeris, Plin.: squama aeris, Cels.

II) meton., das aus Erz Bereitete: A) im allg. (bes. b. Dichtern), Erz, Bronze, Kupfer = eherne, bronzene, kupferne Gefäße, Waffen, Statuen, Gesetztafeln u. dgl. (Plur. gew. nur im Nomin. u. Akk. aera), aes cavum, Kessel, Ov.: aes concavum, eherne Himmelskugel, Lact.: aera aere repulsa, eherne Becken, Zimbeln, Ov.: so nocturno aeris sono, Vell.: u. aeris crepitus, Liv.: u. aera Temesea, eherne Becken in Temesa (bei Zaubereien), Ov.: u. Corybantia, beim Kybeledienst, Verg.: eius aera refigere, eherne Gesetztafeln, Cic.: so aera legum figere, Tac., aes figere, Plin. ep. u. Ov.: u. legum aera liquefacta sunt, Cic.: u. aes publicum per fora ac templa fixum, metallene Maueranschläge, Staatsinschriften, Tac. ann. 11, 14 extr. u. so fixum est aere publico senatusconsultum, Tac. ann. 12, 53: aere ciēre viros, mit der Tuba, Verg.: so aes rectum, Iuven.: aera unca, die Angel, Ov.: dempto aere, Helm, Ov.: geminant aera, Waffen, Hor.: marmor aeraque, Statuen aus Marmor u. Erz, Hor.: illi robur et aes triplex circa pectus erat, Eichenholz panzerte seine Brust u. dreifaltiges Erz (poet. = war sehr abgehärtet), Hor.

