n be held back, since the punishment ought to be even heavier for him
who causes need than for him who violates the laws."

The lists which follow are arranged in three columns which give
respectively the article, the unit of measure, and the price.[89]

Frumenti K{~COMBINING MACRON~}M{~COMBINING MACRON~}
Hordei K{~COMBINING MACRON~}M{~COMBINING MACRON~} unum {~ROMAN NUMERAL TEN~}{~COMBINING LONG STROKE OVERLAY~} c(entum)
Centenum sive sicale " " " {~ROMAN NUMERAL TEN~}{~COMBINING LONG STROKE OVERLAY~} sexa(ginta)
Mili pisti " " " {~ROMAN NUMERAL TEN~}{~COMBINING LONG STROKE OVERLAY~} centu(m)
Mili integri " " {~ROMAN NUMERAL TEN~}{~COMBINING LONG STROKE OVERLAY~} quinquaginta'

The first item (frumentum) is wheat, which is sold by the K{~COMBINING MACRON~}M{~COMBINING MACRON~}
(kastrensis modius=181/2 quarts), but the price is lacking. Barley is
sold by the kastrensis modius at {~ROMAN NUMERAL TEN~}{~COMBINING LONG STROKE OVERLAY~} centum (centum denarii = 43 cents)
and so on.

Usually a price list is not of engrossing interest, but the tables of
Diocletian furnish us a picture of material conditions throughout the
Empire in his time which cannot be had from any other source, and for that
reason deserve some attention. This consideration emboldens me to set down
some extracts in the following pages from the body of the edict:

Extracts from Diocletian's List of Maximum Prices

I

In the tables given here the Latin and Greek names of the articles listed
have been turned into English. The present-day accepted measure of
quantity--for instance, the bushel or the quart--has been substituted for
the ancient unit, and the corresponding price for the modern unit of
measure is given. Thus barley was to be sold by the kastrensis modius
(=181/2 quarts) at 100 denarii (=43.5 cents). At this rate a bushel of
barley would have brought 74.5 cents. For convenience in reference the
numbers of the chapters and of the items adopted in the text of Mommsen
are used here. Only selected articles are given.

(Unit of Measure, the Bushel)

1 Wheat
2 Barley 74.5 cents
3 Rye 45 "
4 Millet, ground 74.5 "
6 Millet, whole