MAKING MONEY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS

Tahir 6.1 Materials required to make one silver drachma.

Ore selected after sorting by hand
Ground ore feed to washery
Concentrate feed to smelting furnace
Work-lead feed to cupellanon furnace
Silver produced
prr
drachma (kg}
16
IS
2
0.004
&tio
matrrial:si/V(r
3711:1
3425:1
1140:1
500:1
With further reduction of the litharge by-product, c. 2 kg pure lead could be produced
from the same materia!:
Litharge feed for resmelting
lead produced
Source: Author's own cakulauom bur cf_ n_40
Ochres
2
2
.'iOO:l
400:1
Vitruvius (Dr architectura 7,7.!) records that Athenian silver miners exploited
ochre deposits if they found them. Ochre was the pigment in the glaze on
Attic pottery; it turns both red and black, depending on kiln conditions and
thickness of application (Noble 1966)_ Ochre is iron hydroxide, also known
as limonite.'! Vitruvius state_, that the beq yellow ochre was Attic, but that it
was no longer available; a generatJUn later, however, Pliny write' if it was,
while noting that Lydian not (liN 33, 158-60). Supply
varied, as with all mining products
Theophrastus (On Stone.1, 53-4) the discovery, by one Cydias, that
yellow ochre turned to red when a fire burnt a store in which it was kept: red
ochre (albeit of inferior qu:dity) then manufactured from yellow by
roasting." This might have been new to the Athenians, but Old Stone Age
man knew it well,"" as luve manv ,ince. There was 'more or less local produc-
tion o(eJrthy in almmt evny country' in 1945 (Taggart 1945, 66).
but tht.: 1ndustry was then 1:1 term nul decline thanks to synthetiC produc-
tion, wh1ch could provide llJlour accuracy and quality. Atte extrac-
tion, ochre is finely ground. wh!ch p, more or less easy dependmg. on the
form: soft earthy wh1ch un be shJ.ped into pastels or crayon.1, are
easier than specular types. wh1(!1 T11J\' approach the hardness ot <;J.nd and
require pestle and mortar''
There will be sand i:; the lll.Jtcrial, which arc by
levJg.Jtion Mixed \Vith wJtc: :t :-or:m .Jn emulsion in which O(;lrl"
suspended while sand sinb P:c' <,!mplest w.1y to isolate ochre!' w mix the
129
T_ E. RIHLL
emulsion in a bucket and pour it out, trying to extract most of the ochre and
leave most of the sand at the bottom. This, however, is primitive.
Ochre had to be levigated somehow, so we should look for archaeological
evidence of the process; not everything in Laurium need be related to silver
production.
However the ochre was levigated, surplus water was removed or left to
evaporate, and the ochre dried to a powder. Mixing of pigments will be done
at this stage, if indeed pigments were mixed- which should not be assumed.""
Modern painters' ochre is the yellow to brown form of limonite mixed with
clay. It should contain at least 20 per cent iron hydroxide. Raw umber, green-
ish to very dark brown, grading into black, should contain about 25-50 per
cent iron hydroxide and 10-25 per cent manganese oxide (MnO).
Ochre must be mixed with a binder for use as a paint: water commonly
used for porous surfaces such as unfired day or plaster; but urine, fat and
blood can all be employed. Fat, for example, is better when using red ochre
as rouge. Most Attic ochre was probably used for painted pottery: the decline
in that industry was contemporary with the near cessation of activity in
Laurium around 320 BC.
By-produrls of silver production
Litharge from cupellation may be recycled as the oxidized part of the \melt-
ing feed, or may go to a reducing furnace to produce pure lead; or it may be
used as a pigment or medicament. Pliny that Attic litharge was best, then
Spanish (HN33, 106). Its colour, basic.1lly yellow, varies with the method of
preparation (Bailey 1929,215). It was boiled with .1 starchy substance such as
harley to remove some impurities, and then ground.'
7
Dilution witi: sJ.It or
soda made lighter shades. Experiments following medil inal rec-
ipes-" produced shades from orange to pale
The Ancient Greeks recognized and used zinc (contra Conophagos 1980,
160). Zinc in the silver ore volatilized during smelt1ng:'" con-
densed on the furnace walls as white zint and a littk as metallic zinc
(Craddock 1995, 295). Both were collected and processed further"' (e.g. Plin.
HN 34, 103-4). Zinc was used fOr (an alloy of copper .md ZJnc) from at
least the fifth century BC. A mudel sheep, 99 per cent ZlilC. 11 d.1!:ec: ltyl!sti-
c.llly to the fifth century BC .u1d allegedly bought/colkc:ed !n A:hens.'
1
A sheet of hammered meta!lit L!!K was found in the Agora, dJtcJ by context
between the fourth Jnd ;econd BC (Craddock 199_\ 295).
Theopompus refers to met,J]!it ('fa he sliver' Strabo 6!0)_ name for
J z1nc oxide ointment was l11unu/J.\.''
Otba meta!J and mineral_,
Theophrastus (On S!ont.\, rcrn.nks that u,cfu! >Uch as
130
MAKING MONEY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS
realgar, orpiment, chrysocolla and cyanus, are found in silver mines. He
lived in Athens as a metic for about fifty years, and was head of the Lyceum
for about thirty-five; the silver mines he knew best were surely those of
Laurium. He wrote two books on mines (Diogenes Laertius 5, 44), which
have most unfortunately not survived, but comments in On Stones and On
Fire indicate his familiarity with the subject. 5
1
Realgar is arsenic sulphide, AsS, a good red pigment, which is altered to
orpiment, As
1
S,, a good yellow pigment, on exposure. Both were also
employed medicinally (e.g. Celsus, De medicina 5, 22. 5). Realgar is an earth
formed by volcanic gases and hot springs, and occurs around the igneous
rock intrusions of Laurium (Conophagos' map, p and g). Like most mineral
pigments, it requires breaking up and washing to remove impurities. Realgar
and orpiment are only slightly less soft than talc, and slightly more dense
than sand:
1
' Flaky forms might have been levigated, like ochre.
All agree that what Theophrastus and Pliny call chrysocolla is not what is
meant by the term today.;' Bailey and others suggest that they refer to mala-
chite, a hydrated carbonate of copper, so although that is a complicated deriva-
tion, based on the capaLity of malachite for use, with difficulty, as a gold
solder (chrysocolla means 'gold glue'); many copper minerals share that capac-
ity. Pliny's explanation (HN 33, 26) of induced chrysocolla production
involves the transformation of one mineral into another by water. The
ancients' discussions seem to cover several minerals under one name- which
is unsurprising, copper forms a huge group of minerals, over 300 of
which are now named_ I that Theophrastus' chrysocolla is chalcopyrite,
copper iron sulphide. CuFeS, which is the chief copper mineral from which
others form by expmure. nasion and enrichment. The coating
on internal of o;pecimens fits the description 'gold-glue' well; it
gives the appearance oi" two p1eces joined by brassy-yellow glue. This identifica-
tion, moreover, docs no: presuppose pyrometallurgiul ac.tivity before the
stone was named. Chalcopynte is a sulphide ore, found in secondary enrich-
ment zones underground. On exposure it decomposes to oxides like mala-
chite, azurite and cupntc
Cyanus is w;dely thOL:ght to be azurite, 2CuCO,.Cu(OH),: a blue-col-
oured, less hydrated form of copper carbonate than malJLhite, ,;.,ith which it
occurs, often on the ,.;me ruck. If chrysocolla chalcopyrite (above), cyan us
means ,\zunte and r;c.oiacho w they occur together and have almmt iden-
tical compmltion. reasonable. It also :.cnse of the ancient
division of rn to 'm,1lc' and 'female' varieties. They were distinguished
by tone, not colm:: (stdl less chemical composition or mrcroscopic crystal
fOrm), 'male' hcir;g_ the variety, 5
7
so it is wrong to Jdentify male with
malachite or nunte ami ttcmale with the other. Azurite c.m vary 'from light
blue to a very greenhh blue and concretions of azurite frequently grade into
green malachir,';'' <mlv the bold will assert that the two were diqinguishablc
to the gcologJcallv :;ntr.J;ncd .md naked eye oLllltiqum or today.