B) insbes., das Geld, 1) Bronze- od. Kupfergeld, urspr. ungemünztes (aes rude), aus Stücken Kupfer bestehendes u. nach dem Gewicht berechnetes, s. Plin. 33, 42; – dann gemünztes u. nun zählbares gegossenes, in urspr. pfündigen Assen (librales asses); dah. aere et librā u. dgl., s. lībra. – aes grave, altes Geld, die spätere Bezeichnung des alten, pfündigen Asses, als ein neues, leichteres As eingeführt war (s. Plin. 33, 42: Librales asses appendebantur, quare aeris gravis poena dicta est), aes grave plaustris in aerarium convehentes, Liv.: dena milia gravis aeris, Liv.: u. bes. bei Strafansätzen, denis milibus aeris gravis reos condemnavit, Liv.: häufig der Genet. aeris ellipt. für aeris librae od. asses, zB. tressis, ex tribus aeris quod sit, Varr.: viginti aeris poena sunto, Gell.: gew. bei milia, wie terna od. quinquaginta milia aeris (i.e. assium), Nep. u. Liv.: sowie mit den Zahladverbien bei runden Summen von einer Million an (mit Auslassung von centena milia), habere aeris milies (100 Millionen) od. tricies (3 Millionen), Cic.: usque ad decies aeris (10 Millionen Asse), Liv. – argentum aere solutum est, statt des (silbernen) Sesterz das (kupferne) As, od. statt des Ganzen ein Viertel (weil damals 4 As auf einen Sesterz gingen), Sall. Cat. 33, 3 (vgl. Vell. 2, 23, 2). – Dah. aes bes. nach der letzten Reduktion des As (s. as) als geringe (Scheide-)Münze, etwa wie unser Dreier, curque iuvent nostras aera vetusta manus. Aera dabant olim, Ov.: centum aureolos sic velut aera roget, Mart.: modius datur aere quaterno, Mart.: non duo aera, non assem, non denarium, sed quadrantem posuit hoc loco, Ambros. – 2) übh. Geld von jeder Art (wie pecunia, nummus), si aes habent, dant mercem, Plaut.: ancilla aere suo empta, Ter.: gravis aere dextra, Verg.: meo sum pauper in aere, bin arm, doch schuldenfrei, Hor.: cum pretiosum aere parvo fundum abstulisset, um ein Spottgeld, Macr.: pueri qui nondum aere lavantur, die noch nicht für Geld baden (= Kinder unter 4 Jahren, die die öffentlichen Bäder umsonst hatten, während ältere Kinder u. erwachsene Personen einen Quadrans [¹/₃ As] zahlten), Iuven. – übtr., der Wert, si praelectorem habuisset alicuius aeris, von einigem Wert, Gell.: suo aere censeri, nach eigenem Wert (nicht nach Außendingen) geschätzt werden, Sen. – Insbes.: a) aes meum, tuum, suum, mir usw. eigenes Geld, Aktivvermögen, ICt., dah. übtr., est alqs in meo aere, es gehört jmd. gleichs. zu meinen Aktiven, gehört mir an, ist mir verpflichtet, Cic. – dagegen aes alienum (selten alienum aes), fremdes, entlehntes (aes mutuum bei Sall. Iug. 96, 2) Geld, Passivvermögen, Schulden, aes meum alienum, Cic.: leve aes alienum debitorem facit, grave inimicum, Sen.: alienum aes cogere, Plaut.: aes alienum facere od. contrahere, Cic.: aes. al. grande conflare, Sall.: in aes al. incĭdere, Cic.: aes al. habere, Cic. u. Sen. rhet.: non modo in aere alieno nullo, sed in suis nummis multis esse, Cic.: aere alieno demersum esse, tief in Schulden stecken, Liv.: aere al. oppressum esse. Cic.: alqm aere al. levare, Cic.: alqm omni aere alieno liberare, Cic.: multas civitates falso aere al. liberare, von mit Unrecht aufgebürdeten Sch., Cic.: aere al. exire od. expediri, Cic., od. exsolvi, Liv., schuldenfrei werden: aes al. minuere, Plin. ep., solvere od. dissolvere, Cic., persolvere, Sall., exsolvere, Plin. ep.: aeris alieni od. alieni aeris solutio, Liv. – auch aes allein = »Schulden«, pro aere Tusculanum proscripsisse audio, Cic.: aes confessum, XII tabb. b. Gell. – admonitus huius aeris alieni, an diese Schuld (des unerfüllten Versprechens), Schuldigkeit, Cic. – b) der Lohn, Sold, die Zahlung für geleistete Arbeit oder Dienste, α) übh.: aes datur, der Lohn der Handwerker, Plaut.: aera poposcit, heischte die Zahlung (den Hurenlohn), Iuven.: quod ad aes exit, auf Lohn (Geld) ausgeht = Gewinn beabsichtigt, Sen. – β) der Sold der Soldaten, die Löhnung, aes militare, Cato fr. u.a.: aera militum, Plin.: aera equestria, Cato fr.: aera militibus constituere, dare, Liv.: aera omnibus procedunt, Liv.: annua aera habes, annuam operam ede, Liv. – aere dirutus, s. dī-ruo. – dah. sarkastisch, omnia istius aera illa vetera, alle seine alten Kampagnen (im Sold der Liebe u. des Spieles), Cic. Verr. 5, 33. – c) aes equestre, das Ausrüstungsgeld für das Reitpferd eines röm. Ritters (nach Liv. 1, 43, 9 im Betrage von 10000 As), Gaius instit. 4, 27. – d) aes hordearium, das jährliche Ritterpferdsgeld (= Jahrgeld zur Unterhaltung der Ritterpferde), Gauis instit. 4, 27, das begüterte Erbinnen (Waisen od. Witwen) jede für einen Ritter tragen mußten (s. Liv. 1, 43, 9; vgl. Cic. de rep. 2, 36), Gaius instit. 4, 27: hierher gehört wohl cedit miles, aes petit, Plaut. aul. 526; vgl. ibid. 528. – e) aes manuarium, das im Würfelspiel gewonnene Geld, Gell. 18, 13, 4 (da manus = der Wurf im Spiel, Suet, Aug. 71, 3). – f) aes circumforaneum, das von den Geldwechslern (die ihre Buden in den um das Forum herumgehenden Portikus hatten) entlehnte Geld, Cic. ad Att. 2, 1, 9. – g) aes Martium, die Kriegsbeute (weil gewisse Stücke der Beute immer dem Mars dargebracht wurden), Inscr. in der Zeitschr. für Altertumsw. 1845. S. 787. – 3) Plur. aera, die einzelnen Posten einer berechneten Summe, Lucil. sat. 29, 8. Cic. Hortens. fr. 50. p. 61 K. (fr. 59. p. 319 M.): conficienda sunt aera, Sen. ep. 26, 8 (nach Madv. adv. crit., 2, 472) – /Nach Diom. 328, 14 war im Plur. nur Nomin. u. Akk. aera üblich; doch kommt noch vor Genet. aerum, Cato or. fr. 64, 1. Corp. inscr. Lat. 13, 8736, heteroklit. aerorum, Corp. inscr. Lat. 13, 6959: Dat. od. Abl. aeribus, Cato or. fr. 64, 2. Lucr. 2, 636. Arnob. 3, 41. – Archaist. Genet. Sing. aerus, Corp. inscr. Lat. 4, 2440: Dat. aere, Corp. inscr. Lat. 3, 6076. Cic. ep. 7, 13, 2. Liv. 31, 13, 5.

