the sum of all sums

summa, ae, f. (sc. res; old gen. summai, Lucr. 1, 984; 6, 679) [summus, v. superus].

Lit., that which is highest in any thing, the top, summit, surface (postAug. and very rare):

testudines evectae in summā pelagi,

Plin. 9, 10, 12, § 35 (cf. summus, I. s. v. superus).—

Transf., that which is most important or prominent in any thing, the main thing, chief point, principal matter; the sum, height, substance, summit, completion, perfection

In gen.:

leges a me edentur non perfectae... sed ipsae summae rerum atque sententiae,

the main points, chief particulars, Cic. Leg. 2, 7, 18:

cujus rei satis erit summam dixisse,

id. Inv. 1, 20, 28:

ex hac infinitā licentiā haec summa cogitur, ut, etc.,

id. Rep. 1, 43, 67:

lectis rerum summis,

Liv. 40, 29, 11:

haec summa est, hic nostri nuntius esto,

Verg. A. 4, 237:

summa est, si curaveris, ut, etc.,

Cic. Fam. 13, 75, 2:

in hoc summa judicii causaque tota consistit,

id. Quint. 9, 32:

eam ignominiam ad summam universi belli pertinere ratus,

to the issue of the whole war, Liv. 32, 17, 3; cf.:

haec belli summa nefandi,

Verg. A. 12, 572:

solus summam habet hic apud nos,

the first place, pre-eminence, Plaut. Truc. 4, 2, 15:

qui vobis summam ordinis consiliique concedunt,

Cic. Cat. 4, 7, 15:

summam alicui rei dare,

perfection, culmination, Quint. 3, 2, 1: 5, 10, 72; 11, 2, 41; 12, 1, 20: remittendo de summā quisque juris. strict or extreme right, Liv. 4, 43, 11.—

In partic.

Of a reckoning of numbers, the amount, the sum, sum total, including each of the single items, as if counted: quid, tu, inquam, soles, cum rationem a dispensatore accipis, si aera singula probasti, summam, quae ex his confecta sit, non probare? Cic. Fragm. ap. Non. 193, 11:

addendo deducendoque videre, quae reliqui summa fiat,

id. Off. 1, 18, 59: Py. Quanta istaec hominum summa est? Ar. Septem milia, Plaut. Mil. 1, 1, 46:

equitum magno numero ex omni populi summa separato,

Cic. Rep. 2, 22, 39:

subducamus summam,

id. Att. 5, 21, 11:

summam facere,

id. Verr. 2, 2, 53, § 131.—

Of money, a sum, amount.

With pecuniae:

pecuniae summam quantam imperaverit, parum convenit,

Liv. 30, 16, 12:

pecuniae etiam par prope summa fuit,

id. 33, 23, 9:

summa pecuniae signatae fuit talentūm duo milia et sexcenta,

Curt. 3, 13, 16:

accessit ad hanc pecuniae summam sex milia talantum,

id. 5, 6, 10:

pecuniae summa homines movit,

Liv. 22, 61, 1; 38, 11, 8; 40, 46, 16; 42, 62, 14; cf.:

census equestrem Summam nummorum,

Hor. A. P. 384:

ob parvam pecuniae summam erogatam,

Val. Max. 4, 8, 1.—

Without pecuniae:

de summā nihil decedet,

Ter. Ad. 5, 3, 30:

hac summā redempti,

Liv. 32, 17, 2; 22, 61, 2:

Marcellus decem pondo auri et argenti ad summam sestertii decies in aerarium rettulit,

id. 45, 4, 1:

quācumque summā tradet luxuriae domum,

Phaedr. 4, 4, 44;

creditor totius summae,

Quint. 5, 10, 117:

actor summarum,

Suet. Dom. 11.—

Without reference to a count, the sum, the whole:

de summā mali detrahere,

Cic. Tusc. 3, 23, 55:

summa cogitationum mearum omnium,

id. Fam. 1, 9, 10:

meorum maerorum atque amorum summam edictavi tibi,

Plaut. Rud. 1, 2, 2:

ergo ex hac infinita licentiā haec summa cogitur,

Cic. Rep. 1, 43, 67:

proposita vitae ejus velut summa,

Suet. Aug. 9:

vitae summa brevis spem nos vetat incohare longam,

Hor. C. 1, 4, 15: summarum summa est aeterna, the sum of all sums, the sum of all things, i. e. the universe, Lucr. 5, 361; so,

summa summarum,

Plaut. Truc. 1, 1, 4; Sen. Ep. 40, 13; and: summa summaï, Lucr 6, 679. —

Adverb.