131
T_ E_ RIHLI
Malachite and azurite are rich in copper: 57 per cent and 55 per cent
respectively; chalcopyrite is less rich (only 35 per cent or so). Laurium copper
ores were exploited in the Bronze Age (Gale 1989), and they can still be
found. There is no classical evidence for copper smelting, but the argument
from silence is weak: chalcopyrite, which melts at 880"C, can be smelted
directly without a proper furnace and produces no slag. Similarly, malachite
'can be smelted producing little or no slag in an installation leaving no
enduring evidence'; and 'whatever copper mineral was encountered was
smelted' (Craddock 1995, 135). With the resources available in Laurium,
classical Athenians probably continued or restarted copper production.
They may not have obtained all their copper from Laurium, but they could
certainly have got some. Apart from bronze production, which requires
copper in quantity, and which is in the private domain, Athenian small
denomination coins - the khalkous e/4R of a dr.) and krithe C/n) - were of
copper and were issued by the polis. If Laurium was not the source of this
metal, how was it acquired? If it came from Laurium, then the polis could
acquire it by a tithe or stampage duty levied on the private producers who
leased the mines.
I know of no literary evidence, but minium (red-lead: Pb,O.) was surely
produced in Laurium. It forms as an erosion product of cerrusite and galena
when exposed, and varies from bright scarlet to red orange. It was one of the
best reds in antiquity: a vivid pigment, supplied by the customer to the artist.'
Its striking colour in the landscape, and its high value, make it improbable
that it would have been overlooked. It could also be made from white lead by
heating it to around 400 c, after white lead h<Jd been made from ordinary
lead.
That Athenian-'> were not slow to experiment wi;h and exploit interesting
rocks is indicated by Theophrastus (On Stonc.1. 51\-9): allegedly in the late
fifth century"" Cal lias, '.1n Athenian from the mines', invented a pro-
cess for manutJctunng synthetic cinnabar, anorhn good red pigment, from
the red sands of Ephesus. He collected and experimented upon them,
hoping to get gold, but instead found 'false' cinnabar."'
Production subsidiary to extractive industries
CharctJa!
Smelting and required charcoal. Thcophr ,,,ru '> refers to both pit and
mound modc.1 c)t production_'' In the for:-ner. J i':t about a metre square,
packed with pnb about 10-15 em in diamctL: tOr about two days,
and cools in Jnothcr two; a large pit ?llked burns for twenty to
thirty days coob for sixty. In mound hurElng, a mound c. 4 m
burns for ahou tour days. and cools for anotiw:- kw before charcoal can be
extracted. re4uire'i comtJnt w,l'c h. d,ly and night, for hot or
132
MAKING MONEY IN CU.SS!CAL ATHENS
cold spots or holes in the earth cover. Rectification must be prompt if the
contents are not to be ruined. Weight reduction through good carboniza-
tion with ancient technologies was c. 7:1. Carbonization also increases the
calorific value of the fuel: one ton of charcoal has the energy output'J of
about 1.65 tons of dry wood and 2.5 tons of green.
To smelt 5 kg of dressed cerrusite ore,M which could make one silver
drachma, required on average 2.5 kg of charcoal, for which 17.5 kg of wood
had to be felled, chopped, stacked and burnt. The amount of wood for
cupelling is negligible.'' Each drachma produced required about 18 kg of
wood."
Cupels
Cupels had to be prepared and produced. Marl and bone ash are the main
candidates. For marl cupels a suitable refractory clay must be found, dug,
washed, fine sieved, beaten well and (if it needed strengthening) kneaded
with the powder of a refractory stone or stone-like material: limestone or
broken fired pottery were highly suitable. It was then left as long as possible
to dry and mature.'
7
After the cupellation hearth was shaped, it had to be sea-
soncd'B and checked for cracks before use.
To make bone ash,
69
bones7(
1
must be boiled in water or suchlike to remove
gelatinous matter (glue makers would have such bones as a by-product),
crushed, and calcined by prolonged heating at 900-1,000 C. Higher temper-
atures will cause vitrification, and make the cupcllcss absorbent. The ash is
then pulverized in dean water: it contains soluble salts, which arc rcmovtd
by repeated rinsing and straining until the water drawn off The
ash is then dried and powdered, and should idea!!y resemble coarse wheat
flour. It em then be wetted, shaped, and tamped into a sha!!ow pit to tOrm a
cupel snn.d inches thick.
Other
Other subsid1ary production includes containers, troughs and .,Jed.,, rope.
wagons, tmnace stone, mortars and grinding stones, and metal tool.,, die,
and Jll\'1;,, were produced by bao;ketmakcrs, potters, tannno;, wood-
worken, ropemakers, wheelwrights, h.1uliers, quarrymen. rna'ions,
bron;cworkcrs, ironmongers and Smiths might wwk \\'Hhln
erga.,ter 1.1. ,J<> at Agrilcza C (Photos-Jones and EI!Js Jones 1994. 355-6). Each
of these uses raw materials (hides, hemp, grasses, reeds, cLly, met,lls
and vanou'i woods), which were produced m the area or transported into 11,
raw m.neriab, half-finished or finished products.
The p oducts and by-products of Laurium were used by meralworkers
(sdvn, t'.l'i. copper and zin{.), pigmnlt makers (lithJrge. uchrt,
chrystxn Ll, tva nus, realgar, orpiment, and r:::nium), drugsellen
133
T. E. RlHLL
zinc oxides, arsenic sulphides, and copper ores), shipwrights (lead), and
builders (lead); local builders used slags and other waste liberally for plas-
ters and cements.
71
Conclusion
It is sometimes held that the word 'industry' is inappropriate to the ancient
economy, as it carries wholly misleading associations of scale and mass pro-
duction; 'cottage industry' is permissible. But silver production in Laurium
can only be described as industry, much of it 'heavy'. Making silver coins was
a hard and complicated business. It required thousands of people, some of
them engaged in tough physical effort; others exercised skilled control over
nature.
Silver production is only practicable on a large scale. A one-man mine is at
least feasible, and if nothing viable was found, the losses were small: up to
ten years' rental (perhaps as little as 20 drachmai), living expenses and the
opportunity costs incurred. Dressing and smelting, however, requires invest-
ment in plant and a sizeable workforce of varying skills, which must all be
paid for before any production. Dressing involves preliminary sorting,
breaking, re-sorting, grinding, washing, re-sorting, drying and pellcting. An
average sized 'workshop' contained a main washery with a three-layer
hydraulic cement-lined floor of ,1bout 100 m
1
, partially roofed; a o;imi-
larly-lined of about 300 m , dug out of the bedrock, built, or both,
and sometimes roofed; various suhidiary roofed rooms, each often more
than 10m
2
; a large yard; and a peimeter wall with gatehouse. These arc the
ergasteria of the forensic speeche; about mining. They were privately owned,
and involved hcary capital expendnurt by either the farmers on whose land
they stood, by specialist ore or mine operators. The vallcvs of
Laurium arc littered with such rt.:1m, tn the most heavily
such as the Soureza Valley, cheek by jowl.
72
Xenophon records the three in mining leases:-, Ntcias,
Hipponicus ,md Philemon ides. w1ric (respectively) 1,000, 600, and 300 <;]ave'
Memory of grc.lt achievemen;s rely remembers who was second, never
mind who was th1rd; these nu:11bn\ r:1ust have been quite excepnorul.
EstinlJtes ot' the workfonc \".l'\ from 11,000" h :nmc
than the number of citizem ln "',!l'-Y po!cis- twice as many a., i:1
Jdcal and probablv n "rt: tiun the total population u+ ,l (:'.OOd
few. The workforce needed l'!:ee were some farms in the but
near enough to meet thL ,:emand. Supplying food, dav d,l\' out,
for 11,000- an 1f most of it was barley, i:
as-.umed that fOod to Athens, were for the popu-
lation. hut over 11,000 people 1:1 :he Laurium area produced nn !ooci for
themselves became they utiler things; that sheds ncv.. .:g::r on
1mponcd foodquffs.
J3.l
MAKING MONEY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS
Silver production was just one of many productive activities in the region
(see Table 6A.l); the others have usually been overlooked, as have the provid-
ers of goods and services. Their products were everywhere:
Silver- principally as owls, which travelled widely partly because of their
reliable purity, but also as plate, jewellery, inlay and other forms of
ornamentation;
Copper - in coins and bronze weapons, ship rams, vessels, temple grills,
door furniture and statues;
Zinc - in brass fittings and ornaments, and unalloyed as 'false silver';
Lead- in buildings, ship ballast and cosmetics;
Ochre - decorated every painted Attic vase, and was used widely fOr walls,
sculptures, faces, furniture and much besides;
More expensive and vivid red, yellow, green and blue pigments -were
used principally on public buildings and statues;
Smelting by-productJ of silver, lead, and copper - soothed and healed the
unwell, principally as ointments, salves and plasters.'"