aes [CL] 1 copper, bronze, or brass. b (w. ductile) copper wire. c (w. ustum) calcined copper. d (w. viride) verdigris. aes tinnit Aldh. PR 131 p. 180; [Brittania] venis metallorum, aeris, ferri et plumbi et argenti fecunda Bede HE I 1; est [tintinnabulum] de antiquo veterum opere, ubi minus stagni adicitur, plus de ere R. Cold. Cuthb. 81; originalia ‥ in quibus aqueitas et terrestritas magis dominatur, sicut aurum, argentum, es, ferrum Bacon V 129; 1316 in renovacione eris cujuslibet molendini simul cum iiij li. eris emptis ad idem Cart. Glam. 832; hoc es, ~ris, A. brasse WW.  b wyre, ereductile [? for ere ductili] CathA.  c calcucecumenon, i. es ustum; calciton idem SB 14; esustum, A. brende bras, calcemonie WW.  d argelzarus, viride es idem Alph. 16. 2 money. b (esp. w. alienum) debt. ad thecam ‥ in qua es regium servabatur Ailr. Ed. Conf. 746B; ut exiguo dominum mutaverit ere Hanv. IV 306; ēris servus ĕris, si te species trahit ēris Serlo Wilt. 2. 37.  b ~e alieno, geabuli GlC A 321; liberales sunt qui ‥ es alienum amicorum suscipiunt W. Malm. GR IV 313; 1260 ere alieno oneratus Cl 217; s1302 quod ‥ eum eiceret ab omni ere alieno W. Guisb. 352; 1360 monasterium ‥ ere alieno depressum Cart. Ciren. I no. 140; 1527 cogor effari ex hac humanitate tua me tam in aere tuo esse ut ‥ (L. Cox) Ep. Erasm. VII 1803.

æs, (7) æris, n. , ¶ 1 airain, bronze, cuivre : ex ære Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 72 ; 94 ; 96, etc., dʼairain (bronze, cuivre) ¶ 2 objet dʼairain (bronze, cuivre): ære ciere viros Virg. En. 6, 165, entraîner les guerriers aux sons de lʼairain [trompette] ; Corybantia æra Virg. En. 3, 111, lʼairain (les cymbales) des Corybantes || (telum) ære repulsum Virg. En. 2, 545, (trait) repoussé par lʼairain du bouclier ; æra fulgent Virg. En. 7, 526, lʼairain [les armes] resplendit || legum æra Cic. Cat. 3, 19, lʼairain des tables des lois ; in æs incidere Cic. Phil. 1, 16, graver sur lʼairain || donarem... meis æra sodalibus Hor. O. 4, 8, 2, je ferais cadeau de bronzes à mes amis || æra sudant Virg. G. 1, 480, lʼairain des statues se couvre de sueur ¶ 3 cuivre (bronze) servant primitivement aux échanges, aux achats : rude, infectum, métal brut ; signatum, lingot dʼun poids déterminé portant une empreinte [primit. celle dʼune brebis ou dʼun bœuf] : Varro R. 2, 1, 9 ; Plin. 18, 12 || [en gén., monnaie de cuivre] : æs grave P. Fest. 98, cuivre en poids, lingot dʼune livre [comme as libralis ] ; decem milibus æris gravis damnatur Liv. 4, 41, 10, on le condamne à dix mille livres pesant de cuivre [dix mille as], cf. 5, 12, 1 ; 5, 29, 7, etc. ; æris gravis viginti milia Liv. 22, 33, 2, vingt mille livres pesant de cuivre [vingt mille as] || [sans gravis ] milibus æris quinquaginta censeri Liv. 24, 11, 7, être porté sur les listes de recensement pour une somme de cinquante mille as ; decies æris Liv. 24, 11, 8, [s. ent. centena milia ] un million dʼas ; argentum ære solutum est Sall. C. 33, 2, pour un sesterce [pièce dʼargent valant alors 4 as] les débiteurs payèrent un as [donc un quart de la somme due] ¶ 4 argent [comme pecunia ] : Pl. As. 201 ; Aul. 376, etc.; Cic. Rep. 6, 2 ; Sall. J. 31, 11 ; Virg. B. 1, 35 ; prodigus æris Hor. P. 164, prodiguant lʼargent ; parvo ære emere Liv. 26, 35, 5, acheter à peu de frais ¶ 5 argent, fortune, moyens : meo sum pauper in ære Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 12, je suis pauvre, mais vivant de mes propres ressources [sans dette] ; æs alienum, argent dʼautrui, argent emprunté, dette, ou æs mutuum Sall. J. 96, 2 ; hominem video non modo in ære alieno nullo, sed in suis nummis multis Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 11, je vois que cet homme non seulement nʼest pas dans les dettes, mais quʼil est dans les écus abondamment [quʼil est très riche]; alicujus æs alienum suscipere Cic. Off. 2, 56, se charger des dettes de qqn ; habere Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 11 ; contrahere Cic. Cat. 2, 4, ou conflare Sall. C. 14, 2, avoir, contracter des dettes ; solvere, persolvere Sall. C. 35, 3 ; dissolvere Cic. Off. 2, 84, payer une dette ; æri alieno alicujus subvenire Cic. Phil. 2, 36, payer les dettes de qqn ; ex ære alieno laborare Cæs. G. 3, 22, 1 ; ære alieno premi Cæs. G. 6, 13, 2, être accablé de dettes || [fig.] ille in ære meo est Cic. Fam. 15, 14, 1, cet homme fait partie de mon avoir, il est mon obligé, cf. Fam. 13, 62 ; virtus suo ære censetur Sen. Ep. 87, 17, la vertu est inscrite au cens dʼaprès ses propres facultés = sʼapprécie par sa propre valeur || admonitus hujus æris alieni Cic. Top. 5, rappelé au souvenir de ma dette [une promesse non tenue] ¶ 6 argent de la solde : æs militare Pl. Pœn. 1286 ; Varro L. 5, 181, paie militaire ; æra militibus constituta Liv. 5, 2, 3, solde instituée pour les soldats, cf. 5, 3, 4, etc. ; omnibus his æra procedere Liv. 5, 7, 12, [on décide] que pour tous ceux-là une solde coure [quʼils reçoivent une solde] ; cognoscentur istius æra Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 33, on apprendra à connaître ses services militaires (ses campagnes); ære dirutus [ Varr. dans Non. 532 ] Cic. Verr. 2, 5, 33, privé de sa solde.

