For you experts out there - what was the relative value of 60 drachmai in 410 BC? And, if possible, a comparison to a modern-day value equivalent. It is said that the frieze on the Erectheion was carved at a cost of 60 drachmai per figure (both human and animal), slightly more for larger figures and slightly less for smaller ones. I'm trying to get a feel on just how much this actually meant.
That's a very difficult question to answer i think. Specifically because the value of that number can not be based on any fixed intrinsic value of the silver metal. 410BC was at the end of the Peloponnesian war period. Before this moment Athens was almost economically bankrupt. 60 Drachmae would have been a lot of money. This was also reflected in the increase of counterfeiting of silver tetradrachms in this period. In 410 BC the Athenians won the battle of Cyzicus over the Spartans. After this, Athenian economy and prosperity slowly recovered, and there would have been more money available for architectural works.
The reference that comes to mind (and this is from a memory not recently referenced) was that a citizen oarsman of the Athenian navy made three obols a day. If we call that minimum wage then 60 drachma would be four month's pay for them but artists in stone were not minimum wage employees. 15 Classical tetradrachms (4x15=60) would be less today than what you would have to pay some modern sculptor to cut you some 21st century decorations that would be nowhere near the quality of the originals here. If you figure out a way to travel back in time and earn some money, ask if you can be paid in dekadrachms. Six of them would be closer to a high end artist's 2017 wage.
Thank you! I've always been extremely interested in money conversions. The statue of Athena Parthenos is said to have covered in 500 talents of gold. Taking one talent to be 50 kilograms, that means the statue held almost $1billion of today's US dollars!
It is very difficult to tell how far 60 drachms would get you in antiquity. For once, there were few things to spend money on...basically food (provided you weren't farming your own land), rent, clothes or materials for clothes, barbers, and that's about it. Other things like household goods (vases, cups, knives, statues of household gods, etc) were not disposable like a lot those things are today, so you would probably pay the expense once and use them for the rest of your life. And even things like clothing, which was expensive, tended to get used for a long time. The average person would probably wear a tunic until it started to fall apart. Aristocrats might have been fashion conscious, but not the masses whom couldn't afford that luxury.
I have this displayed on a card at my coin shows because people always ask this stuff: According to monetary scholars: "ANCIENT GREECE PAY SCALE 5TH-3RDC BC Unskilled laborer one drachma a day about (weight 4.2 grams of silver) skilled worker (ARTISAN) 2-to- 2 1/2 drachmes a day".... with a gold silver ratio at 13 to 1 for that time period. during alexander the great era 10 to 1 ratio. ,,,,so if we if you had a 13 to 1 gold silver ratio nowadays that would put silver at 92$ an ounce with a gold price at 1200$ nowadays which at least to me helps make sense of it all. as coins had added fiat value as well
On the other end of the scale, a three-obol daily wage in the late 5th century was said to be enough to provide for the daily subsistence of a family of three. And to go even further down the denomination scale, Theophrastos spoke of misers who would only allow their wives three chalkoi to buy opson to go with the day's sitos. Google those terms only if you're interested in the eating habits of the ancient Greeks. It was my fun trivia discovery of the day .
Perhaps another way of calculating the worth of a drachma in Fifth century Athens is that a Greek mercenary soldier received a drachma a day as his wage.