Ad summam, on the whole, generally, in short, in a word:

ille affirmabat... ad summam: non posse istaec sic abire,

Cic. Att. 14, 1, 1; so,

ad summam,

id. ib. 7, 7, 7; id. Off. 1, 42, 149; id. Fam. 14, 14, 2; Hor. Ep. 1, 1, 106, Juv. 3, 79.—

In summā, in all:

Drusus erat de praevaricatione a tribunis aerariis absolutus, in summā quattuor sententiis,

Cic. Q. Fr. 2, 16, 3; Plin. Ep. 1, 22, 6; 2, 11, 25:

in omni summā,

Cic. Q. Fr. 3, 5, 5 —

In summā, at last, finally (post-Aug.):

diu colluctatus est: in summā victus occumbit,

Just. 13, 8, 8; 22, 1, 8; 37, 1, 8.—

Transf., the whole (opp. a part):

magnam res diligentiam requirebat, non in summā exercitus tuenda, sed in singulis militibus conservandis,

Caes. B. G. 6, 34; cf.:

summa exercitus salva,

the main body of the army, id. B. C. 1, 67:

solet quaedam esse partium brevitas, quae longam tamen efficit summam,

Quint. 4, 2, 41:

quaedam partibus blandiuntur, sed in summam non consentiunt,

id. 4, 2, 90.—

That which relates to the whole, as opp. to a part; with gen., the general, supreme:

(Remi dicebant) ad hunc (regem) totius belli summam omnium voluntate deferri,

the command in chief, Caes. B. G. 2, 4:

neque de summā belli suum judicium sed imperatoris esse,

id. ib. 1, 41:

cum penes unum est omnium summa rerum, regem illum unum vocamus,

authority over all affairs, the supreme power, Cic. Rep. 1, 26, 42:

is, qui summam rerum administrabat,

id. Rosc. Am. 32, 91:

ad te summa solum, Phormio, rerum redit,

Ter. Phorm. 2, 2, 3:

ad summam rerum consulere,

for the general interest, Caes. B. C. 3, 51:

ad discrimen summa rerum adducta,

to a general engagement, Liv. 10, 27:

discrimen summae rerum,

id. 10, 14:

quos penes summam consilii voluit esse, cum imperii summam rex teneret,

the sole command, Cic. Rep. 2, 28, 51; cf.:

qui vobis summam ordinis consiliique concedunt,

id. Cat. 4, 7, 15:

imperii,

Caes. B. G. 2, 23; id. B. C. 3, 5:

quod penes eos (Bituriges), si id oppidum retinuissent, summam victoriae constare intellegebant,

the whole credit of the victory, id. B. G. 7, 21; so, victoriae, id. B. C. 1, 82.— Poet.:

summa ducum, Atri des,

Ov. Am. 1, 9, 37.

sestertĭus, a, um, num. adj. [contr. from semis-tertius], two and a half; only in the phrases sestertius nummus and milia sestertia; v. I. A. and I. B. 1. infra.— Mostly as subst.

sestertĭus (written also with the characters HS.; v. B. 4. infra), ii, m. (sc. nummus); also in full: sestertius nummus; gen. plur. sestertiūm; rarely sestertiorum or sestertiūm nummūm, a sesterce, a small silver coin, originally equal to two and a half asses, or one fourth of a denarius. When the as was reduced in weight, during the Punic wars, the denarius was made equal to sixteen asses, and the sestertius continued to be one fourth of the denarius. Its value, up to the time of Augustus, was twopence and half a farthing sterling, or four and one tenth cents; afterwards about one eighth less. The sestertius was the ordinary coin of the Romans, by which the largest sums were reckoned. The sestertium (1000 sestertii) was equal (up to the time of Augustus, afterwards about one eighth less) to

1 d. sterling, or $42.94 in United States coin (v. Zumpt, Gram. § 842; Dict. of Ant. s. v. as, sestertius).