135
T_ E_ R!HLL
Appendix
Reducing !tad orts to metals
Smelting reduces PbCO, and PbS to Pb, lead, in which silver (Ag) and some
other impurities remain dissolved. The product is called work-lead (work is
required to make it usable), rich lead or stannum. The slags, mainly of sili-
con dioxide, iron oxide, and calcium oxide, are discarded or resmelted.
Cupellation isolates Ag from Pb by producing PbO, lead oxide or litharge,
which holds the remaining impurities. Some PbO is absorbed by the cupel.
This is hearth-lead; it is the saturated bottom of the cupel, and may be
resmclted with PbS and PbCO,. Remaining PbO forms a slag which is drawn
or blown off; pure Ag is left in the cupel.
PbO slag is made into yellow paint and medicaments, ground up for
hydraulic plaster, taken to the smelting furnace to reduce the sulphide ore,
or resmdtcd with carbon in a reducing furnace to produce desilvered Ph.
The slag from this last operation contains remaining impurities.
Table 6.AI Laurium ores (mmerals worth extractmg)
Modern lahmw/ name Modern wmmon name and exp!anarion
l'bCO,
PbS
Pb,O,
Fc.O,.H,O

Cc:CO,.Cu(OH),
A<S
i\o <;
-------
Le.ld Cerussite*
Lead Galena*
MmH.::;J Red-lead, a natural crns;on product o!
lead ores
Iron Yellow ochre
Copp(: .'< 1r<w sulphllle Chalcopyrite
H:d. L<lPjlc"!
Ar,,' jli;:C:,
Ar-c:::.:: 'l:!;}hJdc
CJ"heophrastus' Lhrv><Kol!.;l)
MalJChitc, colour. Azumc Larbon-
ate is 2CuCO,.Cu(OH)_.. a less hydrated
form of coppn which onurs
w1th malachite_ Coio::c: Malach1:e
and azurite are nfh (57 pn ce111
and 55 per cem tt,lW< t,\,!rl- The copp<'"
orcs were explmtec: : t!:c FlronJ_t Ar.c.
for metal and p1r.n:< : ., .'vfal.K!lltt
azunte cyanu<o'
Realgar, a red
Orpiment, a ydhm ; .. n. nml()n
product of realr.,,
"\Ju:t ContJJn> "".lll<ju.l<tU11e> ol notJ6:,
136
MAKING MONEY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS
Notes
1 Poletat inscriptions recording mine leases: Langdon in Lalonde ff al 1991, introduction.
2 Ardaillon (1897) surveyed the ancient workings before modern rework.mg obliterated
much of the evidence; Hopper 1968. Conophagos estimaTed that over 10 million tonnes
of gangue and slag were produced over an area of roughly 15 km' (1980, 138-44); that
must have had a devastating effect on the regwn (Mussche 1994, 215).
By classical times such discoveries were pursued by seeking a lease from the Poletai; these
are kainotomiai (new cuttings).
Hopper cannot 'beheve that the more spectacular shafts are associated With even very
profitable mining activities in terms of single leases of the sort we know from the
records, still less with prospecting operations' (1968, 320). As he admits (316), some
shafts are in stenle regmns; and even 'spectacular' exploratory shafts might be sunk
either by those who intended to renew rhe lease (if ore had not been struck, there would
be little competition, so the price would remain low), or by those whose behaviour was
less than rational: thctr existence is strikingly affirmed in the history of gold strikes and
silver bonanzas.
Ardaillon 1897, 24-31; he sugge;ts this would have taken tl1ree men working twenty-four
hours a day in eight hour shifts about thlrly-six days: an approximate figure, since
variation in geology, worker effectiveness. etc, would influence progress. Conophagos
suggests about 9.5 m progress in th1rty days (!980, 196)
Two can work ;rde by s1de in larger shafts In Eupalinus' tunnd on Samos (only shghtly
bigger than the larger shafts, at roughly e1ght feet square). the abandoned face of the
south tunnel shows that four men worked on 11: two ahead knelt on a bench cutting out
the top of the tunnel; two followed, cutting the bench 1\\d( Vertical shafts are more
difficult, bur Two men could work sid<: by f,King oppmlle dnecuons. The esTimated
rate of progre;s (les1 than 2 em per hou; across the wa1 so slow that a boy could
remove debris with a dustpan during short breaks
Hopper 1968,325-6, samples II a and b
Theophrasrus On Fm. 21-4 mentions dtggmg but not rc!il:mg Such shafis would have
required surveymg above and below to e:Hure ronnecnon. it abdny to handle such
lhallcnges is illustrattd 1n Eupahnm' tunnel (R1hll and Tc:, kn 1994).
Conophagos (19RO. 116-7) gives 7 per Lent for rqeu10r ... 1:1ci 30 per cent for dtrect
smelting; that may g1ve t ou preClse an imprcs1101> of the .1>\(l>l'.'.c:>t procedures.
10 Lew1s 1967, 344. These workers were gennally women anc! dulCrcn_ At a simtlar rate, one
person in Laurium could break enough ore to makt 6 drach:Tla> each day (see p.129).
ll This is the wtrh the nches: me that wouiJ ;" ,:,.'I)Pd before smelting, at
approximately 30 p<"o lCr:t Pb (Conoph<tgos 1980. ).1J) mh ore, with which the
washeries normally dc.tl;. would have mo;c waHe.
11 Various for dct,lib arc ig :ort,: hnc The ::11.i1: ::ohlems mncern hydrJultc
engineering; the fw:r.l'is <t::Jply icc:: w.1:c' tu gnHc '1< :,,-velocity required m the
lint channel to ( .1;rv L'U.Htz I never m nri cc1 :usnc m I!,J;c::.i J.o:: !cs of the commonest
s1zes found in \llu (:: '-!_b :1m) I ill<> tfw ' l:,! 1edimcntatton bJslns,
thus wndering :::us: ul JcC::.nd.ull- :he w,1:c ,,.. ,_,:,:be clean very early m
the system. would nut b.l\-e uJnl:nucC :o :; , '" poc.ne such redundam !"
If all parts o( t":lc were funct"-''la\. \Umc:b:ng " with the stJndard
rcconstrucnon. lhe 1::-nplcst (but not cott,ct) "'h.t""' l> that parncles were
normally of the 1:7e now found 1 '- O.'i mm); they to he that stze to get as
far as the second Jt the c:1d <l wh!Ch 1s tht r1: 1edtmenranon basm. If,
however, the puw,Jc ""'-'too !inc, ;JJ:: ,k1 woulc: ,:,li t>c when the water
reached the 11::i-.:. unles.1 n w.1, !ct-t to \tJnci :h parudes to settle out
U7
T_ E_ RIHLL
between each processed batch. I believe that the large grinding stones found in situ,
wh1ch look bke large versions of traditional flour grindmg stones, and arc sometimes so
finely polished as to shine in the sunlight, were used to grind ore to a fine powder, and
not (as usually supposed) at the stage of breaking rocks into ch1ppings. Their shallow
appearance would have been created by the circular movemenu of a grindstone held in
both hands of an operator, in a similar way to the straight-line depressions made in a
traditiOnal flour millstone by an operator kneeling at one end.
13 E.g. by Oemostratus ofCytherus (367/6): Crosby 1950,240, no. I!. 54; Davies 1976 no
3623.
14 There is no lmrary evidence, but the small number of smelting snes relative to other
types of installatiOn, the multiple fw:naces within each of these few sites, and the
specialized skills needed for ;melting all support the condus10n. As for the 'large mining
concerns', we do not know what, for example, Nicias' 1,000 slaves did: d1g, dress, smelt,
cupel, or some of each, depending on their abilmes and characters. Nor do we know
about Sosias' management techniques.
15 The Foundry Patnter's vase (early fifth century): e.g. Healy 1978, pl. 73a and b (pl. _'i I for
another furnace); Taylor 1975, 26, fig. 11.
