In Ancient Roman measurement, ''congius'' (pl. ''congii'', from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''konkhion'', diminutive of ''konkhē'', ''konkhos'', "shellful") was a liquid measure that was about 3.48

litre The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3) ...

s (0.92 U.S. gallons). It was equal to the larger chous of the

Ancient Greeks Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...

. The congius contained six '' sextarii''. Cato tells us that he was wont to give each of his slaves a congius of wine at the

Saturnalia Saturnalia is an ancient Roman festival and holiday in honour of the god Saturn, held on 17 December of the Julian calendar and later expanded with festivities through to 23 December. The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple ...

and Compitalia.

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

relates, among other examples of hard drinking, that a Novellius Torquatus of

Mediolanum Mediolanum, the ancient city where Milan now stands, was originally an Insubrian city, but afterwards became an important Roman city in northern Italy. The city was settled by the Insubres around 600 BC, conquered by the Romans in 222 BC, and ...

obtained a cognomen (''Tricongius'', a nine-bottle-man) by drinking three ''congii'' of wine at once: The Roman system of weights and measures, including the congius, was introduced to Britain in the 1st century by

Emperor Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Drusus and Antonia Minor ...

. Following the Anglo-Saxon invasions of the 4th and 5th century, Roman units were, for the most part, replaced with North German units. Following the conversion of England to Christianity in the 7th century, Latin became the language of state. From this time on the word "congius" is simply the Latin word for gallon. Thus we find the word ''congius'' mentioned in a charter of

Edmund I Edmund I or Eadmund I (920/921 – 26 May 946) was King of the English from 27 October 939 until his death in 946. He was the elder son of King Edward the Elder and his third wife, Queen Eadgifu, and a grandson of King Alfred the Great. After ...

in 946. In Apothecary Measures, the Latin Congius (abbreviation c.) is used for the Queen Anne gallon of 231 cubic inches, also known as the US gallon.

Congius of Vespasian

William Smith in his book ''A dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities'' says: ::There is a congius in existence called the congius of Vespasian or the Farnese congius, bearing an inscription, which states that it was made in the year 75 A.D., according to the standard measure in the capitol, and that it contained, by weight, ten pounds. (Imp. Caes. vi. T. Caes. Aug. F. iiii. Cos. Mensurae exactae in Capitolio, P. x.; see also Festus, Publica Pondera.) By means of this congius the weight of the Roman pound has been ascertained. This congius holds, according to an experiment made by Dr. Hase, in 1824, 52037.692 grains of distilled water.

Festus Festus may refer to: People Ancient world * Porcius Festus, Roman governor of Judea from approximately 58 to 62 AD *Sextus Pompeius Festus (later 2nd century), Roman grammarian *Festus (died 305), martyr along with Proculus of Pozzuoli *Festus ( ...

, ''De verborum significatu'', s.v. "Publica Pondera" In 1866, an article entitled ''On a Congius'' appeared in the ''Journal of the British Archaeological Association'' casting doubt on the authenticity of the Farnese congius. A 1926 article in the journal Ancient Weights and Measures notes that "there is no true patina upon it" and that apparent red oxide is drops of shellac. The 2002 book ''Aqueduct hunting in the seventeenth century: Raffaello Fabretti's De aquis et aquaeductibus veteris Romae'' by Harry B. Evans reports that the original congius of Farnese has been lost and that the extant copies are considered spurious. On the other hand, according to the 1883 edition of ''A complete handbook to the National museum in Naples'' item number 74599 bears the following description: :74599. Measure for liquids,-- the ''congius'' spoken of by Pliny. A long-necked vase without handle, bearing the inscription IMP. CAESARE VESPAS. VI. T. CAES. AUG. F. IIII COS. MENSURAE EXACTAE IN CAPITOLIO P. X. -- "measure of the weight of ten pounds gauged at the Capitol in the sixth consulate of the Emperor Caesar Vespasian and the fourth of his son Titus Augustus Caesar" (Borgia.)

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* *{{1728 Units of volume Society of ancient Rome Ancient Roman units of measurement

Congius of Vespasian

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