Medimnus
μέδιμνος
Medimnus (μέδιμνος or μέδιμνος σιτηρός), the principal dry measure of the Greeks. It was used especially for measuring coin. It contained 6 hectes, 12 hemiecta, 48 choenices, 96 xestae (sextarii), 192 cotylae, and 1152 cyathi. The Attic medimnus was equal to six Roman modii, or two amphorae (Nepos, Att. 2; Cic. in Verr. 3.42, 110; 49, 116)=52,53 litres, and therefore the Attic medimnus contained nearly 12 imperial gallons (11.556 gallons) or 1 1/2 bushel. The Aeginetan and Ptolemaic were about half as much again, or in the ratio of 3:2 to the Attic; the Aeginetan being = 72.7 litres, the Ptolemaic = 78.8 (Hultsch, p. 505). The Sicilian was equal to the Attic. For the values of the subdivisions of the medimnus, see the Tables. (Hultsch, Metrologie, pp. 104, 503; MENSURA) The symbol in Greek MSS. for medimnus was Me. (Hultsch, Metrol. Script. 1.170).
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.