16 Absorbed materials were recovered not just by metalworkers; old refractory linings were
also used medicinally (e.g. Dioscorides 5. 178).
17 PbO cannot go m alone, unless one wants pure lead.
JR Reducnon is the opposne of oxidation; to reduce an ore mcam ln detach the oxygen
from the m!ncr.,]; fur example, to turn PbO into Pb, whde the 0 combines with other
elements 1uch Js carbon (from the charcoal) to make CO (carbon monox1de) or CO,
(carbon dJOX1de), or with sulphur to make SO, (sulphur dwxrde). -
19 Charcoal production: 1ee PP- 132-3. Copper smelung consumes vastly more charcoal
copper sulph1de ore requ1res about 40 kg of charcoal ptr kg (Tylecote 19.'!0, 188); Merkd
found expmmentJ!ly t!w a massive 20-50 kg charcoal wos per kg coppe (1990,
78-122)
20 Tylecore 191iL _11b I roy ounces of precious metal per ton. 1 oz per ton- 30
pn tr.1;lwn (p;Jm).
21 A .l5,840/600- 59.73 ,-_ 17,000 ppm. Conophagos 1980, 146 foe
\"af!obdny ::: rJ:ms Laur1um was rich: the jarosite orcs cxplonrd l1y Romans n; Spa1:1
con:amrc! .1< l:ttk .11 :000 ppm; recently gakna con:.11mng o:1ly 10 ppm would S<'
exploned iC:addo' k 199'i. 217 and 211 respect:vcly)
22 'The n1c '."..:. '.c:.t.Jrt cupel1s that it is suffiuemiv co:ous to aliuw tb, fused ox1dt .,\
drJlll into :t 11 a' 1t 11 formed. It should be Luge to absorb all the liquid, and
lt mm1 be -:,.;d\ of Slli:lething upon whid1 The hqUid no Lorrosive JCTlon'
192.1. 2-'J
n 5or:Jc sl.tp Llllrlum contain 2.4 per cen: pilmphu:1r ac1d ;1lus lithuge (Forbc1
19'i1J.1l2). wha h :nd;CJte> that bone ash wa1 used, Ou: 1!Jg canno: ye: he dated
14 i\L:w 1 (Geomerm); 19f/h.1;J-.1 (\1;ddk Hdbdtc); 19H4. l
cupels: Conup::,tg"l ;1IJ:es ; 2 1.1 .md 12. i b
S:J ;}ilL" 1dver. Plmy kncw!l.<t yn::..:1 1:hc: h!Jck bw ..!:d ::"
krnw {t'" w:- n: m) the reason (f/_\ ii .l:' 1: :1 .. , 1::1ph:..:r wh:<!l _,;",
m"i-.n :;, "c;, ul and otrotten egg' ll"''"
lli 1-l: ::' .. ,,! ( :%7. There seems to havr xc:: .1w.: ;u" bv vuLu:i:nll<':
'J : ,x, f:c :; Itt e.g. Strabo 14/i
27 G:uu:J<' c htanh-bottoms may be ""'t l'""h :'1: cun::cu, oJ Ell!>
'lc.l,:J,;,,i "'lt":t' It was not 'fired' above 8)0 C rPhn:,,-_)onel Jnd Jones 1994,
w:: 7" cc:1: 1'00. lJ per centCaO, and 5 ;1,: cc:: :p .. 1:-t<! sm.1!l .mwu"'
OJ ,\:IC"' /;l;;c .1;-JJ aluminmm, 11 nL\1" :H lc" :c:::.11:11 kad-,o.\k'
u ic:L.::L ux.c:c wnhout carbon d :ox!..;r. ' ,, " ,: will"T' ::'l:c H:c 1.1 hcJ:nil '
138
MAKING MONEY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS
quartz (sand), with the remainmg from smelting which the cupel is intended
to absorb.
28 'After the manner that cream is blown off mtlk' in a seventeenth-century-AD description
(Lewis 1967, 354).
29 Especially when inhaled: 11 would have poisoned those downwind.
30 Lead deposits from ancient smelting are found in polar ice caps; Roman contamination
was worse than at any other period in history (Hughes 1994, 127 and n. 71).
31 The lead-rich cement 'carpet' in Agrileza C, perhaps composed of old cupels, was 75 per cent
PbO(n. 27).
32 Craddock 1995, 202-4 (on copper). Hydrogen in water vapour is a powerful reducing
agent, encouraging unstable CO to form; this unites with oxygen from elsewhere in the
melt (notably, from lead oxide, PbO +CO (li) Pb + COJ to become stable C0,-
33 Conophago.s 1980, 332-7 and plates 13.3a and b. Antimony oxide is a good whae
pigment which may have been utilized
34 For example, in the Parthenon accounts some objects are called hupargurOJ or
hupokhalkos, indicating debasement, and the abtliry to detect it; I owe this to H. B
Mattingly.
35 Archime.:le5' non-destructive method of determming fraud by a goldsmith was not
known before the third century, and not work for silver. Silver's specific gravuy
vanes - depending on its state (molten, sohd, distilled), treatment (poured ingot.
annealed, hammered, drawn into wire etc.) and temperature- from c. 9.5 to 10.7; it
cannot be distinguished from an alloy of stmilar 1pecdic gravny by Archunedes'
method
36 Rhead and Sexton 1902, 151 and table t"or cMat.l and percentages to darlf)r
discussion.
37 The only other metal which doe.s .10 Palladium.
38 Sptrtmg can be avmded by very slow cooltng (Powney 1902, 1 0).
39 Lang and Crosby 1964, 24-31; I owe tim rcfercucc to H. B. Mattingly.
40 Conophagos' ratios ( 1980, 343) are rounded after computation. Losses m refining.
now computed at a few per cent (Taggart it. 260), are ignored.
41 Intermediate stages: '22 hundredwetght o( rtlh (- work) lead with silver at 77 m
troy/ton. This cupclltd produced '!Boo:1 1981. II)
42 Launum tron depos:ts: Ardadlon 1897. !6-li: Snodgrass 1980, Jig 10.2
43 Natural red och1e IS known as powdery h. 0,. Yellow ochre i.1 a
oxtde, fe_. 0,. H.O: heatmg dnves WJit:. B;own ochre another type .:u:-.
2Fe, 0,. 3H ,0. Launum also ha, deposas of tron sulphide (pyTTtes, FeSJ and
iron carbonate (stdc<:te,
44 Cave pamungs are executed in ochres. ''":.tC:ng IJtanufactured red: Schmandt-Bel.lt,.1.
1980,129.
45 6.5 on the Mohr scale_ wh1ch !rom l (talc) to 10 (dJa!llond); quJttJ :'-
46 Later Juthor1 1ha1 the grt,1: t''"':P" of annquay, such as Apelles, used o
whitt, ydinw. J::.i !:.b:k (e.g. Plmy /!.\" l' .. 'ill); o: iwr colours seem to have beer: c: c.ncc'
by si:mL::- .u poinuli.Lim SeurJt) or hy Jpply\ng washes of one ,.,:c:..:
over e.g. yt!iuw over blue f(H g: c"c.: 1( ;Jf,t 1 'Ill!). Natur Jl!j' occurring
also!:,,, u::lzcd. Thco:)h:.mm, On Strm<''. ::< ::un1 >tveral, including a green one
47 A 8:.<XCIS HN .B, 109("x
41! Hrr/ld! 'i, 96-102 luniler f-IN .B. :nc_q
49 ZIJl( h01b .11 917 C. wdl helow :mlr::,: pntill of {960 'C).
50 The AthcniJm J:d :mt g1ine the Zlll<- o:c' .! Lurmm (ulamine or .>mithsonne: Zn( '() )
Jl! z:nc WJS J by-pro,ilH.\ or cu'-':"': ,::1dttng
51 FJtzwoil.t,1r:: CJmhndgc. CR My thanks 10 David Gtll tn:
u:(ormatto:' on :1n, obre,-: ... ,, '" D: I' Wilson ottheMusrum br J,
l 19
T. E. RIHLL
52 E.g. HN 34, 132. Zinc and castor oil, famihar to parents everywhere, is the modern
verston.
53 For the relevance of Laurium to ancient scientific theories, see Rihll and Tucker 1999
54 Specific gravity 3.5; hardness 1.5-2.
55 It is now used for various hydrated copper silicates - genenl formula: CuSi0,.2H,O;
specific gravity: 2-2.2; hardness: 2 to 4, occasionally reaching 7; colour: turquoise to sky
blue.
