The Ten Books on Architecture, 3.1.8

Vitruvius  Parallel editions

‹‹‹ Vitr. 3.1.7 | Table of Contents | Vitr. 3.1.9 ›››

Gwilt translation

8Our ancestors, however, were better pleased with the number ten, and hence made the denarius to consist of ten brass asses, and the money to this day retains the name of denarius. The sestertius, a fourth part of a denarius, was so called, because composed of two asses, and the half of another. Thus finding the numbers six and ten perfect, they added them together, and formed sixteen, a still more perfect number. The foot measure gave rise to this, for subtracting two palms from the cubit, four remain, which is the length of a foot; and as each palm contains four digits, the foot will consequently contain sixteen, so the denarius was made to contain an equal number of asses.

Morgan translation

8But our countrymen at first fixed upon the ancient number and made ten bronze pieces go to the denarius, and this is the origin of the name which is applied to the denarius to this day. And the fourth part of it, consisting of two asses and half of a third, they called “sesterce.” But later, observing that six and ten were both of them perfect numbers, they combined the two, and thus made the most perfect number, sixteen. They found their authority for this in the foot. For if we take two palms from the cubit, there remains the foot of four palms; but the palm contains four fingers. Hence the foot contains sixteen fingers, and the denarius the same number of bronze asses.