Dodrans

{{About|the ancient coin|the metrical unit|Aeolic verse}}

The dodrans (a contraction of Latin dequadrans: "less a quarter") or nonuncium (from Latin nona uncia: "ninth twelfth") was an Ancient Roman bronze coin produced during the Roman Republic.

The dodrans, valued at three quarters of an as (nine unciae),{{cite book|last1=Hale|first1=William Gardner|last2=Buck|first2=Carl Darling|title=A Latin Grammar|date=1966|publisher=University of Alabama Press|isbn=9780817303501|page=[https://archive.org/details/latingrammar00hale/page/356 356]|url=https://archive.org/details/latingrammar00hale|url-access=registration|quote=Dodrans coin.|accessdate=13 December 2017|language=en}} was produced only twice:

  • in 126 BC by C. Cassius, in combination with the bes, another very rare denomination which was valued at two thirds of an as.
  • in the 2nd century BC by M. Caecilius Metellus Q. f. (perhaps Marcus Caecilius Metellus, consul 115 BC), in combination with the denarius and other Æ coins, e.g. the semis, triens, and quadrans.

Dodrans as a unit may refer to a time span of forty-five minutes (three quarters of an hour) or a length of nine inches (three quarters of a foot).

It has also been used to refer to the metrical pattern – ᴗ ᴗ – ᴗ x, which constitutes the last three quarters of the glyconic line.West, M. L. (1987). [https://archive.org/details/west-1987-introduction-to-greek-metre/mode/2up?view=theater An Introduction to Greek Metre]. Oxford; p. 33. Also called the choriambo-cretic, the pattern is common in Aeolic verse.

"Dodrans" is the root of "dodranscentennial" (75th anniversary) and "dodransbicentennial" (175th anniversary).

See also

References

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