56 CuCO,.Cu(OH),, specific gravity 4, hardne.1s 3.5-4, colour green. See Badey 1929, on
Pliny HN 33. 86.
57 Theophrastus On Stonts, 31. ru Shapiro emphasized (1994, 603), 'Lightness and darkness,
or whiteness and blackness, are the fundamental concepts in ancient and medieval color
theory and not, as we take for granted, color or hue.'
58 Rosenfeld 1965, 136. Deep blue is next to black in the ancient lmear scheme of colours,
and kyaneos sometimes even means 'black' (e.g. Pollux 8, 129, He.1ychtus 4346-8, Suda
s.v. xl>CivrOl). It ts not obvious where light blue fits in the linear arrangement from white
to black, but it could be on the !tght side of green, thus splitung azume enher side of
malachnc and demonstrating the inappropriateness of mineraltdenrifi(ation.
59 Plmy HN 35, 30. As often, Pliny points out (HN 33, 120-1) that customers must guard
agatnst being cheated: artists could steal this expensive pigment by rmsing loaded
brushes and collecting minium fi:om the water Jar.
60 'About 90 years before the archonship ofPraxibulus': r. 405 BC. The expre.IS!on
that Theophrastus was unsure of hts sourLe. Ephesus was under Spartan control at th11
lime. so hts caution i.1 not surprising
61 Phny lonstantly expounds on man'; tnvemt\'e gemu.s tOr makmg somtthlllg out ut
almost every natural thing: even the 'fend excrement' of processing met2ls. HN 34, 171.
H11 histories of processes show that invention and aperimcnt wa.1 gottlg on long he!Ore
hi I t1:11e
62 lb<toria P!antarum 5, 9. 4 {mound), 9. 3 l-3 (pa); Olso!l 1991
fd 0,500-7,200 kcal per kg.
64 Conophagos (1980, 352) estlmated 101 d1arcoal requtr<Cd to smell gJiena.
m:!y 20 per cent by wetght charw.d, so thts ,, lor Lnrustte, whtlh necd1 ;>er cent
O.'i Aholit 33 g of wood {faggot;, not rha:wal) 11 neeJeJ per 2 kg ,:u:-1:1g
J. ratio of 60:1 feed:fud. Sea1on:nc; the cupel n. 68) '1ted Jbout a
of charcoal. The figure :1 .m average, rclevam ":ly :,l l.q:c-.lcak
c"[Jclltng operations.
60 1:or .1ane commenu on the in:pbcatmm: Craddock ; 'l.l-'i: Rockham
! 996, 29-30.
o7 !-IN 33. 69on tascomum; Agncnlo kd. Hoow<. 1950) 2.'\0-l; Htrm,c :<J90. '! 13
08 t(n X-10 hours wah about J bucketful of chatco.\l: Bmnguc< 10 : 'l'10. :; 7
O'l R.Hio !988, 35; Percy 1880. 238.
-\l: :1:.:: latrle bones are wt:!: o.x.de, w!1Kh s be1t le: '''-: ,,,
i:g (,onophJgos 19X0,2.'iS-6: 1994.. 9. l'i.c;-s
72. Co:wnbagm' map 1.1 full btt'. r.o'. here .tre, to: ex: J". :..
"_,
1
:.t:tons near the quJiryon Mnt :: S:c!.!:'
:; \;,f !4-15. ContraH the !Jrgcq <"lt-lblt.d:mn:ts 1:: 1:,,. ,,, "lt ,: 110
.1 workshop, and !.t: :-!1<1\t) ,-- 'sword/hiJJ,. wn:,,,, '':' Xt
all h1s contcmporartt"> u;,o;vtc! ... 1::::mg qjJ they ""<l:c "'len Jt:J
' .. as many as poss1ble: I'M ..:, h
{ conservattve ( 19SO, ,!-
7:'> f).;; ln the staple slave lond; b:-kv 1.1y ilJt't been n:.J :1 ,' ,.
,_,.,. ._: J!ld ate better, .some r.Cl,. <iiiJ,,mr:
140
t"J'.
6
MAKING MONEY IN
CLASSICAL ATHENS
T. E. Rihll
Introduction
Laurium is justly famous for its silver; less well known is that about 16 kg of
ore had to be extracted and processed to produce each silver drachma, weigh-
ing about 4 g, or that the quantity of food which had to be supplied to the
labour force engaged in processing minerals in Laurium probably amounted
to at least 4,000 kg per day. Moreover, Laurium has many other mineral
resources which were explored and exploited in antiquity. Athenian pot
painters, for example, depended on Laurium for the pigment which col-
oured the pots red and black.
Laurium is part of Athenian history- and not just Salamis and immedi-
ately before. Mining and ore-dressing represents by far the largest scale
industrial production in classical Athens_ Archacologically there is nothing
to compare with the Laurium valleys, which arc packed with shafts,
grinderies, washencs, CISterns, quarries, furnaces and slag heaps, from high
in the hills to the coast. The number of men involved far surpassed those in
any other productive activity except agriculture. The Hate took great interest
in this industry, about which it drafted law\ ..tnd recorded various details;
thus we have a type of evidence we lack for other crafts.
1
Silver production
Much here is mnjcctural; almost every sentence ought to be qualified by 'per-
haps', 'possibly' or 'probJbly', since we r.neiv have direct incontrovertible
evidence on deuik However, the btl tude to: m the history of
technical more rircumscnbed th.;:l 1n or political matters
To transform intu metals requires ccrtalll conditions and proce-
dures without n:wiction of time or place. \1cthods described by Pliny, for
example, are repeated over !,000 yens Lltcr by Agrimla. The reconstruction
of practice at Laurium j, ba,ed largely on c\idcncc drawn from different cen-
turies and countrle\; but room for lS strictly limited by geologi-
cal, physiul and chemicai
1 ;s
T. E_ RIHLL
Mining
The ores sought were principally cerrusite, lead carbonate (PbCO, ), and to
a lesser extent galena, lead sulphide (PbS). Both contain lead (Ph) and a
little silver (Ag). The proportion of silver to lead in these ores world-wide is
normally a few thousandths of 1 per cent. Good Laurium ores were about 2
per cent silver; these deposits were worth extracting. The scale of extraction
was considerable:
2
the combined length of the galleries in Laurium was
some 140 km.
The oldest mines follow these minerals wherever they go from the sur-
face. The discovery was probably the result of luck, observation, local lore
about peculiar pockets of land, and knowledge about rocks (Rihll and
Tucker forthcoming). The valuable mineral in its recognizable
unweathered state might be exposed through ploughing or the uprooting
of a tree, for example, but an observant eye had to spot it. Prospectors prob-
ably sought out areas where, according to the locals, the vegetation or water
was 'odd', or where animals would not go, or where the earth was a strange
colour, for example.) Cerrusite docs not look like a metal ore in the obvi-
ous sense of having bright shiny bits running through it, but it can look
like litharge, a dirty-yellow by-product of silver processing, which was
added to the smelting charge or processed to obtain other materials (sec p.
130); this probably inspired attempts to smelt it.
A mine dug into the hillside following the vein of ore is a drift mine. Expe-
rience or oprimism guided prospectors to sink exploratory or cut gal-
lenes mto barren rock to find new underground; the latter arc
cross-drift mines. Exploratory cross-drifts were normally abandoned :tfter 12
m if contact had not been made.' go more or less straight down;
Ardai!lon (1897. 25) estimates that s1x men working in three teams '-"'Ouid
have takm two years to dig 100m down (deeper than most shafts, a
few arc deeper}. Tools were iron chisel, hammer, lever, pick, and wedge,
ten-hour-burning 'dumpy' Laurium oil lamp, bucket (probably leather), and
-where space permitted- a wooden sledge to drag ore and spoil out_ W..:.tcr
or v1ncgar Wa\ used to douse a rock Lee fractured and split by fire-\ettJng.