➳ dat. abl. æribus Cato Orat. 64, 1 ; Lucr. 2, 636 || dat. arch. ære Cic. Fam. 7, 13, 2 ; Liv. 31, 13, 5.

aes , aeris. n.
銅。銅器。錢。號筒。兵餉。 — circumforaneum 找換之銀。In aere alieno esse 負債者。 — alienum meum 我負之債。 Aes alienum contrahere 借債。— corinthium 雜金。嚮銅。Aes coronarium 白銅。— caldarium 所鎔之銅。— confessum 認之帳。— manuarium 大流行之錢。 Aes uxorium 因不娶被罰之錢。In aere meo est 彼欠我之銀。Aera coribantia 鑼之類。Aere dirutus miles 斷餉之兵。 Suscepit ejus — alienum 許貼人之帳。Aera ei procedunt 尙給俸。仍繼其俸。Aera, ium. n. 帳單。

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aes aeris, n

• crude metal, base metal, copper: uti aere pro nummo, Cs.: aeris metalla, V.— Hence, bronze, an alloy of copper and tin: ex aere statua.—As symbol of indomitable courage: aes triplex Circa pectus, H.; of durability: monumentum aere perennius, H.: quae (acta) ille in aes incidit, i. e. engraved on a copper tablet for deposit in the aerarium: in aere incidere: aera legum, i. e. tablets inscribed with the laws.—Plur., works of art in bronze, bronzes: grata aera, H.: aera voltum simulantia, a bust, H.: aere ciere viros, a trumpet, V.: aeris cornua flexi, O.—Plur, cymbals, H.: aera micantia cerno, i. e. arms of bronze, V.: spumas salis aere ruebant, with the prow, V.: inquinavit aere tempus aureum, i. e. degeneracy, H.: aes exigitur, i. e. money, H.: meret aera, earns money, H.: gravis aere dextra, V.: danda aera militibus, L.: octonis referentes Idibus aera, i. e. carrying the teacher's fees, H.—Esp. in the phrases, aes alienum, another's money, i. e. debt: aes alienum suscipere amicorum, assume: in aere alieno esse: conflare, S.: aere alieno premi, Cs.: dissolvere, discharge: solvere, S.: te aere alieno liberare: ex aere alieno laborare, to be oppressed by debt, Cs.: nexus ob aes alienum, bound for debt, L. —Hence, librāque et aere liberatus, released from the debtor's bond, L.—Aes mutuum reddere, borrowed money, S.—Aes suum, one's own money: meosum pauper in aere, i. e. I am poor, but not in debt, H.—Fig. (colloq.): te in meo aere esse, i. e. at my service. — The unit of the coin standard (cf. as): aes grave, the old heavy money, a pound of copper: denis millibus aeris gravis reos condemnat, L.— And aes alone and in the gensing. (cf assium): aeris miliens, triciens, C., L.—Fig., wages earned: annua aera habes, L.; hence, military service: istius aera illa vetera, campaigns.

