4 ms·

Did Aristotle really use the unit lb? And was it the same as we today recognize it?

by a_imho 11y ago

minikites 11y ago
"The libra (Latin for 'scales / balance') is an ancient Roman unit of mass that was equivalent to approximately 328.9 grams. It was divided into 12 unciae (singular: uncia), or ounces. The libra is the origin of the abbreviation for pound, 'lb'."
- a_imho 11y ago
  I was unable to find a definite answer to this, but seeing he was Greek I guess he should have not used it. I understand this is a translation, but changing actual facts in a script then addressing it to someone seems like too much creative freedom to me.
- gjm11 11y ago
  The actual unit Aristotle used was the "mna". A mna was 100x as heavy as a drachma. According to Wikipedia (which is always right except when it's wrong) the most commonly used standard in ancient Greece made a drachma weigh about 4.3g, in which case a mna would be about 430g, compared with 454g for a pound weight. So "pound" or "lb" is a pretty good translation for "mna". (The "mna" has rough equivalents in other ancient Near Eastern cultures. There's at least one "mina" in the New Testament, and in the famous "writing on the wall" at Belshazzar's feast -- MENE MENE TEKEL PHARSIN -- "mene" is basically the same word as "mna".)
sageikosa 11y ago
No, nor did he write in modern English.
- JorgeGT 11y ago
  He wasn't published by Harvard University Press either! But I think it is interesting and relevant to the discussion how the modern English aspect was overlooked whereas the imperial unit triggered his anachronism detector.
  - sageikosa 11y ago
    I had looked up some of the ancient Greek units (I had almost posted more information and a link to the Wikipedia article; but figured the truly curious would do the same search), and there is a listed unit that is within a few % of the modern customary pound. It is very likely the translator did a simple substitution. Given the interconnectedness of the Greek trading world, it's likely that the unit variations were small to negligible in the eastern Mediterranean at that time; probably even less so that during the Renaissance when city-states were vying and fighting each other for commercial dominance. Having read vol 1 of Braudel's book on the Mediterranean world in the 16th c, units used in commerce varied widely in the 16th century (at least for shipping), and Braudel doesn't even bother in most cases to translate them to modern units, he simply leaves them and compares magnitudes with a few asides to anchor the terms.

Did Aristotle really use the unit lb? And was it the same as we today recognize it?

by a_imho 11y ago

Did Aristotle really use the unit lb? And was it the same as we today recognize it?

"The libra (Latin for 'scales / balance') is an ancient Roman unit of mass that was equivalent to approximately 328.9 grams. It was divided into 12 unciae (singular: uncia), or ounces. The libra is the origin of the abbreviation for pound, 'lb'."

a_imho 11y ago
I was unable to find a definite answer to this, but seeing he was Greek I guess he should have not used it. I understand this is a translation, but changing actual facts in a script then addressing it to someone seems like too much creative freedom to me.
gjm11 11y ago
The actual unit Aristotle used was the "mna". A mna was 100x as heavy as a drachma. According to Wikipedia (which is always right except when it's wrong) the most commonly used standard in ancient Greece made a drachma weigh about 4.3g, in which case a mna would be about 430g, compared with 454g for a pound weight. So "pound" or "lb" is a pretty good translation for "mna". (The "mna" has rough equivalents in other ancient Near Eastern cultures. There's at least one "mina" in the New Testament, and in the famous "writing on the wall" at Belshazzar's feast -- MENE MENE TEKEL PHARSIN -- "mene" is basically the same word as "mna".)

sageikosa 11y ago

No, nor did he write in modern English.

JorgeGT 11y ago
He wasn't published by Harvard University Press either! But I think it is interesting and relevant to the discussion how the modern English aspect was overlooked whereas the imperial unit triggered his anachronism detector.
- sageikosa 11y ago
  I had looked up some of the ancient Greek units (I had almost posted more information and a link to the Wikipedia article; but figured the truly curious would do the same search), and there is a listed unit that is within a few % of the modern customary pound. It is very likely the translator did a simple substitution. Given the interconnectedness of the Greek trading world, it's likely that the unit variations were small to negligible in the eastern Mediterranean at that time; probably even less so that during the Renaissance when city-states were vying and fighting each other for commercial dominance. Having read vol 1 of Braudel's book on the Mediterranean world in the 16th c, units used in commerce varied widely in the 16th century (at least for shipping), and Braudel doesn't even bother in most cases to translate them to modern units, he simply leaves them and compares magnitudes with a few asides to anchor the terms.