In gen.:

sestertius, quod duobus semis additur (dupondius enim et semis antiquus sestertius est) et veteris consuetudinis, ut retro aere dicerent, ita ut semis tertius, quartus semis pronunciarent, ab semis tertius sestertius dicitur,

Varr. L. L. 5, § 173 Müll.: nostri quartam denarii partem, quod efficie [p. 1686] batur ex duobus assibus et tertio semisse, sestertium nominaverunt, Vitr. 3, 1 med.; Cic. Div. in Caecil. 10, 30:

taxatio in libras sestertii singuli et in penuriā bini,

Plin. 18, 13, 34, § 130.—Freq. joined with nummus:

mille nongentos quinquaginta sestertios nummos,

Col. 3, 3, 9.— Gen. plur. sestertiūm: quid verum sit, intellego;

sed alias ita loquor, ut concessum est, ut hoc vel pro deum dico vel pro deorum, alias, ut necesse est, cum triumvirum non virorum, cum sestertiūm nummūm non nummorum, quod in his consuetudo varia non est,

Cic. Or. 46, 56:

sestertiūm sexagena milia nummūm,

Varr. R. R. 3, 6, 1; cited ap. Plin. 10, 20, 23, § 45.—Rarely, sestertiorum:

duo milia sestertiorum,

Col. 3, 3, 13.—

In partic.

As adj. in neutr. plur., with milia (in Varr. and Col.):

ut asinus venierit sestertiis milibus LX. (= sexaginta milibus sestertium),

Varr. R. R. 2, 1, 14:

grex centenarius facile quadragena milia sestertia ut reddat,

id. ib. 3, 6, 6:

hos numquam minus dena milia sestertia ex melle recipere,

id. ib. 3, 6, 11:

Hirrius ex aedificiis duodena milia sestertia capiebat,

id. ib. 3, 17, 3:

sestertiis octo milibus,

Col. 3, 3, 8; 3, 3, 9; 3, 3, 10.—

To express more than two complete thousands sestertia is used as plurale tantum, with distrib. numerals (rare before the Aug. per.):

si qui vilicus ex eo fundo, qui sestertia dena meritasset... domino XX. milia nummūm pro X. miserit (= decem milia sestertiūm),

Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 50, § 119:

candidati apud eum HS. quingena deposuerunt (= quindecim milia sestertiūm),

id. Att. 4, 15, 7:

capit ille ex suis praediis sexcena sestertia, ego centena ex meis,

id. Par. 6, 3, 49:

bis dena super sestertia nummum,

Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 33:

Tiberius Hortalo se respondisse ait, daturum liberis ejus ducena sestertia singulis,

Tac. A. 2, 38:

princeps capiendis pecuniis posuit modum usque ad dena sestertia,

id. ib. 11, 7.—Rarely with card. numerals:

sestertia centum,

Sall. C. 30, 6:

septem donat sestertia,

Hor. Ep. 1, 7, 80:

centum sestertia,

Mart. 6, 20, 1:

sex sestertia,

id. 6, 30, 1; cf.:

ne cui jus esset nisi qui... HS. CCCC. census fuisset,

Plin. 33, 2, 8, § 32.—

Millions of sesterces were expressed in three ways:

By the words centena (or centum) milia sestertiūm, preceded by a numeral adverb (rare): miliens centena milia sestertium, a hundred millions, etc., Plin. 12, 18, 41, § 84.—

With ellips. of the words centena milia, the gen. plur. sestertiūm being preceded by the numeral adv. (rare;

once in Cic.): HS. (i. e. sestertium) quater decies P. Tadio numerata Athenis... planum faciam (i.e. sestertiūm quater decies centena milia, = 1,400,000 sesterces),

Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 39, § 100 (where B. and K. after Orell. read. ex conj., sestertium; v. Kühner, Gram. § 229, 5 b.).—

With sestertium, declined as subst. neutr., and the numeral adverbs from decies upward (also with ellips. of centena or centum milia; sestertium here = centum milia sestertiūm. The origin of this usage, which became general, has been much disputed, and it is usual to explain it, after Non. p. 495 (cf. Quint. 1, 6, 18), as a grammatical blunder, by which the gen. plur. sestertium has been mistaken for a neutr. sing., Zumpt, Gram. § 873; but it more probably grew out of the adj. use of sestertium with mille, supra; v. Fischer, Gram. 2, p. 269; cf. Neue, Formenl. 1, p. 116; Kühner, Gram. § 209).