AES

AES(χαλκός). Much confusion arises from the fact that both Greeks and Romans use only one term for copper and for that mixture of copper and tin which we call bronze. Excepting perhaps gold, copper is the easiest of metals to find and fashion, being found in lumps, and not, like iron, hidden in ore. Hesiod and Lucretius, and ancient writers generally, made the age of Bronze precede that of Iron, and that they were right is abundantly proved by the excavations of modern times. There seems to have been a time immediately succeeding the Stone age when implements were beaten out of pure copper, but it did not last long; the custom of adding tin to copper was introduced, and from that time until the close of ancient history copper unmixed was seldom used for any purpose, various metals being added to it to increase its hardness. Bronze, containing about 12 to 14: per cent. of tin and 88 to 86 per cent. of copper, was used at a very early period in Egypt and Asia. The use of it was introduced into Greece in pre-historic times, probably by the Phoenicians. Tin is not found in Greece, and in fact exists but in few parts of Europe; the Phoenicians are supposed to have travelled in search of it as far as Cornwall and India. The likeness of the Greek word for tin (κασσίτερος) to the Sanskrit kastïra seems to indicate that the original supply of Greek tin came from India. To account however for the enormous quantity of tin which in the Bronze age must have circulated through Europe is not easy.

In Homer's time bronze is the usual material for tripods, vessels, armour of defence, and even spears, though iron was beginning to be used for offensive weapons. It is probable that soon after the Homeric age weapons of bronze fell out of use. This compound however continued to be largely employed for utensils of all kinds, for works of art and other purposes. The interior of the treasuries of Mycenae and Orchomenus were lined with bronze; bronze was used in historical times for vessels, candelabra, chariots, for the inscribing of treaties and laws, for personal ornament, and in places for coin. Also all instruments used for religious purposes were made of bronze from motives of religious conservatism. The abundance of copper sufficiently accounts for its general use among the ancients. We have a remarkable result of this fact in the use of χαλκεὺς and χαλκεύειν, where working in iron is meant (Hom. Od. 9.391; Aristot. Poët. 25). One of the chief sources of copper in antiquity was Cyprus; from the name of that island is derived the Low-Latin cuprum, and our word copper. The metal was also procured in Euboea, near the town of Chalcis, and in other parts of Greece; also in Campania in Italy, in Germany and elsewhere. But the most celebrated bronze did not come from those regions, but was an object of special manufacture elsewhere. Two of the most celebrated mixtures were the Delian (Plin. Nat.34.9) and the Aeginetan (l. c. § 10), which were much used in art; we learn that Myron used the former mixture, Polycleitus the latter. The Delian was reckoned the more precious of these, but still more valuable was the hepatizon or liver-coloured bronze, and most valuable of all the Corinthian. With regard to the last-mentioned a silly story was told that it was produced by a fortuitous concourse of melted metals en the occasion of the burning of Corinth by Mummius. Pliny (Plin. Nat.34.7) sensibly remarks that this story is absurd, because most of the authors of the highly valued works in Corinthian bronze lived at a much earlier period. A large number of varieties of bronze of various colours were known to the ancients, and it seems that they tinted their statues by making them of a judicious mixture of sorts. Thus we hear of a bronze Jocasta which was pale, of an Athamas which was blushing (Plin. Nat.34.140), and of a Pallas with ruddy cheeks, made by Pheidias. Not only were the ancients clever at producing varieties in the metal, but they seem to have understood the art of hardening it by dipping in water and exposure to air. There is a passage even in Homer which is supposed to allude to this process (Od. 9.391), and recent experiments have proved that this is a possibility, contrary to the usual opinion of metallurgists. The mixture of copper and zinc which we call brass was also known in antiquity, at all events in later Greek and Roman times. It is of this compound that Roman sestertii and dupondii were made, as has been proved by analysis. As Pliny (Plin. Nat.34.4) specially states that these were made of orichalcum, it seems that that term, which was in early times of quite vague meaning, was afterwards narrowed to the meaning brass. This is further shown by a passage in Cicero (de Offic. 3.23, 92), who says that gold and orichalcum may be confused in consequence of their superficial resemblance.

