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Dodrans

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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),[1] 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.[2] 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

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References

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  1. ^ Hale, William Gardner; Buck, Carl Darling (1966). A Latin Grammar. University of Alabama Press. p. 356. ISBN 9780817303501. Retrieved 13 December 2017. Dodrans coin.
  2. ^ West, M. L. (1987). An Introduction to Greek Metre. Oxford; p. 33.
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