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Museu Nacional Arqueològic de Tarragona

Scales Counterweight_

Counterweight (aequipondium) from a large public scales (statera) found in the Tarraco port area. Museu Nacional Arqueològic de Tarragona.

Counterweight (aequipondium) from a large public scales (statera) found in the Tarraco port area. Museu Nacional Arqueològic de Tarragona.

Counterweight -aequipondium, from a large pair of public scales -statera, made of leaded brass, found in the port area of Tarraco. Weighing an exceptional 38 kg, this counterweight is that largest that has been discovered to date in the Roman world. It would have belonged to an enormous statera, a set of balance scales today called Roman scales, capable of weighing loads of up to 1,500 kg or more.

It depicts Aequitas, meaning Equity, the deity who guarded over transactions and public order in the weights and measures used in the markets.

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09. A city of opportunities

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09. Una ciutat d’oportunitats

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