QUADRANT (Latin: Quadrans). - The smallest Roman bronze coin, equivalent to a quarter of an as. It weighed three ounces; it bore on the obverse the effigy of Hercules and on the reverse the prow of a ship.
The term was often used to indicate a minimal sum, as "centesimo" is now (cf. Cicero, Pro M. Caelio, 26, 62; Quintilian, Institutiones orat., VIII, 6, 53).
In this sense it occurs in the Gospel (Mt. 5, 26) in the Grecized form κοδράντες; while Luke (12, 59) in the parallel passage uses the Greek word λεπτόν. Mark (12, 42), who was writing for Latin readers, explains that the two "mites" (λεπτά) of the widow's offering were equivalent to one q.
Penna, Angelo. “Quadrante (Lat. Quadrans).” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. X, col. 362. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1953. https://azioneromana.com/article/quadrante-lat-quadrans.
MLA
Penna, Angelo. “Quadrante (Lat. Quadrans).” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. X, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1953, col. 362. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/quadrante-lat-quadrans.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec10_quadrante_lat_quadrans,
author = {Penna, Angelo},
title = {Quadrante (Lat. Quadrans)},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {X},
pages = {362},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1953},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/quadrante-lat-quadrans}
}
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