The u<;e of vinegar has been for long a pualc, but may be explained hv the
beilef thJ.t 1: prevented rcignition Tacticus, 34). Its use 1n tlw f-(Jurtll
centur\' 1., implied in Thcophrastus, On hrc, 25 (immediately after J
on :n:n::1g) .1nd 59. Strabo metltlom it, along wtth mud, alum or

as ,J frc L"Xl :Jguisher for naphtha. agal:l'>t wh1ch W.lter \,Jid :o ;,c wnr,e
rhan i:>cic'-' in an unedifying talc abo',__!: Alexander (74_l)_ Samples ,1! 'ipOli
collcncd hy f-lapper and examined bv J gco]og;<,t showed sign<; n: h.n:ng
been
The ;izc of <>hafts and galleries luge n;ough ,\t least to allow t
PJ.'>\d!',e b, o:Je person (Fig. 6.1), .md Jt n:oq to cxrract the lode wn!w,:' c.JU'i-
ing t l1ll.1p'e [! pillar'> of good nre wcrl' ldi untouched '!'od
: i6
MAKING MONEY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS
Flxur<" li. I Ti't gallery in the mine next to the theatre Jt Thonkos
Wds into excavated of a chamber, to support the roof I"h chid
Jctcrmining the extent of a mine were the presence of ore and brc,Jth-
.Iblc Jir, Jnd the absence of water flooding the working face (not a
in LauriL:m). Some shafts were dug, and others refilled, solely to
vcntibtion.'
\1.\ny n:lltures failed because they did not find enough ore to be v:.1:)ic. \(
ore \\,t'> !ou!ld, extracted rock was first wrted underground_ Am ''' ll:c
a\.'>C.>,cd :1rincipally by weight relat1ve to in the hand, s:1H :.' i!ght
w:r' poor-- .1' than about
1
/Li 'leJd WJ\ di\carded unJcrgrm::,: :'<":-,,-
bk or !c:-:-:oycd to surface spoil heap<, it nor
A1:y a;sesscd as more than about
1
j;; lud was broug,ht :n ::J(l".
1-vhnc :r w.11 by eye as well as hand. Anyrhing identificC .11 ""O:C d-:.1:1
on..:-third kad was smashed into pea-\ized pieces and sent tel:
lng In_ 9) The rest was sent to J.n to be 'dressed', to ,_:-;,,we'"
ur:w.nHcd material as possible before smelting, whJcl-: c;h
.md C<J5' i\'
117
T_ E_ R!HLL
Drtssing
In the ergasterion (Fig. 6.2) the ore was taken to the grindery, which con-
tained one to four large, hard mortar stones. Here it was hammered, to break
it into chips and pick out the obvious gangue (rock matrix); that removed
about 5 per cent of the material (Conophagos 1980, 343). Breaking rock is
extremely hard work - hence its common association with convict hard
labour. In the latter half of the nineteenth century a good (free) worker could
break by hand just over 100 kg per day.
111
The ore was then pulverized in
hand-operated mills (hoppers).
The powder was taken to the washery to remove as much dross as possible
before smelting. The importance of this stage cannot be underestimated: at
least 60 per cent (by weight) of material brought into the washery was dis-
carded here.
11
It is by this process that the Greeks were able to make metal
from lower grade ores, which are much commoner than the high-grade ores
with which metallurgy began (Craddock 1995, Chapter 5). By hydraulic
action, the denser galena (specific gravity 7.5) or cerussite (sp. gr. 6.5) settled
nearest to the washing table, and the lighter dross and quartz (sp. gr. c. 2.5)
was carried off to settle in sedimentation tanks, while increasingly clean
water flowed round the circuit to the rcbailing tank for reuse. Ore was thus
concentrated; if necessary, the might be repeated. There are problems
with this reconstruction, but they need not delay us.
11
The concentrated sludge was plied on the drying table, where water
drained off into the channels; sun ,;nd wind drove off remaining dampness.
The ore was then pressed into pcl!cb with a flammable binding agent such as
dung (in heav1ly industri.1lizcd Ll<!rium. human dung would have been the
type most widely available), anJ d:1cd for smelting. Without pelleting, the
powder would h .. we smothered ;i,,, t\rc 111 the furnace: modern powder fire
extinguishen work on this
The gangue was rcmoveci from :"c snc. Large quanti were generated:
what happened to it is uncleJr_ .'!once. but relatively little, went into hydrJu-
lic cements and plasters for w,dls and floors, cisterns, channels .1nd
other wet areas such as bathnwrw . wh1eh .1 few ergastcria contained. Some,
but agam a tiny proportion, we;; mud bricks. Much WJS
thrown down old ,haft<>, ,J> Ill qr<"' !ZC Age Siphnos (Gordon
wmm.); thJt m1ght expL1111 th :": -..:p' (tmaJaxima) label for mines
mt'!ting
The poli., nude money (Xcnophon, De Vattgalilm> 4. 49),
though how i1 not dear: pc: :1 ::, ""<High a tax. At least some furnace> were
?rivately owned,
1
' and they we: :1 t-->,Jhly built and run by specialist
l"t) or brge m1n1ng con\t'Jll\, >11 ,1 much more limited and ce:Jtr,tim::d
tlun 1!1-'lt,;!!.! l1:' was and >till i> J h1ghlv
: !8
MAKING MONEY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS
/""..
jCistern
Well
'-...__/

\......____/
COllapsed
subterranean
cistern
Washery
Gate for entry & exit
20 metres
Scale is for guidance only
Key:
1 Waterproofed walls and floor
2 Floor crusted and stained with ashy material
3 As 2, plus traces of iron working and hearths: smithy for
tool production and maintenance?
Fq:un 6.2 AgnlezJ 'C' erg,15ltrln:-: 'i:c ;,!Jn (after Jones m Photos"Jone; and !994
pa."im)
119
T. E_ RIHLL
6.3 Furnaces Jt 1\::nrm<" near PountJzeza
120
MAKING MONEY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS
job, but it is also dangerous and unpleasant. The few surviving smelting sites
had five or more furnaces side by side (Fig. 6.3). Raised platforms at the rear
indicate that they were several metres high, much as a famous illustration of
a bronze-worker's furnace
15
suggests.
It is unsurprising that few furnaces survive: unlike most structures (e.g.
kilns, buildings, harbours, or washeries), they have a very short life. They are
designed by men trying to reproduce what happens inside volcanoes: they
melt rock. Molten rock is incredibly caustic. Few substances can contain it at
all, never mind for long. Hence furnaces have continually to be built, demol-
ished- to recover valuable metals and minerals absorbed by the furnace itself'
-and rebuilt. The development of good refractory materials, to line the inside
surface, and hearths, to hold the molten metal, remains challenging today.
Cerrusite, the main ore exploited in Laurium, can be smelted directly.
Galena, however, is a sulphide ore: to produce metal, the sulphur must be
liberated by roasting, i.e. cooking with charcoal in an open atmosphere, for
example in a trench. Then it can be smelted normally. Roasting and smelting
can be done in the same furnace if oxidizing conditions are provided in part
of the furnace (top or bottom), by pumping air in at that point, and neutral
conditions, with moderately limited air supply, elsewhere. Roasting occurs
as the temperature rises to 600 c; beyond 750"C, smelting starts. Roasting
and smelting in the same furnace would require enormous skill and experi-
ence to do effectively; Conophagos supposes that it happened at Laurium,
but there is no evidence.
Concentrated ore pellets, chunks of litharge (PbO) from prior smelting
(seep. 125), and chippings of high grade ore straight from mines, could be
loaded in the fu:-nacc singly
17
or in combination, in alternate layers with
charcoal. require half their own weight of charcoal to

When the ore plena. the charcoal merely creates and maintains a suffi..
