Congius information

In Ancient Roman measurement, congius (pl. congii, from Greek konkhion, diminutive of konkhē, konkhos, "shellful"^[1]) was a liquid measure that was about 3.48 litres (0.92 U.S. gallons).^[2] It was equal to the larger chous of the Ancient Greeks. The congius contained six sextarii.

Cato tells us that he was wont to give each of his slaves a congius of wine at the Saturnalia and Compitalia.^[3] Pliny relates, among other examples of hard drinking, that a Novellius Torquatus of Mediolanum obtained a cognomen (Tricongius, a nine-bottle-man) by drinking three congii (approximately 14 modern 75cl bottles) of wine at once:

It is in the exercise of their drinking powers that the Parthians look for their share of fame, and it was in this that Alcibiades among the Greeks earned his great repute. Among ourselves, too, Novellius Torquatus of Mediolanum, a man who held all the honours of the state from the prefecture to the pro-consulate, could drink off three congii at a single draught, a feat from which he obtained the surname of 'Tricongius': this he did before the eyes of the Emperor Tiberius, and to his extreme surprise and astonishment, a man who in his old age was very morose, and indeed very cruel in general; though in his younger days he himself had been too much addicted to wine.
— Pliny the Elder. The Natural History. xiv.22 s28. eds. John Bostock, Henry Thomas Riley. 1855

The Roman system of weights and measures, including the congius, was introduced to Britain in the 1st century by Emperor Claudius. Following the Anglo-Saxon invasions of the 4th and 5th century, Roman units were, for the most part, replaced with North German units. Following the conversion of England to Christianity in the 7th century, Latin became the language of state. From this time on the word "congius" is simply the Latin word for gallon.^[2] Thus we find the word congius mentioned in a charter of Edmund I in 946.

In Apothecary Measures, the Latin Congius (abbreviation c.) is used for the Queen Anne gallon of 231 cubic inches, also known as the US gallon.^[4]

^ "Congius". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (Fourth ed.). Houghton Mifflin Company. 2000. Archived from the original on 2009-05-13. Retrieved 2006-06-20.
^ ^a ^b Zupko, Ronald Edward (1977). British weights & measures: a history from antiquity to the seventeenth century. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 8. ISBN 9780299073404. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
^ De Re Rustica, c57
^ John Murray (1832). System of materia medica and pharmacy. Black. p. 32. Retrieved 14 December 2011.

[1] "Congius". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (Fourth ed.). Houghton Mifflin Company. 2000. Archived from the original on 2009-05-13. Retrieved 2006-06-20.

[Zupko1977-2] Zupko, Ronald Edward (1977). British weights & measures: a history from antiquity to the seventeenth century. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 8. ISBN 9780299073404. Retrieved 4 December 2011.

[3] De Re Rustica, c57

[Murray1832-4] John Murray (1832). System of materia medica and pharmacy. Black. p. 32. Retrieved 14 December 2011.

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