The chief authority as regards the kinds and working of bronze is Pliny (Hist. Nat. xxxiv.). He distinguishes copper ore into two kinds: cadmea, found in Italy and Germany, and chalcitis, in Cyprus and elsewhere. Of Corinthian bronze ( § 8) he distinguishes three kinds; in the first silver.predominates, in the second gold, in the third the metals are balanced and harmonized. Of Cyprian bronze ( § 94) the chief classes are coronarium, which is of golden hue when divided into thin layers, and regulare, which can be hammered and drawn out into bars and wires. A commoner kind of copper (not Cyprian), called caldarium, does not give to the hammer, and is only fit for melting. At Capua they added to copper to make bronze 10 per cent. of Spanish plumbum argentarium, which was made of tin and lead in equal proportions. Pliny states that copper was largely used in medicine ( § 100, foll.), being either mixed with milk or sulphur for external application to wounds, or taken internally, mixed with honey, in order to cause vomiting. For a mass of details of this character we must refer the reader to Pliny himself.

In all early bronze-work found in Greece and Etruria, the processes of manufacture are simple. The usual process for cups, utensils, and ornaments is working plates with the hammer into the required shape, fastening them together with nails or (sometimes) with solder, and beating up a pattern on them in repoussé work and finishing with a graving-tool. Small figures are sometimes cast in the lump, but nothing large. The hammering process was called by the Greeks σφυρηλατεῖν. The British Museum possesses the effigy of a deity thus worked in plates; similar was no doubt the bronze statue earliest erected at Rome, that dedicated by Sp. Cassius to Ceres. When we are told that the Greeks Rhoecus and Theodorus first cast in bronze (Θεόδωρον καὶ Ποῖκον Σαμίους εἶναι τοὺς διαχέαντας χαλκὸν πρώτους, Paus. 9.41.1), we must perhaps understand by this that these artists introduced the method of casting statues hollow, not solid, as their predecessors had done. These artists may have lived about the 60th Olympiad, and certainly soon after that time bronze statuary spread with great rapidity over Greece; and indeed bronze continued a favourite material with sculptors until the decay of art. Of the formative process we have a vivid picture on a Greek vase of good period, engraved as the frontispiece to Mr. Murray's History of Greek Sculpture. The extraordinary abundance of works of art in bronze, found on almost all ancient sites, especially at Herculaneum and Pompeii, is a notable fact.

Copper as Coin. --In the coinage of the Greeks and Romans copper is seldom unalloyed. A number of analyses made of late years of Greek coins show a proportion of tin of from 10 to 16 per cent., and an occasional 2 to 5 per cent. of lead. Roman aes signatum in republican times shows a proportion of 5 to 8 per cent. of tin and 16 to 29 of lead. After the time of Augustus a change was introduced in the composition of Roman coin. Thenceforward sestertii and dupondii were made of brass, that is to say, of a mixture containing 20 per cent. of zinc and 80 of copper; while the asses were made entirely of copper. Money of copper and bronze stood on a very different footing in Italy to that on which it stood in Hellas and Asia. For in Western countries copper was the usual medium of exchange and measure of value; the chief currency consisted in early times of huge ingots of copper stamped with an official type; and when gold and silver came into use, they at first passed merely as the equivalents and representatives of so much copper. In the East, on the other hand, where gold and silver were the true media of exchange, and copper was used only for very small values, it was seldom minted save as money of account. [See NUMMUS] The Ptolemies of Egypt minted copper pieces of full value; and Brandes (Gewichtswesen, p. 292) is disposed to think that the early Athenian and other copper money was minted up to full weight for a time. But this was exceptional and in almost all Hellenic settlements copper money was a currency of tokens; and the weight of it is consequently most irregular. Copper money was first minted in Greece towards the end of the 5th century, at which period the cities of South Italy, Sicily, and Hellas alike began to strike copper pieces in place of the minute silver coins which had hitherto passed as small change. Conservatives objected to the innovation, as we know from Aristophanes (Aristoph. Frogs 5.725). [CHALCUS]