cient temperatu it plays no part in the chemistry. Thus galena requires
much less charcoal: about 20 per cent by weight of

Thus charged, the furnace was fired. At temperatures of c 800 c, lead
oxide reduces to :11etallic lead, and the stannum (work-lead), which holds
the silver, .wd flows down through the contents of the furnace to the
bottom; the :ap-hole was probably permanently open to allow it to flow
out (Fig. 6.4). high density of lead helped p.nti,dly melted pellets con-
taining {which are lighter than lead) to f-loat Js slag at the top of
the melt. A' ;t t.:>nc out floating on the lead, the dag was skimmed off,
probably witi-: a:: ::-,m implement (e.g. Pliny, H,:,ton,l Natura/is 33, 35), and
was d1rected ::no J dag pit, while the work-lead flowed into another p!t,
both were lef: to Lou! The solidified puddles (ukes) of work-lead were then
cleaned ofsurfau: debri'i, broken up, and removed to a cupellation furnace
to isolate the Enough silver and lead was lost with the slag to just1f)r
resmelting R; (Strabo 399); their were in turn resmelted in
the nineteen+ t( 'ltury
121
T_ E_ RIHLL
"'
2 metres
Scale for guidance on'Y
Figurr 6.4 Smelting furnacts (rtconsuunion)
Cuptllation
The proportion of silver to lead in cerrusitc and galena is normally a few
thousandths of a per cent, usually expressed as ounces per ton to avoid 'the
small involved when the preuous metal content is expressed as a
percentage. 1 oz per ton is roughly equal to 0.003 per cent'."" Good Laurium
orcs were L 600 oz per ton kaJ: about 2 per cent silver, or 1:60
silver:lead.-'
1
Cupellation involves considerable If galena is dropped in a fire, it will
reduce to lead; if it is left longer, the lead ox1d1zes fully to a fine white ash, leav-
ing a miniscule bead of pure silver. Cupellation separates the metals on a
viably large sc.de, more quickly th<n: on a:l open fire, and with less lms of
silver, by contro!ling and contaming the heat, and having a porous, chemi-
cally inert hcJ.rth: a cupcl. A cupel is .l lined hole in the ground or in a
hearth; the lnung the cupel. The matenal OlliS! be rcfrJctory (able to stanJ
the caustic conditions), porous, chem1c.dl;. i:len to the substances to be melted
in it, and abwrbent.
22
Suitable mJ.reria], .1re bone J.sh (calcium phosphate).
wood ash, marl (a mixture of loose, impun l1mcstonc and clay or sand),
ter of Paris (pJ.rtiJlly hydrated gypsun:). or refractOI)' day with or withuur
powdered unglazed The heat 1., llipplied by surrounding tire, f.lllllL'ci
vigorously by bellows
122
MAKING MONEY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS
Laurium cupellation furnaces are a matter of conjecture: none has been
identified. They must have existed to produce silver: until recently there was
no other method. Cupellation debris is distinctive, and has been found.
24
A
furnace could have been a shallow hole in the ground, lined with several
inches of hard packed powdered marl or bone ash mixed with water, and
covered with a clayey dome with holes for wood faggots and bellows and the
insertion of work-lead and rods to remove the litharge (Fig. 6.5). Such hol-
lows are not easy to find, especially in an area littered with substantial indus-
trial remains. Cupdlation may have been undertaken well away from
smelting, because sulphurous gases, which galena smelting produced in
quantity, tarnish silver. The tarnish, silver sulphide, forms on the surface of
the metal when it is exposed to sulphur.n
The cupellation furnace was fired empty, perhaps at night or in a poorly
lit but well ventilated structure so that flame colour and furnace interior
could be better seen. The temperature inside must reach over 800 C: lead
melts at 327 'C, but below SOO"C lead oxide forms as a crust and 'freezes',
preventing cupellation. The silver does not have to reach melting point;
indeed, if it does, some will be lost through spirting (seep. 127) and volatil-
ization: i.e. some will burn ofe' A cupdlation furnace preferably has a tem-
perature between r. 810"C and 950 c; this could be judged by sight, smell.
radiant heat, and experience.
Once the temperature was high enough, cakes of work-lead were pushed in
to melt. Throughout, a fume rose as some lead was vaporized. Air forced in
by bellows the pool of metal caused the lead to oxidize, and this would
have fOrmed litharge, 'which at the temperature of its formation is a liquid'
(Beringer 1921, 110). A good cupel this as a absorbs water.
the litharge drams away, fresh lead is exposed to the air, and the proce'>'> con-
tinues until, ideally, all the lead is Invariably some silver will al,o
be .lb.'>orbcd: more if the temperature get'> too high, or if the cupel mater:d! i,
too coarse and pervious to the metal as well as the oxide (Powney !902,
43-4). More cakes were inserted until it wa'> judged that the cupc! wuiJ
absorb no morc.
2
;
Surplus and viscous litharge on the surface of the melt, known as 'scum of
silver' (e.g. Plmy HN 33, 106), could be blown off by bellows'' or
at"! W!th iron rod'>, but this was not if heating .md oxidizing coc-
one gets pure lead oxide, a fine whlte powder which would blow ,;w,n
Th, l'> pwbably the solution to the prohlem of what WJ.S done with mmr u:
the loci by-products of silver produu:on (about 2 kg lead per 4 g
notlm:f!: The 'missing' millions o( tom of lead simply blew away J'i fi:h'
toxic J.sh, to contaminate the local'''- even the global- environment
When the operation was complete, when hardly any litharge was
prnduced and the melt surface turnC'd f:-om yellow (indicating lead) to wlll'.c
silver), the bellows were otoppcd and the fJggots removed l'hc
which ideally (to prevent .11d unnecessary los'>) would k ,o(
!2.1
T E. RJHU
1 mBtre
Scale lor guidanal only
PbO
Fig1111" 6.5 Cupel!Juon Ji.nnJcc (rcconslru<.tnm).
but not molten, was a puddle in the litharge-soaked cupel. The btharge solid-
i on cooling, absorbed wit!11I1 the cupel J.nd enumted on inside sur-
fJ.ce; in this state it is hearth-lcrtd. The silver cake, when cool, was removed.
On the bottom of it was hearth-lead, which was chipped off and ground up
to reprocess in the smelting funucc or purify into lead; on the top of it were
fragments of solidified lithJrge, which were chipped off and added to the
!ith . .nge which was or blown off during cupcllation
A bone-ash cupcl absorb up ro about 75 per cent of its weight of lead
oxide; J marl cupel i,l usuJ!l! dl:Ccivc, but ancient tXJ:1:?ic' .nc mas-
sively er:crusted wtth lithJrge .!lld served thur purpose well.' To rerovcr this
lead. and any '>liver lo,-.t wnh it. required the destruction of the cupel: it was
smashed and to rhe hearth-lead !rom my uncon-
tamin;Jted marl or bone J,<;h: the hearth-lead is added to that chtpped off the
bottom of the silver rake, .md goes to the 'melting furnace (perhaps after
concentrJtion in a washc-r\"): unco:HJminJted marl or bone .1sh reused to
m.1kc JEother cupel
12<
MAKING MONEY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS
The effectiveness of the cupellation can be assessed by eye; experienced
workmen would have known what to look for despite ignorance of what the
impurities were or how they had their effect. If silver or cupc! looked wrong,
the silver was recupelled or, if it was very bad, resmelted.
The silver cake should look like a slightly flattened elliptical button with
an evenly rounded appearance. The upper surface should have faint mark-
ings as if it were crystalline; if it is also dull and grey, and lacks silver's charac-
teristic lustre, platinum is present. If the button is very globular, or more
rounded on the lower than the upper surface, lead is still present. If it is
spread out and adheres firmly to the cupel, there is copper: the cupel touch-
ing the metal will be almost black with copper oxide.
The stained portion of the cupel should be straw-yellow when cold; it will
be if lead is the only easily oxidizable metal present (Beringer 1921, 100). A
white to lemon colour indicates significant quantities of arsenic, while a
greeny-grey to black stain indicates copper. Cracks, together with an indis-
tinct margin (so that the cupel appears to have unfolded) indicate antimony.
If the cupel is not just stained but also corroded, a yellow ring indicates zinc,
dark green indicates iron, while blue-black indicates manganese. If the cupel
shows any of these in quantity, recupellation or even resmelting
Litharge could be utilized in several different ways. That scraped or blown
during cupeUation could be reduced to pure lead in a moderately reducing
furnace; that is, a dosed furnace with plenty of carbon (charcoal). The
oxygen in the litharge combines with the carbon to fOrm carbon dioxide,
!caving pure lead (2Pb0 + C ...;.. Pb + COJ If Pliny's figures are accurate
about a quarter e/9: HN 34. 159) of the lead will be lost through volatiliza-
tion and absorption into the cupel. Alternatively, chunks of litharge could
become part of the feed fOr the next smelt, which was pJrtKularly likely if
galena was being smelted: lead oxide (litharge) reacts wlth lead sulphide
(galena) to produce lead and sulphur dioxide: 2Pb0 + PbS ...;.. Wb-+ SO,.
Ancient smelters did not know this as expressed, but would have
that adding litharge to an unroasted galena charge had beneficial effects.
Litharge could also be utilized as a pigment or medicament ('>ee P- 130).
