sesterce

American  

[ses-turs] / ˈsɛs tɜrs /

noun

1. a silver coin of ancient Rome, the quarter of a denarius, equal to 2½ asses: introduced in the 3rd century b.c.

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sesterce British  

/ sɛˈstɜːtɪəs, ˈsɛstɛːs /

noun

1. a silver or, later, bronze coin of ancient Rome worth a quarter of a denarius

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Etymology

Origin of sesterce

1590–1600; < Latin sēstertius, equivalent to sēs- half-unit ( see sesqui-) + tertius third (i.e., 2 units and half a 3rd one equal 2½ asses)

Example Sentences

"You will never get a sesterce of Cornelia's dowry," he declared.

From A Friend of Caesar A Tale of the Fall of the Roman Republic. Time, 50-47 B.C. by Davis, William Stearns

And the fourth part of it, consisting of two asses and half of a third, they called "sesterce."

From The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio

The Roman silver sesterce, worth about 21/8 pence or 4.2 American cents, was no doubt used by Agricola merely to indicate an infinitesimal quantity.

From De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Agricola, Georgius

"Hei!" groaned Curio, with a lugubrious whisper, "to think of it, I have never a sesterce left that I can call my own, to stake on the struggle!"

From A Friend of Caesar A Tale of the Fall of the Roman Republic. Time, 50-47 B.C. by Davis, William Stearns

In the next, he says how a certain house which Atticus had intended to purchase had been secured by Fonteius for 130,000 sesterces—something over £1000, taking the sesterce at 2 d.

From The Life of Cicero Volume One by Trollope, Anthony