Nom. and acc.:

quom ei testamento sestertium milies relinquatur,

Cic. Off. 3, 24, 93:

nonne sestertium centies et octogies... Romae in quaestu reliquisti?

id. Pis. 35, 86:

sestertium sexagies, quod advexerat Domitius,

Caes. B. C. 1, 23, 4:

sestertium quadringenties aerario illatum est,

Tac. A. 13, 31:

sestertium deciens numeratum esse,

Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 7, § 20; 2, 3, 70, § 163:

quadringenties sestertium, quod debuisti,

id. Phil. 2, 37, 93; id. Off. 3, 24, 93; Nep. Att. 14, 2:

sestertium ducenties ex eā praedā redactum esse,

Liv. 45, 43, 8; Val. Max. 9, 1, 6:

sestertium milies in culinam congerere,

Sen. Cons. ad Helv. 10, 3:

quater milies sestertium suum vidit,

id. Ben. 2, 27, 1; Plin. 18, 6, 7, § 37; Tac. A. 6, 45; 12, 22; 12, 53; 13, 31; id. H. 4, 47; Suet. Calig. 37; id. Galb. 5.—Sometimes with ellips. of sestertium:

dissipatio, per quam Antonius septies miliens avertit,

Cic. Phil. 5, 4, 11.—

Gen.:

syngrapha sestertii centies per legatos facta,

Cic. Phil. 2, 37, 95:

argenti ad summam sestertii decies in aerarium rettulit,

Liv. 45, 4, 1:

sestertii milies servus,

Sen. Q. N. 1, 16, 1:

liberalitas decies sestertii,

Tac. A. 2, 37; 2, 86:

centies sestertii largitio,

id. ib. 12, 58; 12, 53; Plin. Ep. 10, 3 (5), 2.—

Abl.:

quadragies sestertio villam venisse,

Varr. R. R. 3, 17, 3:

sexagies sestertio, tricies sestertio,

Val. Max. 9, 1, 4:

centies sestertio cenavit uno die,

Sen. Cons. ad Helv. 9, 11:

pantomimae decies sestertio nubunt,

id. ib. 12, 5; id. Ben. 4, 36, 1; Plin. 8, 48, 74, § 196:

accepto quinquagies sestertio,

Tac. A. 3, 17; 6, 17; 16, 13; id. H. 4, 42; Plin. Ep. 3, 19, 7; Suet. Caes. 50; id. Tib. 48; id. Calig. 38, 4.—The sign HS., i.e. II. and semis, stands for sestertius, sestertia, and sestertium, in all the uses described above; when it is necessary, to avoid ambiguity, its meanings are distinguished thus: HS. XX. stands for sestertii viginti; HS. X̅X̅., with a line over the numeral, = sestertia vicena, or 20,000 sesterces; H̅S̅. X̅X̅., with lines over both signs, = sestertium vicies, or 2,000,000 sesterces (Kühner, Gram. § 229 Anm. 1). But in recent edd. the numerals are usu. written in full, when the meaning would otherwise be doubtful.—

Transf., in gen.

Nummo sestertio or sestertio nummo, for a small sum, for a trifle (good prose):

ecquis est, qui bona C. Rabirii Postumi nummo sestertio sibi addici velit? Tua, Postume, nummo sestertio a me addicuntur,

Cic. Rab. Post. 17, 45; Val. Max. 5, 2, 10:

C. Matienus damnatus sestertio nummo veniit,

Liv. Epit. 55:

quae maxima inter vos habentur, divitiae, gratia, potentia, sestertio nummo aestiman da sunt,

Sen. Ep. 95, 59; Val. Max. 8, 2, 3.—

Money, a sum of money:

sestertio amplo comparare,

for a large sum, Sol. 27 (40) fin. —

In the times of the emperors, also, a copper coin, worth four asses, Plin. 34, 2, 2, § 4; cf. Eckhel. Doctr. Num. 6, p. 283.—

ses-tertĭum, ii, n., in econom. lang., as a measure of dimension, two and a half feet deep:

ipsum agrum sat erit bipalio vertere: quod vocant rustici sestertium,

Col. Arb. 1, 5 (for which:

siccus ager bipalio subigi debet, quae est altitudo pastinationis, cum in duos pedes et semissem convertitur humus,

id. ib. 3, 5, 3).