Hearth-lead, although composed overwhelmingly of litharge, was the part
of the melt which had absorbed most of the ... uch as copper,
anenic, antimony, iron. bismuth and zinc. If, like the scraped or
blown from the surface of :he cupellation melt, it was res me! :eC on its own it
would produce a much h;uder, more 1mpure lead. Thi., w.l'> not necessarily
b,1J: pure lead is too soft tOr mmt pr.1ctical
Hearth-lead could imtead. !ike litharge and for the become
part of the feed for the :1ext >melt. Altnnatively, It WJ\ ,omctimes partly
purified by poling, a techmque developed in copper smeltn1g: green wood
thrust into the molten metai vaporizes on contact, creaung_ Jouds of steam,
hydrogen and carbon-nd1 In molten copper, this J.ny copper
oxides present into copper. In molten lead, d\"'l,J:''lc vaporization
125
T_ E RIHLL
of green wood reduces lead oxide to pure lead, while some of the liberated
oxygen combines with any antimony and arsenic present to form oxides
which, having a lower specific gravity than lead, rise to the surface where they
can be skimmed offn
The final products were pure silver, litharge, and pure lead. Undesir-
able by-products were various slags, and furnace gases, for example sul-
phur dioxide, which would have filled the vicinity with the smell of bad
eggs.
Assaying
Assaying is the 'art of finding by ready methods the proportion of metal in
an ore or other substance' (Percy 1880, 699). It was common enough to be
used in philosophic discussion: 'Justice is like silver, and must be tested by
the as sayers, if the genuine is to be distinguished from the counterfeit' (Aris-
totle, Rhetorica 1375b). Plato's musical assayers accept satisfactory songs,
reject the unsuitable, and insist on the revision of the defective (Law.r 802B).
The purity of silver was tested by Athenian and foreign sceptics, traders,
bankers, metalworkers, rl a!." The Dokimastes was a public slave who tested
the purity of coins: the officral assayer.
We do not know how the metal was tested.
15
Methods known to
Theophrastus (On StoncJ, 4"i-7) were:
'Fire': this could refer to assessments of the silver button and the
cupel through cupcllmg J. small sample, or to spirting (see method 6, p.
127), or to else.
2 The Hcracleian or Lydian stone (the touchstone). The Lydian stone is a
black flinty jasper. but other close-grained, hard, flinty, black or very dark
slates work too. \X
1
hen mctJl rs rubbed on such a stone, the experienced
eye can tell ti-om the colour of the streak approximately what proportions
of gold, silver and copper are present. Four basic proportiom of alloyed
gold can be distinguished even without the stone: silver:gold; 2:1
silver:copper; I: I silvcr:copper; and 1:2 silver:copper (Rhead and Sexton
1902, 147)
In recent t1me.,, !)\' touchqone used up to thirty of needles of
known proportioc,, rl:e <,c: ne,lfest in colour to the tC'it material wa,
employed as ,l (Ontrol h rubbing both on the toudutonc, and comp.lr!ng
the control with the 'rreJh_ Theophrastm (46) say' that wme:hing simi
larwas done for golJ ctnd sraren. Reconstruction of the text (Eichholz 196\
118-9) produce<, a wlm.:h gives proportions comparable with recent
mage, enabllng diffncnu:s of
1
/1 carat to be distingUished in gold and gold
alloys. I have tu discover if the tone can tcsr sdver and
silver allov<; i:1d.:-pc::den:iv of gold.
126
MAKING MONEY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS
Additional methods known to Pliny (HN 33, 127-8) were:
3 Place a silver filing on a red hot iron shovel. If it remains bright, it is pure;
second rate rurns red, and anything that turns black is rejected. This test,
says Pliny, can be cheated temporarily by soaking the shovel in urine. The
colour change results from the formation of oxides of other metals, if
present. Urine works against this by acting temporarily as a reducing
agent, thus preventing the formation of oxides.
4 For a polished sample, breathe on it and look for immediate fogging and
rapid condensation. This results from the excellent heat conductivity of
silver.
5 Beaten and polished plates of silver reflect images. This property is
reflected in the modern mirror, in which silver is applied to the back of a
sheet of glass. Pliny says that this test can be circumvented, but does not
explain how.
[Aristotle] (Problcmafa 936b) implies another method:
6 'Why is it that water when it boils does not form a scum, as do pea soup
and lentil soup? And yet water is lighter than these, and light substances
ought to be able to project themselves more easily to a distance. The same
thing happens in the case of silver when it is being purified; for those who
clean out the mint make gains by appropriatmg the remnants, sweeping
up the silver which is scattered about.-. substances which have body in
them, like thick soups and silver ... contain much ;.:orporeal matter and
offer resistance; they are subjected to violent force as the heat tries to make
its way out and forms bubbles wherever the he,lt prevails; for, owing to
their density the heat cannot pass through them, but the density prevails
until it is thrown off by the heat which flow., into it. The result is a sudden
impact, and not a continuous pressure, owing to the heat passing up
quickly from below' (trans. Forster).
This is spirting, which is caused not by but by oxygen. Silver, if
heated to around its melting point, brge quantities of oxygen at
atmosphenc pn\sure.'' _lust above its mcit:;1g p01nr, silver can take into
solution about ten times it\ volume of nxygc:1 to (Butts and
Coxe 1967. 126). oxygen is !:1 :lw molten metal rather like
carbon dioxide in fizzy drink>, though in the latter case it
occurs only ur::der pressure. When the bottk opened, the carbon dioxide
emerges from forming bubble\ wi:1ch creating the charac-
teristic fizz. A more energetic reaction onw> in silver. As the metal cools,
the oxygen IS libcr Jted v1gorous!y before solidi ilcation, the melt to
'spirt'. the crmt breab, and ox\gc:; particles of molten metal
burst out.
127
T. E_ RIHLL
Impurities in the melt will unite with any oxygen present to form oxides,
and thus reduce the oxygen available to spirt (ibid, 1967, 304). Thus spirting
can be exploited by an assayer. Impurities reduce the spirt to something
better described as blistering; more than 2 per cent impurities eliminate it.
Athenian coins reached at least 98 per cent purity (98.5-99.7 per cent in all
tested examples); that suggests spirting as the most likely method of assay.
Since heat is the only 'tool' used, this is probably assay 'by fire' (method 1).
Official assaying presumably took place in the mint before coining.
Coining
'A Greek mint must remain for us a murky workshop', Starr correctly observes
(1970, 78). Silver buttons, we assume, were broken into grains, which were
weighed to the required denomination (ideally 4.37 g for a drachma). The con-
sistency of Athenian coinage presupposes scales for weighing small quantities;
since all money--changers depended on scales, they could pivot (if not weigh)
finely, even minutely. Grains were compared against official standards, but
one or more coms- not necessarily in mint condition {Vickers 1992, 68; 71-2)
- might have been used instead.J" The grains were then placed in something
like an egg holder (a round flat plate with round depressions in it) and heated
to make flarH: below melting point, pieces of silver are so soft that if in
contact they stick together (Percy 1880, 5). F!ans were ready for punching
when cool and enough to handle.
Quantities
For cakular:uns of the material worked to produce one silver drachm,l see
Table 6. J
A .,., ,1vailable. When the lease for ,1 Carmarthenshirc silver m1nc,
with simd,Jt ore (galena) and technology. was challenged in 1623 AD, the
smelting of) tons of concentrated ore produced" 85.5 oz of fine \ilvcr, :md
18 cwt ofk.H!. These measures give rat1os of ore toncentrate: sliver of 1143.1.
and ore l(Jilccntrate:lead of3:1, which arc very close to those
(1140:1 .tm! ?.88:1)
Related production processes
L.1unum :n"'iuccd more than silver; it I'>,\ poly;nctalltc region .. 1::d illJ\' he
Jg.1:n. for zmc and iron (Conophagm 54). Its orcs .d,o <llll-
tain Jnt:;:ollv, arsenic, copper, and gold, wi:1ch were rccognizni ;n J!IC!Lj-
uity, a nO :h.1:imm, cadmium and bismuth, which were not. Silver e>.tractwn
the 1l!p.d il1c us of endeavour in Jntlqutty, but other .1:1d
by-p11'dc:, ;-, 1!: .\ilver production were rCl(lgn:Lt.:d J'> ,1::c! ciuh
pnll ,,,c,
128