Since the most ancient coins in Rome and the old Italian states were made of aes, this name was given to money in general, so that Ulpian (Dig. 50, tit. 16, s. 159) says, Etiam aureos nummos aes dicimus. (Compare Hor. Ars Poët. 345; Ep. 1.7, 23.) For the same reason we have aes alienum, meaning debt, and aera in the plural, pay to the soldiers. (Liv. 5.4; Plin. Nat.34.1.) The Romans had no other coinage except copper, till B.C. 269, five years before the First Punic War, when silver was first coined; gold was not coined till sixty-two years after silver. (Plin. Nat.33.42, foll.) For this reason Argentinus, in the Italian mythology, was made the son of Aesculanus. (Quia prius aerea pecunia in usu esse coepit, post argentea: August. Civ. Dei, 4.21.) For a further account of Roman copper money, see As.

As to the relations in value of the three metals, gold, silver, and copper, see ARGENTUM.

For a fuller account of the use of bronze in antiquity the reader may consult: Rossignol, Les Métaux dans l'Antiquité; Guillaume, La Sculpture en Bronze; J. Evans, Ancient Bronze Implements. The ancient testimonies as to gold, silver, and copper mines are collected by Sabatier, Production de I´Or, de I´Argent et du Cuivre chez les Anciens (1850).

[P.G]

Aes

(χαλκός). Much confusion has arisen from the fact that both Greeks and Romans use only one term for copper and for that mixture of copper and tin which we call bronze. Excepting perhaps gold, copper is the easiest of metals to find and fashion, being found in lumps, and not, like iron, hidden in ore. Hesiod and Lucretius, and ancient writers generally, made the Age of Bronze precede that of Iron, and that they were right is abundantly proved by the excavations of modern times. There seems to have been a time immediately succeeding the Stone Age when implements were beaten out of pure copper, but it did not last long: the custom of adding tin to copper was introduced, and from that time until the close of ancient history, copper unmixed was seldom used for any purpose, various metals being added to it to increase its hardness. Bronze, containing about 12 to 14 per cent. of tin and 88 to 86 per cent. of copper, was made at a very early period in Egypt and Asia. The use of it was introduced into Greece in prehistoric times, probably by the Phoenicians. Tin is not found in Greece, and, in fact, exists in but few parts of Europe: the Phoenicians are supposed to have travelled in search of it as far as Cornwall and India. The likeness of the Greek word for tin (κασσίτερος) to the Sanskrit kastira seems to indicate that the original supply of Greek tin came from India. To account, however, for the enormous quantity of tin which in the Bronze Age must have circulated through Europe is not easy.

In Homer's time bronze is the usual material for tripods, vessels, armour of defence, and even spears, though iron was beginning to be used for offensive weapons. It is probable that soon after the Homeric age weapons of bronze fell out of use. This compound, however, continued to be largely employed for utensils of all kinds, for works of art and other purposes. The interior of the treasuries of Mycenae and Orchomenus were lined with bronze; bronze was used in historical times for vessels, candelabra, chariots, for the inscribing of treaties and laws, for personal ornament, and in places for coin. Also all instruments used for religious purposes were made of bronze from motives of religious conservatism. The abundance of copper sufficiently accounts for its general use among the ancients. We have a remarkable result of this fact in the use of χαλκεύς and χαλκεύειν, where working in iron is meant (Homer Od. ix. 391; Aristot. Poët. 25). One of the chief sources of copper in antiquity was Cyprus; from the name of that island is derived the Low Latin cuprum, and our word copper. The metal was also procured in Euboea, near the town of Chalcis, and in other parts of Greece; also in Campania in Italy, in Germany, and elsewhere. But the most celebrated bronze did not come from those regions, but was an object of special manufacture elsewhere. Two of the most celebrated mixtures were the Delian (Plin.xxxiv. 9) and the Aeginetan (l. c. 10), which were much used in art. We learn that Myron used the former mixture, Polyclitus the latter. The Delian was reckoned the more precious of these, but still more valuable was the hepatizon or liver-coloured bronze, and most valuable of all the Corinthian. With regard to the last-mentioned, a silly story was told that it was produced by a fortuitous mixture of melted metals on the occasion of the burning of Corinth by Mummius. Pliny (xxxiv. 7) sensibly remarks that this story is absurd, because most of the authors of the highly valued works in Corinthian bronze lived at a much earlier period. A large number of varieties of bronze of various colours were known to the ancients, and it seems that they tinted their statues by making them of a judicious mixture of sorts. Thus we find mention of a bronze Iocasté that was pale, of an Athamas that blushed, and of a Pallas with ruddy cheeks made by Phidias. The ancients also understood the art of hardening the metal by dipping it in water and exposing it to the air. Even in Homer there is one passage ( Od. ix. 391) which is supposed to allude to this process which recent experiments have proved possible. The mixture of copper and zinc which we call brass was known to the later Greeks and Romans, and by them called orichalcum (see Plin.xxxiv. 4). The chief authority as regards the kinds and working of bronze is Pliny (Pliny H. N. xxxiv.). He distinguishes copper ore into two kinds: cadmea, found in Italy and Germany, and chalcitis in Cyprus and elsewhere. Of Corinthian bronze ( 8) he distinguishes three kinds: in the first silver predominates, in the second gold, in the third the metals are balanced and harmonized. Of Cyprian bronze ( 94) the chief classes are coronarium, which is of golden hue when divided into thin layers, and regulare, which can be hammered and drawn out into bars and wires. A commoner kind of copper (not Cyprian), called caldarium, does not give to the hammer, and is only fit for melting. At Capua they added to copper to make bronze, 10 per cent. of Spanish plumbum argentarium, which was made of tin and lead in equal proportions. Pliny states that copper was largely used in medicine ( 100 foll.), being either mixed with milk or sulphur for external application to wounds, or taken internally, mixed with honey, in order to cause vomiting. For a mass of details of this character we must refer the reader to Pliny himself.

