What did the first roman fraction used look like?

Answer 1

It used to look like a coin. The basic unit was an assarius, assis or as, which was a coin that was divided up into multiples of 1/12ths, where 1/12th of an assis was an uncia (from which we derive the words "inch" and "ounce"), before being divided further.

The first fraction is more than likely to have been the semis, or half (1/2), since it is the simplest fraction of all.

The names of each fraction also became the names for the coins themselves:

1/12 of an assis was an uncia, denoted by a single dot: •

2/12 (1/6) of an assis was a sextans, denoted by ••

3/12 (1/4) of an assis was a quadrans, denoted by •••

4/12 (1/3) of an assis was a triens , denoted by ••••

5/12 of an assis was a quincunx, denoted by •••••

6/12 (1/2) of an assis was a semis , denoted by the letter S. (1/2 an as)

7/12 of an assis was a septunx , denoted by S•

8/12 (2/3) of an assis was a bes, denoted by S••

9/12 (3/4) of an assis was a dodrans, denoted by S•••

10/12 (5/6) of an assis was a dextans, denoted by S••••

11/12 of an assis was a deunx, denoted by S•••••

The dots themselves weren't necessarily lined up; they could be spread out, a bit like the dots on dominos. However, other common fractions in the duodecimal system were:

• 1/8, sescuncia, Є•.
• 1/24, semuncia Є.
• 1/36, binae sextulae, ƧƧ.
• 1/48, sicilicus, Ɔ.
• 1/72 sextula, Ƨ.
• 1/144, dimidia sextula, Ƨ.
• 1/288, scripulum, ℈.
• 1/1728, siliqua, ».