When reading Livy and learn that '200,000 measures of wheat' have been donated what does this mean? Checking google I get a lot of biblical refs and equivocation but would I be far wrong in taking the libre as equal to a 'measure'? I found:
Quote"libra, the basic Roman unit of weight; after 268 BCE it was about 5,076 English grains or equal to 0.722 pounds avoirdupois (0.329 kg).
This would make the 200,000 measures of wheat about 65.8 metric tonnes of grain right?
OR wrong and the measure is more like a bushel equal to about 60lb or 27.2Kg in which case the reading is for 5,440 metric tonnes a very very different answer?
I suspect that the second makes more sense as together with the same amount of barley this would keep 10 thousand men in rations for about 12 weeks. (@ 1lb of grain per day) a seriously useful aid to a campaign.
I suspect the former from Bibilical sources. A "measure" of wheat would be enough to make one loaf which could feed one person for one day. If a quart of wheat is needed to make one loaf then the weight would be a little over one pound.
Not sure if translators of Livy are always consistent, but in XLIV.16.2, "twenty thousand measures of wheat, ten thousand of barley", the "measure" is the modius, of 8.73 litres according to wiki (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Roman_units_of_measurement#Dry_measure).
Thanks both. Weirdly my copy of Livy (the Penguin translation by Henry Bettenson) skips from XLIV 15 to 19.Online I can see that is the Epirots gift. I was at XXXI 19 trying to get a handle on the productivity of Numidia.
Also the modius:
ducenta milia modium tritici Romam, ducenta ad exercitum in Macedoniam miserunt