In the early bronze-work of Greece and Etruria, the manufacturing processes were simple. The usual process for utensils and ornaments was to work plates with the hammer into the required shape, fastening them with nails or solder, and beating up a pattern on them in repoussé work, the whole being finished with a graving-tool. Small figures were sometimes cast in the lump. When we are told that the Greeks, Rhoecus and Theodorus, first cast in bronze (Pausan. ix. 41. 1), we must perhaps understand by this that these artists introduced the method of casting statues hollow, not solid, as their predecessors had done. These artists may have lived about the 60th Olympiad, and certainly soon after that time bronze statuary spread with great rapidity over Greece; and indeed bronze continued a favourite material with sculptors until the decay of art. Of the formative process we have a vivid picture on a Greek vase of good period, engraved as the frontispiece to Mr. Murray's History of Greek Sculpture. The extraordinary abundance of works of art in bronze, found on almost all ancient sites, especially at Herculaneum and Pompeii, is a notable fact.

Copper as Coin.—In the coinage of the Greeks and Romans copper is seldom unalloyed. A number of analyses made of late years of Greek coins show a proportion of tin of from 10 to 16 per cent., and an occasional 2 to 5 per cent. of lead. Roman aes signatum in republican times shows a proportion of 5 to 8 per cent. of tin and 16 to 29 of lead. After the time of Augustus a change was introduced in the composition of Roman coin. Thenccforward sestertii and dupondii were made of brass, that is to say, of a mixture containing 20 per cent. of zinc and 80 of copper; while the asses were made entirely of copper. Money of copper and bronze stood on a very different footing in Italy to that on which it stood in Hellas and Asia. For in western countries, copper was the usual medium of exchange and measure of value; the chief currency consisted in early times of huge ingots of copper stamped with an official type; and when gold and silver came into use, they at first passed merely as the equivalents and representatives of so much copper. In the East, on the other hand, where gold and silver were the true media of exchange, and copper was used only for very small values, it was seldom minted save as money of account. (See Numismatics.) The Ptolemies of Egypt minted copper pieces of full value; and Brandes (Gewichtswesen, p. 292) is disposed to think that the early Athenian and other copper money was minted up to full weight for a time. But this was exceptional; and in almost all Hellenic settlements, copper money was a currency of tokens; and the weight of it is consequently most irregular. Copper money was first minted in Greece towards the end of the fifth century, at which period the cities of South Italy, Sicily, and Hellas alike began to strike copper pieces in place of the minute silver coins which had hitherto passed as small change. Conservatives objected to the innovation, as we know from Aristophanes (Ran. 725).

Since the most ancient coins in Rome and the old Italian states were made of aes, this name was given to money in general, so that Ulpian (Dig. 50, tit. 16, s. 158) says, Etiam aureos nummos aes dicimus. (Cf. Hor. Ars Poët. 345; Ep. i. 7, 23.) For the same reason we have aes alienum, meaning debt, and aera in the plural, pay to the soldiers (Liv.v. 4; Plin. H. N. xxxiv. 1). The Romans had no other coinage except copper, till B.C. 269, five years before the First Punic War. See As.